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The Scottish Police Federation

http://www.spf.org.uk/index.php/policing-issues/81

This morning, the oracle that is teletext, advises that Central Scotland Joint Branch Board is calling for more lenient measures for motorists who commit minor motoring offences, the belief being that the motorist receives a fixed penalty or faces prosecution whereas more serious offenders are warned.

This matter will be debated at the Annual Conference of the Scottish Police Federation at Peebles soon where I suspect it will court controversy.

I for one am surprised at the content and context of this motion as it appears to ask for something that already exists. In the good old days this "more lenient measure" was called discretion.

Now I fully appreciate that most of the senior management in Scotland's 8 finest will be of the view that to allow the "rank and file" to think for themselves is nothing short of madness; it is without doubt the simple and best solution to a never ending quest for the Police equivalent of the Holy Grail.

I can remember events of a long time ago, a time when Scottish football teams were still a force in Europe, we had a chance of winning Eurovision Song Contests and lecturers at Tulliallan spoke of the greatest power bestowed upon the police, that being discretion.

It is regrettable that years of chasing targets have seriously undermined each and every officers ability to use his or her discretion, or god forbid, use common sense when dealing with an offender, whether that offender happens to be seated in a motor car or elsewhere.

The need to "get results", "get cases" "achieve local/divisional/force targets" whereby each and every offender is prosecuted has undermined the ability of an officer to deal with all matters in a realistic and fair manner and by so doing has been one of the primary reasons that the standing of the Police in the eyes of the general public is nowhere near as high as it should be.

The "more lenient measure" sought is already there, give the offender a warning, give them corrective advice, point out the error of their ways, note their details and send them on their way. By adopting this policy the member of the public will be of the view that the Police are actually no bad, good chaps, fine quines and loons and will be more disposed to assisting the Police in the future.

At this point in time a significant number of the populace are of the view that each and every police officer is some form of robotic monster incapable of feelings and who would, to please his or her masters, "do his/her granny". We all know that nothing could be further from the truth but until such times a significant shift in the current target led policing takes place such opinions are pretty accurate. Until such times as individual officers can make individual decisions when dealing with individual offenders and be able to freely use their discretion the general public will understandably hold and maintain their views. And to conclude what is the attitude test?

Note: The views expressed within The Station Blog are written by neither a Federation Representative nor an employee and are not necesarily those of the Joint Central Committee of the Scottish Police Federation.

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nigel_bytes

sounds like a step in the right direction although i have to admit, discretion does exist already and rightly so. all these targets are not helping the police. it might look good on paper but the vast majority of participants on this website have the common sense and thinking ability to realise that there is far more to an officers job than numbers. try getting those in parliament to understand that concept though
if you take the human aspect from an officer, how long before we are living the stories in 'Judge Dredd'?

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Richie

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