Police Also Have High Pressure Targets

Watching the news last week I found it amusing to see a report on traffic wardens who give tickets to motorists simply because they have targets to hit.

People were outraged that fines were being issued instead of a bit of discretion, purely on the basis that the wardens had figures they were aiming for. Sitting in the police canteen at work, I raised an eyebrow. Sadly the police is not too dissimilar in that we also have high pressure targets to hit.

Although results are a way in which the police can be measured, unfortunately I see it every day having a negative effect on the genuine victims of crime. When an incident happens, the first police unit should head for the victim, make sure they are okay, obtain as much information as possible and circulate it to the other units. The officers could spend a lengthy period of their shift depending on what they’re dealing with, consoling the victim, taking statements and looking after their wellbeing. While this is happening, another officer could breeze in, arrest the suspect and get the points which go towards their personal target. Suddenly, going to help the victim doesn’t seem so appealing anymore, when everyone knows it won’t help them hit their quotas.

The other day a call came out that a shop had been robbed by a number of males who were armed with weapons. The surrounding area was flooded with patrol cars searching for the suspects who had been seen nearby. As vehicles began sweeping roads and officers on foot patrol started checking front gardens, calls continually came in from other informants stating they had seen suspicious males jump through their garden. Each time one of these calls came in, pandemonium would occur with cars passing each other in a desperate bid to collar the crooks.

I happened to be in one of these cars and had my belt off, ready to get out sprinting after anyone that I happened to see hiding somewhere. Twenty minutes had passed since the original call came out and we needed more information.

“Officers with the victim,” I said into my radio. “Do you have any more descriptions on the suspects?”

The radio went quiet so I tried again. Suddenly our control room crackled over the airwaves informing us that they had no reports that anyone had gone to the victim. On hearing that at least one suspect had been arrested by a nearby unit, we dashed to the victim and found them alone and upset.

I then spent the next four hours gaining information and writing a painstakingly detailed statement from the victim which I had no problem with doing. I knew that my behaviour would have a direct impact on how the victim felt and how they portrayed the police. What I did not get however, is any recognition of my work and more importantly in the eyes of the management team, any points for the arrest which could make me appear a lazy officer.

I have seen cases where units deliberately take a longer route to get to the scene of a crime in order that they are not first on scene and so do not have to deal with the victim – instead cracking on with their hunt for the valuable points.

I think it is sad that officers are now under so much pressure to get results that they will avoid dealing with the victim in order that they can get an arrest instead and therefore get the management team off their back. It’s a shame that senior officers become politicians and forget about real policing. But if better statistics is what they want rather than best policing practices, then that is what they shall get.