Words we never use…

An open letter from Birmingham North Police Commander Rachel Jones.

No-one can fail to have been shocked by media reports this week accusing two Birmingham police officers of inadvertently leaving an abusive voicemail recording on the phone of a domestic abuse sufferer.

I was devastated at hearing the recording, not least for the complainant who I’ve apologised to in person and reassured this will be vigorously investigated, but also for other victims who may, on the back of this, have reservations about reporting abuse to police.

Understandably, accusations like this risk undermining public confidence in the police – but I would seek to reassure members of the public this alleged conduct is quite exceptional and in no way reflects the attitudes of our officers or the force generally.

I’ve worked as a police officer for 18 years and this is one of the most disturbing allegations I have ever encountered.

The shocking words found on the lady’s phone are a slap in the face for the thousands of police officers who serve communities across the West Midlands with professionalism and respect. These are people who signed up to become police officers to protect the public and keep people safe…and they, like me, are appalled at the claims.

I have worked in police Public Protection – the unit that deals with abuse cases – for several years so I appreciate how difficult it can be for sufferers to take a stance and contact police. We need to repay their bravery by offering a caring service that not only offers support and help to break free from abusive relationships but which secures justice against offenders.

In the majority of cases we achieve that. In fact, only last December a domestic abuse victim agreed to take part in a video where she spoke about how a Birmingham North PC helped her and her young child escape a “life of fear” with an aggressive, manipulative partner.

Examples like this illustrate where West Midlands Police officers have helped victims turn their lives around. And they show that, overwhelmingly, domestic abuse victims can trust West Midlands Police to treat them with sensitivity and compassion.

Last year we launched Operation Sentinel, a high-profile campaign aimed at helping women who were suffering at the hands of abusive partners.

It saw a widespread marketing campaign urging victims to “report it to stop it”, promotion of a poem penned by an abuse sufferer, and collaboration with support agencies like Women’s Aid who took part in an online debate with our specially trained domestic abuse officers.

And in Birmingham North we’ve worked hard to significantly increase the number of victim referrals to support groups in order to make counselling and support available.

Our combined efforts are working because more victims now feel empowered to speak out against domestic abuse: we’ve seen a 21 per cent increase in the number of domestic abuse related crimes reported to police.

If victims didn’t have confidence in us to take their complaint seriously, to act with sensitivity and integrity, and to push for prosecutions against perpetrators then we would not be witnessing increased reporting numbers.

We’ve made huge strides over the course of the last few years to develop our working relationships with support groups to encourage victims of domestic abuse to come forward and not to suffer in silence.

I would be devastated if this shocking, isolated episode deters just one victim from reporting abuse to police.

Alongside domestic abuse support agencies we are here to help and I would urge anyone enduring a coercive relationship – be it physical, emotional, psychological or financial abuse – to call us on 101 and we can help them break away.

Rachel Jones – Birmingham North Police Commander

Melody calling…

When Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876, he probably thought it was a neat bit of kit that could be used by folk to call distant relatives with news that they’d brought a new ox, or got a bicycle with a massive front wheel or maybe grown a new moustache.

What he might not have figured was that come 2014, we’d not only be using our telephones to spread the news about ox purchases but also, unfortunately, to con vulnerable people.

The way they work is this – there’ll be a call from someone official, maybe claiming to be a bank employee or a police officer, telling their victim that their bank card has been cloned.

The fraudsters may encourage their victim to phone the police or their bank’s fraud department but will block their phone line meaning when they redial, they unwittingly end up speaking to the same fraudsters again.

Thinking they’re now speaking to someone they can trust, the victim is encouraged to give their personal details and are told that a courier will attend their address to pick up their bank card as ‘evidence’.

Someone claiming to have been sent from the bank or police then turns up and takes the card, after which they make withdrawals now in possession of both the card and the PIN.

It’s a horrible little con and particularly cruel as the victims tend to be older and are being exploited by malicious criminals not caring about the damage they cause.

In reality, neither us police or bank staff would EVER request the disclosure of banking details over the phone and nor do we EVER send couriers round to people’s houses to collect bank cards.

If you find yourself on the receiving end of one of these types of calls, you should end the call immediately and then phone the police straight away, preferably using a different phone if you can.

It’s a con and as ever, if you are suspicious that something isn’t right then hang up and talk to us by dialing 101.

You can find out more about Courier Fraud here and I’d encourage people to spread the word to older relatives to make them aware of the issue so that they know what to do if they are targeted.

Overall, telephones are great for ordering coronary disease-inducing takeaways or telling your friends about your new handlebar moustache and top hat combination.

They’re less great when being used by fraudsters so please alert people to the Courier Fraud scam and help hang up the line on the criminals.

It’s a good call – Alexander Graham Bell would approve!

Tell it like it is… (2/2)

Playing with fast cars and fancy kit is definitely one of the better bits of joining the police.

You were thinking of applying to join us as a police officer, you then read yesterday’s blog about the drawbacks of policing and are now feeling depressed and are thinking about giving up, right?

Wait there, potential student police officer!

If things were as bad as all that, I don’t think I’d be doing the job myself and that I am and doing so happily suggests actually, there are some pretty good things too about being a police officer.

What are they then?

Why here is a random list designed to emphasise that whilst there were definitely some things highlighted yesterday that you need to consider, they in no way take precedence over the below –

• Make a difference – You’ll be in a unique position in which you will be able to make people’s lives considerably better. It’ll be down to you to help people put their lives back together and it’s easy to underestimate how much of a difference you’ll be able to make to people at their lowest ebb by providing to them the best, most professional service that you can. You may see problems in your community – drug dealing, vandalism, anti-social behaviour – here’s your chance to do something about it.
• Chance for personal development – With the opportunity to step into people’s homes and meet a wide cross-section of the community, you’ll find that your world view is challenged and perceptions you may have held about, say, prostitutes and drug dealers, is challenged when you find yourself speaking to them and seeing the circumstances that lead people into crime in the first place.
• Excitement – Driving a police car at high speed, diving through red lights and then chasing a suspect on foot with the helicopter hovering above you can be just a little exciting. You’ll get to do things in the first weeks of your service that most people won’t do in their entire lives and whilst it’s not Point Break every day, some shifts come close.
• Help serve the public – Whilst it may not feel this way all the time, everything you do in the course of your role as an officer will ultimately benefit the public and be worthwhile as such which is a hugely rewarding feeling.
• Opportunities for progression – West Midlands Police is the second largest force in the country and as such, there are roles inside the organisation that even I don’t know about having done the job for a few years now. We have dog units, firearms units, detective teams, a group of officers whose job it is to ensure planes don’t get shot down at Birmingham Airport. We have football spotters, gang specialists, officers specialising in conducting searches, a helicopter, collision investigators. The list goes on and on and if you fancy, there’s a chance to progress up the ranks also.
• Important work – This is the reason I joined, I wanted to do something that I felt to be important and to do it well. I can finish work with the satisfaction of being able to say someone who has been making a victim’s life a misery is going to court entirely because of my own work on the case. I used to work at a hotel and satisfaction would be ‘I laid the tables quite neatly’ or ‘I refilled the printer pretty well’. There’s no comparison!
• Responsibility – You’re often going to be the first person on the scene of major incidents, it’s going to be down to you to quickly assess what’s happening and decide what to do. You may have to prepare cases to go up to Crown Court and give evidence, you’ll likely be sent to serious crimes in the first instance and the actions that you take in the first few minutes of arrival can make a huge difference to how things progress further down the line. This amount of responsibility may feel daunting at first, you’ll develop the confidence to feed off it though.
• More than just a job – Teams tend to be quite close and there’s a fair amount of socialising too. Colleagues are friends and if you’re feeling active, there’s plenty of sports and social activities to pick from. It’s a tight-knit community and one that you’re likely to be very happy as a part of.
• Good conditions, pay – The take home pay isn’t too bad and there are chances for overtime, there’s a decent pension waiting at the end of your service too for when you’re a bit longer in the tooth and telling all the new recruits about how things were in ‘your day’.
• The X Factor – Police officers get discounted tickets to go and watch The X Factor being filmed. Joke! In terms of the things that you’ll see and do, from your first arrest to the moment you put on the Chief Constable’s epaulettes (when he’s not looking), there is simply no other job that comes anywhere close to The Job. That’s why they call it ‘The Job’.
• Sexy uniform and handcuffs – …

What I’d want you to take away from both my ‘think carefully’ and my ‘join immediately’ lists is that policing is a worthwhile, exciting job and whilst  it’s not for everyone, the people who it ‘is for’ are very happy and would likely recommend taking the opportunity to join.

If you think it is for you then, go and express an interest on our recruitment website and as I’ve said, if you’re still not sure and want to know more then please ask and I’ll be more than happy to try answer.

Tell it like it is… (1/2)

The constant watch – one of the less appealing sides of ‘The Job’.

So you’re looking to join the police as an officer because you want to fight criminals and punch crime on the nose, right?

Great! Is that what you’ll be doing all the time? No!

Designed to be read in conjunction with the following blog on the positive sides of being a bobby, this blog is designed to set out some of the drawbacks of doing the job so that new applicants have an accurate view of what the job really involves.

It’s in no way designed wanting to put people off, only to present the honest information that any potential applicant needs to know to ensure policing is the career for them.

In no order other than a rambling, whatever came to mind first type order, here are some of the less appealing sides of ‘The Job’ –

• Going home on time – A 15:00 finish time on the rota means that, right? Oh no! There will be times when you’ll find yourself come finishing time still at a custody block on the other side of the force area with a list of things to do longer than both of your arms put together. Your advertised finishing time is best seen as a ‘suggestion’ and you’ll join knowing that from time to time you’ll be sacrificing your evening plans.
• Flexibility – Leading on from the first point, you can be called into work at short notice and shift patterns changed with a snap of the Chief Constable’s fingers. This won’t be a regular thing but in response to extraordinary events (riots etc), you can very quickly find days off cancelled and hours extended.
• Danger – Something that lurks around every corner, the work of a police officer is inherently dangerous and we do sometimes get hurt as a result. You will at some point get attacked, car accidents are always a risk with response driving and in the course of saving life and limb, you’re going to face some very risky situations.
• Abuse – There are plenty of people who will hate you for no reason other than the uniform. Shoplifters will abuse and spit at you. You’ll be taught new swearwords by prisoners in the cells. It isn’t personal but it’s not nice either – a thick skin is a must.
• Crime in reality – You may think a police officer saves good people from the bad criminals. We do, also though we have to attend when Person A with seventy previous convictions calls to make a very suspect report  that Person B with the same amount of convictions has wronged him in some way. Many of the calls you’ll attend will be very dubious in nature, you’ll not be told the full details by either side and often will find that when you delve a little deeper, there’s not a crime in the first place. This can be frustrating but it’s part of the job, for every ‘genuine’ call there’ll be several ‘I’m calling the police because I’m locked out of Facebook’ jobs to sort out.
• Stress – One minute you’ll be in a patrol car talking about doughnuts, the next you’ll be faced with twenty people brawling in a pub and it’ll be down to you to sort it out, all whilst the radio is chattering away in your ear and you’ve got twenty different accounts of what’s happened. You’ll be required to make decisions there and then and everyone will be looking to you to know what to do.
• Boredom – Think standing on a crime scene for ten hours is exciting? How’s about watching some sleep in the corner of a cell for an entire shift whilst on constant observations? It isn’t! Whilst there will be exciting moments, you’ll have some shifts where the clock moves very slowly indeed.
• Missing breaks – A busy night on a response shift might mean your meal will be a petrol station sandwich half  eaten on the forecourt being being sent to the next job. Break times are set out but as with finishing times, they are ‘suggestions’. Overall the busy times are balanced out by other shifts during which nothing happens but even so, this won’t make any difference to you on the shift that you don’t get a moment’s rest.
• Dealing with the injured and the dead – If you don’t feel comfortable with the sight of blood, policing may not be right for you as there can be a lot of it. I’ve seen people with stab wounds down to the bone, I’ve had to help funeral staff lift a cold body onto their trolley and I’ve seen crime scenes that give the Saw films a run for their money. Crime isn’t pretty and you’ll be faced with this reality up close.
• Taking the job home –  Again leading on from the above, you’ll see some things that will stay with you beyond your tour of duty. They’ll come home with you and whilst there’s plenty of good support available, you may find some experiences looking to set up camp in your head.
• Workload – Policing can be a busy occupation, the workload can be high and it’ll be down to you to manage your time effectively and ensure that the four court files you have are submitted on time as well responding to jobs on the radio and making everyone a lovely cup of tea.
• Frustration – Things won’t always go to plan, sometimes you’ll meet people who you know full well are guilty but have to let them walk free without charge. There’ll be nothing you can do about it and you’ll have to grin and bare it as you let someone out the cells as they cheerfully boast and tell you that they’ll ‘see you soon’.

So those are some of the drawbacks to consider but don’t despair, there are good points too which I’ll write about tomorrow!

I’d also add that even the above considered, I’d still recommend the job without any hesitation at all.

It’s not for everyone and the above give an idea of why it’s a ‘job like no other’, this is not to say that it’s not an excellent job as I think most officers would agree that it very much is and a privilege to do.

Found a job…

It will shortly be recruitment o’clock for new police constables – what do you need to know?

According the cheap Casio digital watch that I wear to work, the time is currently ‘recruitment o’clock’.

Now lots of people over the past few years have asked me ‘when will recruitment o’clock be?’ and I’ve always had to say ‘I’m not sure’, the reason being that I wasn’t sure.

Now though, times have changed.

As you’ll see from the news flash over on our website, Bob Jones, our Police and Crime Commissioner, has confirmed that over the course of the next two years we’ll be looking to recruit 450 new police officers.

This is exciting as it’s been five years since people have been able to apply to join as constables and I think it’s fitting that I am able to write about the new vacancies considering that I was on one of the last intakes before recruitment closed last time round.

Because I’m sure that there’ll be a great deal of interest from people wanting to become rozzers, I thought it might be useful to give some insight into what the role is actually like (good and bad) to help potential applicants make an informed decision.

As such, I plan to write this blog (I’m writing it now, watch!) in which I’ll give a few general considerations and then two following, one of which will highlight the positive points of being an officer and the other which will show some of the drawbacks.

I’ll write honestly as it’s a huge step to join the police, it’s a big commitment and with the job not being for everyone, it’s only fair that people interested in the vacancies know what they’re letting themselves in for.

Right then, in bullet point format here are some general considerations you’ll want to ‘considerate’ –

• Physical fitness is important. You’ll need to not only pass a physical assessment but also maintain a decent level of fitness so that you’re able to pass the annual fitness test.
• It isn’t all paperwork but a lot of the work we do is on computers. A decent grip of IT would be a great benefit as much of the work you do in the station is digital.
• The application process can be a long one. I don’t know how things will run this time round but for me it was two and a half years between posting my form and putting on my uniform.
• As I’ll stress in coming blogs, it’s not for everyone and nor is it easy. It requires a real commitment and you join knowing that you’ll meet people who will hate you from the off, that at some point you may be abused, attacked and still have to respond professionally when you find this happening to you on the wrong side of a long night shift.
• You’re going to be held to a very high standard and will be expected to act accordingly. Wearing the uniform may enable to arrest someone, at the same time though the uniform expects of you that you act with the integrity, honesty and professionalism.

You’ll be able to register you interest in joining West Midlands Police from February 10th and can find out more about the applications over on our recruitment website.

The site has a FAQ and enables you to ask questions also which on the topic, I’m happy to answer questions too if you fancy leaving a comment on this blog, tweeting at me or going onto The Facebook and leaving your query there.

I can’t answer specific questions about the application process as I’ll not know the answers (use the recruitment website for those), but I’ll try to accommodate general queries as best I can and over the next few days, will be uploading the two aforementioned blogs about the realities of doing the job so stay tuned!