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All too often the public’s answer to the ‘have you heard the story’ question is a simple ‘no’! We are not good at giving information about what we do, too often producing the modern day Unfinished Symphony! The Policing Pledge does give us this responsibility and most teams now have webpage updates covering action that they take, however there is still great variety. Some are really newsy and interesting to read; some are still ‘proceeding in a westerly direction’! I would challenge all to seek feedback as to whether their articles are readable and interesting.
It used to be the case that many court results would be reported in the local press. This is now rare, and information made available to local people is scarcer. It can also be difficult for staff to get hold of these court results. Essex Police Officers are normally updated with specific court results by internal e-mail and Her Majesty’s Court Service has developed a Courts Enquiry Service that allows any officer to get a result within 72 hours through a force specific point of contact. Suffolk Police have been able to publish lists of court results accessible from each of their team websites, in addition to the general updates of action taken on local priorities.
I’ll leave you with a little (finished) story that I hope will not be taken as a metaphorical guide to good policing practice!
A company chairman was given a ticket for a performance of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. Since he was unable to go, he passed the invitation to the company's Quality Assurance Manager.
The next morning, the chairman asked him how he enjoyed it and, instead of a few plausible observations, he was handed a memorandum:
For a considerable period, the oboe players had nothing to do. Their number should be reduced, and their work spread over the whole orchestra, thus avoiding peaks of inactivity.
All twelve violins were playing identical notes. This seems unnecessary duplicative, and the staff of this section should be drastically cut. If a large volume of sound is really required, this could be obtained through the use of an amplifier.
Much effort was involved in playing the demi-semiquavers. This seems an excessive refinement, and it is recommended that all notes should be rounded up to the nearest semiquaver. If this were done, it would be possible to use trainees instead of craftsmen.
No useful purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage that has already been handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages were eliminated, the concert could be reduced from two hours to twenty minutes.
In light of the above, one can only conclude that had Schubert given proper attention to these matters, he probably would have had the time to finish his symphony.
Field Officer Contact Details:
E-mail: tim.peacock@npia.pnn.police.uk
Mobile: 07802 263 260
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