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Hi all, hope this is the correct place to make my first post? I've been a browser before but never really had time to post but I was prompted to record a few recollections having spent an evening recently reminiscing with some former work colleagues.
We were chatting about the way things have changed with regard to policing in the last couple of decades, in terms of attitudes (to and by), looks, attire and place in society. I worked with the Met Police (not as a copper) throughout the latter part of the seventies and the eighties and even though it is not a generation away, it feels like a different world.
I am convinced that the training then was more intense and produced individuals with a better perception of what their role was in society as well as what was required from them. I remember an officer bursting with pride at having secured the committal of a case to the Crown Court and receiving hearty congratulations for doing so. That sense of achievement disappeared with the introduction of the CPS. Of course - and it almost goes without saying - that officers look to be younger nowadays but young definately equalled mature more back then and I recall the steps that were taken to provide the sort of opportunities that might now be restricted to the more experienced.
One of my roles was to assist with 'stores' and I remember how little uniform equipment existed back than compared with now. Long gone are the days when the issue of a couple of clip-on ties and shoulder epaulettes complimented uniform shirt(s), trousers and a jacket (not forgetting the helmet, of course!). Now, the host of accessories stretches way, way beyond. And does the more casual overall (water-proofing looking) image look smarter?
It amused me hearing in the latter days officers discussing the most suitable and appropriate boots. I remember when we had a row of different-sized boots in the store for those occasions when an officer felt his shoes might not offer adequate protection!
Mind you, it all had it's lighter moments. There was a memorable occasion when a very young constable found himself at the wrong magistrates court to give evidence in a trial and had to get the bus to the correct location. On his out-of-breath-and-flustered arrival he was almost man-handled into the courtroom by a furious warrant officer sergeant, angered that 'his' magistrates had been kept waiting. Sometime later, according to the court clerk, there was a somewhat strange watery-pattering sound in the courtroom, accompanied by a panic-stricken young officer's sudden silence and fixated stare in the direction of his feet - as the unfortunate PC, erm - went to the toilet, standing in the witness box!!
Can you imagine such subservience in today's world? And probably rightly not so.
I ended up driving the mortified lad, in my green Ford Cortina, back to the nick and my lasting memory is of him sitting alongside me in a pair of those awful black slip-on shoes (you know the ones with the two little elastic bits at the top?) and some fawn or beige-coloured nylon socks!! It wasn't his day, was it?
I suppose in today's world of boots and new-style conbat-type trousers, socks are no longer an issue but in the early eighties, when white towelline socks were considered fashionable, I recall a few sock inspections and several 'horrific' discoveries!!
How on earth would a police officer respond to having his socks checked nowadays!!!
Anyway, enough from me for now.
Hopefully I can contribute again soon.
We were chatting about the way things have changed with regard to policing in the last couple of decades, in terms of attitudes (to and by), looks, attire and place in society. I worked with the Met Police (not as a copper) throughout the latter part of the seventies and the eighties and even though it is not a generation away, it feels like a different world.
I am convinced that the training then was more intense and produced individuals with a better perception of what their role was in society as well as what was required from them. I remember an officer bursting with pride at having secured the committal of a case to the Crown Court and receiving hearty congratulations for doing so. That sense of achievement disappeared with the introduction of the CPS. Of course - and it almost goes without saying - that officers look to be younger nowadays but young definately equalled mature more back then and I recall the steps that were taken to provide the sort of opportunities that might now be restricted to the more experienced.
One of my roles was to assist with 'stores' and I remember how little uniform equipment existed back than compared with now. Long gone are the days when the issue of a couple of clip-on ties and shoulder epaulettes complimented uniform shirt(s), trousers and a jacket (not forgetting the helmet, of course!). Now, the host of accessories stretches way, way beyond. And does the more casual overall (water-proofing looking) image look smarter?
It amused me hearing in the latter days officers discussing the most suitable and appropriate boots. I remember when we had a row of different-sized boots in the store for those occasions when an officer felt his shoes might not offer adequate protection!
Mind you, it all had it's lighter moments. There was a memorable occasion when a very young constable found himself at the wrong magistrates court to give evidence in a trial and had to get the bus to the correct location. On his out-of-breath-and-flustered arrival he was almost man-handled into the courtroom by a furious warrant officer sergeant, angered that 'his' magistrates had been kept waiting. Sometime later, according to the court clerk, there was a somewhat strange watery-pattering sound in the courtroom, accompanied by a panic-stricken young officer's sudden silence and fixated stare in the direction of his feet - as the unfortunate PC, erm - went to the toilet, standing in the witness box!!
Can you imagine such subservience in today's world? And probably rightly not so.
I ended up driving the mortified lad, in my green Ford Cortina, back to the nick and my lasting memory is of him sitting alongside me in a pair of those awful black slip-on shoes (you know the ones with the two little elastic bits at the top?) and some fawn or beige-coloured nylon socks!! It wasn't his day, was it?
I suppose in today's world of boots and new-style conbat-type trousers, socks are no longer an issue but in the early eighties, when white towelline socks were considered fashionable, I recall a few sock inspections and several 'horrific' discoveries!!
How on earth would a police officer respond to having his socks checked nowadays!!!
Anyway, enough from me for now.
Hopefully I can contribute again soon.
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