Part time policing?

[Josef]

A very difficult comparison to make however the average Police Sergeant salary in Scotland is £38778. The nearest equivalent in the NHS, say a junior sister band 6, is £28858. Not exactly half as Josef suggested!!

Yes it is, and a fair enough point.

I wasn't really comparing like-for-like per se, just eligible employees. And the median wage.

As it happens, the NHS doesn't publish median salary information, no doubt for good reason. The average salary is, I think, over 30k but averages are bunk. My guess was that the median was in the low 20s.

Anyway. I may have got a bit tangential here. The original point was that it's substantially cheaper to have non-Police staff manning the front desk, and that in the main it doesn't require the services of one of said Policemen to staff it.

[RDR]

A very difficult comparison to make however the average Police Sergeant salary in Scotland is £38778. The nearest equivalent in the NHS, say a junior sister band 6, is £28858. Not exactly half as Josef suggested!!

Yes it is, and a fair enough point.

I wasn't really comparing like-for-like per se, just eligible employees. And the median wage.

As it happens, the NHS doesn't publish median salary information, no doubt for good reason. The average salary is, I think, over 30k but averages are bunk. My guess was that the median was in the low 20s.

Anyway. I may have got a bit tangential here. The original point was that it's substantially cheaper to have non-Police staff manning the front desk, and that in the main it doesn't require the services of one of said Policemen to staff it.

That's picking near the bottom end of the band 6 scale and I don't know if the figure quoted for the police sergeant is at the same point. If the band 6 was at the top of the scale the gap would be narrower at circa 34K for the nurse.

Maybe you don't need a qualified police officer on the front desk but isn't this all part of a government that is actually driving down the standard of individuals in posts?
Phone NHS24 and you get an untrained (in medical and nursing terms) call handler. Do you accept that is right?
Most wards are now staffed with greater numbers of unqualified band 4 HCW rather than qualified band 5 (and upwards) trained nurses. It saves money but is that what you expect from the NHS?
Phone your local nick and the call will be diverted to a call centre in Govan or Motherwell, so the front desk policeman is already on the way out.

[Doug]

Sadly whether we like it or not cut backs in policing and other state services is a necessary evil due to the parlous state of our countries finances. Incredible incompetency and bureaucratic overspending, like building aircraft carriers which will probably never be used is part of the reason for public spending cuts. As far as the police service is concerned everyone should be worried. With high levels of unemployment crime tends to rise and thats when you want cops out there on the streets. In terms of part time or full time it doesn't matter as long as the person is competent and trained and knows what to do. If my house was on fire I wouldnt give a hoot whether the firemen putting out the fire were part time or full time as long as they put the fire out

[The Egg Man]

It's not about part-time polis v full-time polis.

The plan is to only open Anderston Police Office Monday to Friday from 0900-1700 hours and Glasgow West End Police Office every day but only between 0700-2359 hours.

Even with the nation's finances in a parlous state, that's just not good enough.

[Doug]

Point taken......cheers

[RDR]

It's not about part-time polis v full-time polis.

The plan is to only open Anderston Police Office Monday to Friday from 0900-1700 hours and Glasgow West End Police Office every day but only between 0700-2359 hours.

Even with the nation's finances in a parlous state, that's just not good enough.

Or that a qualified cop is replaced by a private security firm is even more unacceptable

[The Egg Man]

We're told there are more warranted police officers in Scotland than ever before.

There are clearly more Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GCSS) patrols than a few years back, more traffic wardens then there were and private companies are providing custodian and transport services for the court system. Most of the these functions were previously carried out by police officers.

Something doesn't add up.

[RDR]

We're told there are more warranted police officers in Scotland than ever before.

There are clearly more Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GCSS) patrols than a few years back, more traffic wardens then there were and private companies are providing custodian and transport services for the court system. Most of the these functions were previously carried out by police officers.

Something doesn't add up.

Indeed. They are rapidly trying to divest themselves of more responsbilities in Strathclyde as they move towards a unified force.
I've got nothing against unified forces for Fire and Police services as the local links were broken years ago when the city forces and brigades were almalgamated into the regional set ups. The Ambulance service has been a Scottish wide service under the control of the NHS since the start of the 70's and it seems to work okay though the North Division does complain about a central belt biais from time to time.
What I'm more worried about is the unification merely being an excuse to cut back and privatise further. The Ambulance service for example who works with three control rooms for the whole of Scotland. Would that work for the police and fire services?

[The Egg Man]

It's maybe not as critical with Fire and Ambulance services where a good GPS system and a wee bit of savvy on the part of a 999 operator can normally get support to an incident with undue delay.

The challenge arises where police officers are based a considerable distance from their beat and don't have the same opportunity as in the past to build local knowledge and relationships. Yes, they can attend an incident quite quickly but if a witness says 'I saw who did it, it was a one armed man in a trenchcoat' the polis are likely to be none the wiser.

[RDR]

It's maybe not as critical with Fire and Ambulance services where a good GPS system and a wee bit of savvy on the part of a 999 operator can normally get support to an incident with undue delay.

The challenge arises where police officers are based a considerable distance from their beat and don't have the same opportunity as in the past to build local knowledge and relationships. Yes, they can attend an incident quite quickly but if a witness says 'I saw who did it, it was a one armed man in a trenchcoat' the polis are likely to be none the wiser.

I'd agree and it does seem at Strathclyde in the moment there are plans to downgrade some police stations which may well lead to police being based further away from local areas or having to got out of their areas fora considerable amount of time if they have prisoners for custody.

I'm not sure why this SNP administration is so fixated on cenralisation and mergers. Same thing is happening in the college sector. It doesn't seem as simple as bigger is cheaper cause it equals less back office functions and economies of scale.

[The Egg Man]

It's hard to see it as anything more than an ego trip.

[RDR]

It's hard to see it as anything more than an ego trip.

Maybe, but I'd like to see some sort of cost benefit analysis that actually shows some sort of benefit.
Every merger that has happened has actually cost money in the first instance.

[The Egg Man]

... and is often reversed a wee while later before any actual savings can be realised. Strathclyde Regional Council anyone?

[Dexter St. Clair]

Poor people benefited from Strathclyde Regional Council through a campaigning Social Work department. SRC organised a postal referendum which saw off the privatisation of water in Scotland. The people who moaned about Strathclyde were district councillors, residents of Milngavie , Thorntonhall and the Mearns and a number of their small minded lackeys. The Tories sought and took revenge. The losers were a smaller Glasgow and Argyle and Bute who were compensated by being handed the tax haven of Helensburgh. Remind me of the social triumphs of East Renfrewshire.

[Morroccomole]

On the point of private security companies within mainstream Policing, check this out
G4S security
and this
G4S security