An Old Man’s Musings Part Thirty-Seven

A lot of disquiet expressed currently regarding the actions of the police, two-tier policing etc. etc.

Policing by Consent – this from 2000

‘When saying ‘policing by consent’, the Home Secretary was referring to a long standing philosophy of British policing, known as the Robert Peel’s 9 Principles of Policing. However, there is no evidence of any link to Robert Peel and it was likely devised by the first Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis (Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne). The principles which were set out in the ‘General Instructions’ that were issued to every new police officer from 1829 were:

To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.
To recognise always that the power of the police to fulfil their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behaviour and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.
To recognise always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.
To recognise always that the extent to which the co-operation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.
To seek and preserve public favour, not by pandering to public opinion; but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humour; and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.
To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
To recognise always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.
To recognise always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.

Essentially, as explained by the notable police historian Charles Reith in his ‘New Study of Police History ‘in 1956, it was a philosophy of policing ‘unique in history and throughout the world because it derived not from fear but almost exclusively from public co-operation with the police, induced by them designedly by behaviour which secures and maintains for them the approval, respect and affection of the public’.

It should be noted that it refers to the power of the police coming from the common consent of the public, as opposed to the power of the state. It does not mean the consent of an individual. No individual can chose to withdraw his or her consent from the police, or from a law.’

I spent about a year as a contracted accountant at the Police College, Bramshill, in Hampshire. I attended a meeting of the top brass – a dozen officers from Chief Inspector to Chief Superintendent chaired by the Head of Department.

I must say I was astonished at the standard of discussion – the low level of ideas and decision making exhibited by, presumably, the brightest and best; and that was some thirty odd years ago!

Having changed dual fuel supplier from OVO to EDF because of OVO’s incompetence I now find EDF are just as bad, if not worse! I made the swop in February and still, five months later, the so called ‘smart meters’ are not working. An engineer visited on 8^th April but somehow EDF have not been able to incorporate the results of his visit into their system. They acknowledge that it is their job to ensure the meters are working but are still asking for manual readings. I read that between 5% to 26% of smart meters are not working as intended…………….

I appreciate previous efforts and understand that you have previously

To add insult to injury I appear to have a credit of £192 on my account – which they will not return as they have no idea of the actual position! I have stopped the direct debit. Does nothing work in this country any more?

Just received this email from EDF:

Dear Mr GG

I appreciate your previous efforts and understand that you have previously fulfilled requests that we have asked. However, since the appointment in April I have been unable to confirm the meters on site and if they remain the same or were in fact exchanged.

I appreciate that there is failures on our behalf in the technology that updates our systems with the engineers changes. But as stated this was a technological fault that we could not have expected nor prepared for.

As I have maintained throughout our conversations I am eager to get amended for you but I cannot do so without your help of sending over the clear pictures of each meter so that I am able to see the meter serial numbers and meter readings.

At this point of our complaint, if I do not receive the images needed – the complaint may be closed otherwise we will remain at a standstill. This will be my last resort, but as explained I cannot proceed without the requested material.

With Best Regards

Amber

(Apart from the poor grammar she appears to be at a loss as to how to resolve the issue. It seems the obvious thing to do is to send another engineer but ensure they can harvest his data and conclusions!

I sent some ‘photos several weeks ago but due to the stupid positioning of the gas meter (almost on the floor) I am not sure that was useful. I would have had to get on my dodgy knees for a full on pic which I am not prepared to do. I have also requested to speak to a manager a couple of times.)

Fubar2, I had tears in my eyes when I first read The Italian Job part One ( my experience had similarities) and I continue to be absorbed in your story. Thank you for your honesty and devotion to the late Mrs F.

I am all for learning foreign languages; helps broaden the mind and is an encouragement to visit other countries. I did three years of French, Spanish and Latin at grammar school, though I left school at fifteen.

When I had a German boss he arranged an exchange visit between two of his friend’s girls and my eldest daughter who was studying German. The vists concluded but my girl learnt little as the Germans were so pushy the insisted on speaking English most of the time!

My first visit to France was on an army adventure training canoeing expedition. The party consisted of twelve and due to a lack of space on the two landrovers and trailers provided I was tasked with taking myself and three others by train from Calais some four hundred miles to join the main party at Clermont Ferrand; this on the basis that I spoke french! I had not touched the language since I left school seven years before. Navigating the Paris Metro was fun but taught me a valuable lesson. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

I have since made many trips to France and I always tried to speak French with the locals. I also lived there for three years so I am pretty comfortable with speaking French and it is correct that you have to be able to think in the language. I also find, as a bonus, that I can read Spanish and Italian pretty well.

Couple of great (as always) articles from Godfrey reflecting our feelings and it is lovely to have contributors such as him, Patrick Barron, Emile Woolf, Claudio Grass and others from outside the Puffin Parish.

Odd memories flit across my mind from time to time. The huge fruit bats in Sri Lanka. The wildfire we were nearly caught up in the Australian bush. The peace of the Guyanan countryside. The time one of the lads walked across the top of my ‘chute on a drop in Kenya. The blast of heat on disembarking in Malaya. Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the late night street stalls. The melon picked from a field in Bahrain that was too hot to be edible. A genuine kebab meal in a taverna in The Troodos Mountains. Being sprayed in the cabin before landing in Australia. The life saving course spent in the overbearing heat of Aden. The superbly picturesque harbour at Kyrenia and many, many more. As Perry Como sang ‘Memories are made of this.’ He wuz rite.

Nice to see the many mentions of dads and daughters, there is such a great connectioin I find. I have three and two are coming to visit me at the weekend.