Monday 29 October 2012

What we do.....



We work 24/7 with shifts that take their toll on your body and mind; you miss special occasions and events with family and friends, anniversaries, your children’s school plays, birthday parties, Christmas and New Year celebrations.

We have to be experts in criminal law, human rights, a social worker, a negotiator, and understand mental health.  One minute you have to be aggressive, intrusive and dominate, then gentle, sensitive and caring.

We scream and shout to control crowds then tell someone a loved one has passed away. We speak to children in a way they understand then try and communicate with an elderly, vulnerable and confused person.

We have to run towards danger as everyone else runs away....

We have to humour drunks, by listening to the same sayings over and over again throughout the night, ‘No I can’t give you a lift home’, ‘No you can’t pee in my hat if you’re pregnant’, ‘Thank you for paying my wages’.

We have to know more about chemicals than a pharmacist, we have to know more about chemical reactions in the body than a doctor.

We have to deal with domestic disputes better than a relate councillor, sorting out people’s lives and tangled webs.

We can never lose our temper....

We can catch a robber or burglar red handed but if we forget to dot an ‘i’ and cross a‘t’ a solicitor will get them released. We have to make instant decisions on the street when we’re cold, wet tired and hungry at 3 o’clock in the morning, only to be told by a panel of senior officers that ‘You should have done this, you should have done that.....’

We can stop a speeding motorist speeding near a school only to be told ‘You should be catching real criminals’.

If we go out to buy food or eat out in uniform, people stare at us like we’re an alien or whispering about a ‘waste of taxpayer’s money’ 

We need to eat....

If we don’t turn up instantly then we are useless, if we don’t solve a crime within a day then we are even more useless.

Nobody likes us until they need us...Like an insurance company, a necessary evil that you only call upon when something needs fixing!

We want to make a difference, we want to help, we care, we cry, we bleed........ we just want to be appreciated!