Smoke and mirrors

Yet another example of the brass spouting about reducing crime.
Hundreds of new bobbies my arse.
Neighbourhood Policing Teams or NPT's as they are known were already there. They were called Community Policing Teams (CPT's). There aren't hundreds of em either. The majority of areas have one bobby and one or more PCSO's.
I suppose from a distance they look like bobbies!
They spent a fortune hiring a bloody footy stadium to publicise the farce and have given out numbers to call to "speak direct to your local bobby."
In reality Joe P gets the highly trained call handlers (yeah right!) who haven't got a clue who the local bobby is or how to reach him.
Good thinking with that one. Switchboard is now jammed solid.
If only the public knew the chances of actually getting to see a police officer in person are close to zero. A real PC has become a rare sight.
The large majority of calls that come into a control room are complaints about disorder. Groups of up to fifty youths drinking, fighting, riding motorbikes and causing damage.
What do we do with em?
Pass them on to the council street wardens!
What the hell do they expect a couple of civvies in yellow coats to do with em apart from become a target?
The day is fast approaching when the police will cease to exist and we'll just have different politically correct inept civilian groups in its place.
Don't agree? Here's some examples for you from what I've seen in 17 years.
Traffic cops.
Reduced in numbers and replaced by cameras and the shiny new highways agency. I like the words of Jeremy Clarkson. "The Yorkshire Ripper wasn't caught by a speed camera. It was a routine traffic stop."
Bobbies in various departments :-
Control room. Replaced by civvies.
Custody. Now virtually all civvies except for Sgt and he's going soon.
Frontline. Numbers drastically cut by Street Wardens and PCSO's.
Station Officer. Replaced by civvies including a completely civvy outfit for property called Reliance.
Parking offences. Powers removed from police to local councils.
Prisoner transport. From police to Securicor.
Pretty soon we'll be getting auctioned at Sotheby's with the rest of the antiques of bygone days.