‘Ryan Air’ Policing: Coming to your county soon!

We should all know the name Michael O’Leary, he’s the one behind Ryanair, the forerunner of the ’budget’ airline business in the UK and Europe. A business concept quickly followed by the likes of EasyJet and latterly Jet2.com. All of these operations are characterised by their no frills, low-cost business model, one that many consider a success.

But what if this type of business model (see below) was being applied to our public services?

Arriving in a hotel in Dublin , he went to the bar and asked for a pint of draught Guinness. The barman nodded and said, “That will be one Euro please, Mr. O’Leary.” Somewhat taken aback, O’Leary replied, “That’s very cheap,” and handed over his money.

“Well, we try to stay ahead of the competition”, said the barman. “And we are serving free pints every Wednesday evening from 6 until 8. We have the cheapest beer in Ireland.”

“That is remarkable value” Michael comments – “I see you don’t seem to have a glass, so you’ll probably need one of ours” the barman continued. “That will be 3 euro please.”

O’Leary scowled, but paid up. He took his drink and walked towards a seat. “Ah, you want to sit down?” said the barman. “That’ll be an extra 2 euro. – You could have pre-book the seat, and it would have only cost you a Euro.”

“I think you may to be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please.” Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can’t squeeze in he complains; “Nobody would fit in that little frame”.

“I’m afraid if you can’t fit in the frame you’ll have to pay an extra surcharge of €4.00 for your seat sir” O’Leary swore to himself, but paid up.

“I see that you have brought your laptop with you” added the barman. “And since that wasn’t pre-booked either, that will be another 3 euro.”

O’Leary was so annoyed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, “This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager”.

“Ah, I see you want to use the counter,” says the barman, “that will be 2 euro please.” O’Leary’s face was red with rage. “Do you know who I am?”

“Of course I do Mr. O’Leary,”

“I’ve had enough, What sort of Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!”

“Here is his E mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9am and 9.10am every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only 10 cent per second” “I will never use this bar again”

“OK sir, but remember, we are the only hotel in Ireland selling pints for one Euro”.

The above may be a somewhat humourous slant on O’Leary’s business model however; it’s no joke that this Ryan Air type of service delivery is actually creeping in all over the public sector. In recent years, probably even more so now than previously, due to government induced austerity measures, service delivery is governed by cash.

Proper and effective control of public expenditure has always been important but unfortunately, it’s also an aspect of public sector management which has been sadly lacking in the past. Now our society is suffering all the consequences of that past mismanagement. Continued failure to spend what little remains in the correct manner (see here), will only leed to further decline in the levels of service currently being delivered.

Perhaps we need to decide, once and ofr all, what it is we actually want from our police and public services; a low-cost, no frills substandard service, where we pay additionally for every extra or, proper levels of high quality and effective service available to all?

Related articles

• Service! (dickiebo.wordpress.com)

I’m not the only one who says they’ve got it all wrong!

Image via Wikipedia

For some time I have been vociferous in my condemnation of the way in which policing is managed. Some have suggested that I may have some particular axe to grind, or I hold some hatred of senior police officers however, nothing could be further from the truth.

My sole desire has always and will always be; the drive for effective policing for the communities being served. It is what we all deserve, it’s the reason I joined the service and, it should be what we all demand.

And, to prove I hold no general disdain of, or malice towards, those of senior rank, past or present, it was interesting to read a piece on Facebook today by a past Deputy Chief Constable of mine.

Peter Walker, a previous Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police appears to agree with many of the points I have raised previously. The main difference being, he generally views the things that anger me from a more strategic viewpoint. That said, he also appears to hold a desire to see the correct delivery of policing across our county. A service that should be delivered for the benefit of the county and it’s communities, not for the enhancement of some senior officers’ CV or to promote a few local politicians.

Peter Walker says: IT’S TIME PEOPLE REMEMBERED WHAT THE IDEA WAS…

The front page of the Darlington & Stockton Times this week (Richmondshire & Hambleton) describes North Yorkshire Police as “hitting back” at claims from the Country Land & Business Association (CLA) concerning the lack of police response to metal thefts.

The CLA describes the Police response as “usually non-existent”. In turn a “North Yorkshire Police spokesman” says how seriously the force regards the problem. I tend to lose count of how many times such responses are given by the force – whatever the problem, it is being taken “seriously”. That’s OK then. Perceived criticism has been answered, we all move on.

Those of us who keep an eye on policing issues locally can, however, detect a trend.

There are about 150 fewer Police Officers in North Yorkshire and the City of York than a couple of years ago and the North Yorkshire Police Authority‘s financial plan envisages this reduction continuing over the next few years to the point where only 1270 Police Officer posts will exist. The last time the force was made up of 1270 officers was the mid 1970′s.

At that time, North Yorkshire didn’t just have three television channels and transistor radios playing the Bay City Rollers – the population was far fewer, roads were less congested, pubs closed at ten thirty during the week.

The culture was different in society – people didn’t see a life on benefits as acceptable, courts sent Burglars to jail, a sense of personal responsibility balanced the rights of individuals more effectively than today.

These (and other) societal issues reduced the demands on the police in themselves, but the massive increase in bureaucracy, the “target culture” of the last Government and the proliferation of “back office” jobs in policing hadn’t happened either.

It follows that to try and deal with 21st century policing without a critical mass of police officers in the force will lead to depletion of the patrol and detective workforce – to the extent that significant parts of both the city and county will suffer a severe reduction in the delivery of visible, interventionist policing that is necessary to prevent public order offences in the street and in the present context, opportunist crime – particularly in rural areas.

Given the North Yorkshire Police Authority has increased its own budget by some half a million pounds over the past few years whilst police officer reductions have been taking place, one has to wonder whether it has the maintenance of the number of officers at heart. It needs to be clearly understood that in this period of austerity, whilst budgets have been reduced, decisions about the numbers of police are not being taken by Government – these are local decisions, the allocation of the budget for policing North Yorkshire and the City of York is not set in Whitehall, but at the Police Authority office in Melmerby.

Locally, the reductions in police officers are not being matched proportionally in terms of the support staff who maintain the bureaucratic machine. At the same time, I understand that little or no effort is being made to reduce the time spent filling in forms – indeed, new ones have been introduced!

Whilst the CLA’s campaign is to support changes in the law relating to Scrap Metal Dealers, that is a matter for Parliament and the Government are on the case.

In the meantime, opportunist crime in both urban and rural areas is best interdicted by visible policing – Police Officers, with effective powers of arrest, operating with the confidence that when they stop people, reinforcements are nearby. Well trained, properly equipped, intolerant of criminality at any level – and benefiting from the enormous support and intelligence this community will give them willingly, if they only have time away from the police station to find out!

It is essential that the right issues are given priority when spending is being allocated by the Police Authority. The easiest way to do this may be to remember the idea is to deliver effective and efficient policing in North Yorkshire and the City of York – not the best Project Management or being renowned for great HR Policies. Police Officers are the number one priority.

Cut the bureaucrats – not the cops!

Succinct and to the point Peter… Being one of those who has watched and commented on the performance, or lack of it, and the sunshine PR rhetoric of the force, I have to agree with Peter. The strategic direction of policing, particularly (but not exclusively) in North Yorkshire, has lost direction. They appear to have lost sight of what policing is all about. But, it is the leadership and budget management that is failing the process, not the workforce failing the community they serve.

Decisions, of a strategic nature, can only be made effectively when those making them are supplied with accurate and factual information.

The problem often lies within middle management failing to explain to senior management how things actually are. In addition, many have no stomach to admit to their failings, especially to those in positions they aspire to…”All’s OK Sir, I’ve got it under control” when clearly too often they haven’t.

Many priorities in the police service have been skewed (and lost) by the self-important methods of those who actually manage the service. They have little or no real interest in policing per se, only their own career advancement!

Freephone Wet-Nurse in our Nanny Society

Emergency Services

There is something like 30 million emergency calls made every year - either to 999 or 112, the European emergency services number, which works in all EU countries. Unfortunately, three-quarters of them aren’t actually genuine emergency calls…

The number 999 has, since it’s introduction in 1937, been a lifeline for those in distress. Probably every adult knows its purpose and, when faced with an emergency, even toddlers have been able to dial these crucial three digits. But now more than any other time of year, for every person who uses the system correctly there are also three others who don’t.

Probably (and mostly) due to excess of alcohol, along with heightened states of festive euphoria, an even larger proportion of those ‘emergency’ calls often illustrate perfectly how the system is so regularly abused.

Ambulance bosses are condemning a man who rang 999 to say he had run out of toilet paper…(Read more)

As a consequence of these types of call, it’s also the time of year where the emergency services appeal to the public not to abuse the system or dial 999 inappropriately.

Idiotic 999 calls: Emergency services appeal for people to think carefully before dialling in run up to New Year’s Eve (read more)

In addition to all the intentional misuse, there are also many accidental 999 calls. This inadvertent use of the system has been ever more prevalent since the first 999 call from a mobile telephone in 1986. The murder of Hannah Foster highlighted the impacts of such ‘silent’ calls on the system.  Hannah’s 999 call was (sadly) judged to be ‘accidental’ and subsequently cut off. A later examination of the incident by the BBC News Magazine rightly raised several questions and concerns about how the system works (see here).

Thankfully, there are strict procedures for handling such calls. These are set out in a code of practice between telecoms providers and the emergency services, a protocol which is subject to regular review or update and thankfully, it usually works. But despite all the planning and forthought, most action by the emergency services, especially when things go wrong, are usually judged with the benefit of hindsight in a culture of blame looking for a sacrificial lamb.

As previously mentioned, a major impact upon the increased ’abuse’ of the system has been the mobile telephone. Since 2008 there are actually more of them (75,750,000) in use than there are members of the population (61,612,300). It’s a factor that places the UK at #14 (see here) in the list which ranks countries of the world by their mobile phone use.

Irrespective of all the pranks and/or stupidity behind many of the improper calls, a major causation factor has always been that of call charges. All 999 calls are free to the caller and as a consequence; many callers start with a phrase like – “it ain’t an emergency but I ain’t got any credit left on me mobi.”

Given the general social angst about the Nanny Stae, it’s somewhat concerning that so many find it so easy to expect help from Freephone Wet-Nurse, when things don’t go according to plan in the self-interst of their world. It’s an aspect that could be addressed by more robust action against those who abuse the system.

Woman faces jail after making hundreds of hoax 999 calls: A teenager from Cambridgeshire has been warned she faces a possible jail term after making 756 silent 999 calls over the Christmas weekend…(bbc.co.uk)

In the past there has generally been a distinct shortage of desire to prosecute those who abuse the system. Perhaps now more than ever before, especially in light of reduced service resilience born out of austerity measures, more robust action is actually required?

The new Non Emergency 101 service has recently been introduced in many areas (including the North East); “as part of the government’s wider work to improve access to the police, ease pressure on 999″ (see here). Calls to the new 101 service (from both landlines and mobile networks) may only “cost 15 pence per call, no matter what time of day you call, or how long you are on the phone” however; there is still a cost and consequently, it won’t stop the “I’ve got no credit” 999 calls. And here sits another problem.

In addition to the inherent lack of robust action against those who abuse the 999 system, there is a distinct lack of public education and information on the subject as a whole, let alone the new 101 number. Although our mainstream media do their bit from time to time, much of that coverage is treated by the public as mostly whimsical and humorous.

Both the government and police forces need to do more to educate the public about correct use of the system, and where necessary, instigate a greater level of prosecutions for improper use of the system.

Only a quarter of 999 calls made actually relate to an emergency…

DIAL 101 POLICE NON-EMERGENCY

Related articles

• Only a quarter of 999 calls are emergencies (independent.co.uk)
• ‘No loo paper’ 999 call condemned (bbc.co.uk)
• Can you come and unblock my toilet? The stupidest 999 calls made over Christmas holidays (dailymail.co.uk)
• Only one in four 999 calls received by police an emergency in last year (mirror.co.uk)
• Reporting crime to new 101 ‘non emergency’ hotline will cost 15p (telegraph.co.uk)