The absurdity of policing targets
by EddyEVEN as the Police Federation of England and Wales was making an appeal against the culture of targets which encourages handling of petty offences, instead of more serious crimes, in order to meet performance objectives, I witnessed an event that would have been a perfect example to support their case.
Following a father-daughter squabble next door, four police officers were dispatched to arrest the father. He spent a few hours at the police station and was released the same day, and his 18-year old daughter was allowed back in the house the next day, her un-daughterly stunt forgiven and forgotten apparently.
As we found out later, what had mobilised such an important contingent of law enforcers were the father merely grabbing the daughter’s arm to prevent her from stealing his money and her, in a hissy fit, calling the police on him to report bodily harm. She then dropped the charge, pleading that “she did not know that her father would be put in prison”.
The following evening, the whole family enjoyed a well-deserved BBQ together, probably as a “welcome home” party for the father and the daughter. It was all cheers and laughs again, and no longer was anyone thinking what a “cow” the daughter was. At least, until her next burst of tantrum.
During that time, the four police officers were still dealing with the paperwork for the arrest presumably while the police force on the streets was stretched thin. And somewhere else in the county, another youth was getting “knifed”.
Sidenote: In defence of the family next door, the other child, the son, is a Police Community Support Officer and does eight-hour night shifts as a volunteer almost everyday. But, sadly, he has yet to decide whether he wants to become a full-time police officer because he “dislikes the bureaucracy that comes with the job”.
Eddy.
Read more here