This weekend’s Tory press assault on ACPO came as a bit of a shock. Both the Telegraph and Mail on Sunday put the knife into the association which, I would say, has had a pretty good press up until now.
Like most people, my image of ACPO was of a group of Chief Constables who met to discuss policing principles and best practice.
Having worked alongside them closely during the introduction of the ACPO intruder alarms policy a few years ago, I regarded the organisation as a professional body with the public interest at heart. Nothing since has changed my view.
If their demands ruffled industry feathers at the time – of both manufacturers and installers – it was because it was necessary to guarantee a future for the intruder alarms sector.
Over recent years I was aware of a drift towards the commercial, with ACPO-endorsed products, but what’s so bad about that? Installers and users want products they can trust.
But the full-blown assault on the organisation from reports like this and this seemed to really put the boot into their generally good public image.
Was it some kind of right wing bundle on our Chief Constables?
A little web searching shows that this Libertarian site has been saying similar things about ACPO for some time. And sources such as the Guardian show that these criticisms are not confined to the right wing press.
Smeared with the same brush
Unfortunately, in these times of daily stories on political sleaze and dishonesty, when trusted institutions such as our banks are shown to be morally corrupt and incompetent, there is a public willingness to believe the worse.
People get angrier in a recession and will not accept situations they might tolerate in better times.
The public’s disgust at our MPs’ expenses and allowances set-up is as strong as its anger over the bonuses awarded to irresponsible bankers who have ruined the lives of so many.
I cannot remember such a groundswell of public loathing for our representatives both in government and opposition.
They have brought this upon themselves. Instead of admitting these expense payments and allowances are ethically wrong they have defended them, highlighting the stark difference between their lives and ours.
Most people who are fortunate enough to have “expenses” have to produce a receipt for a cheese roll and cup of railway coffee.
Our MPs – through their self-made rules – can rack up a fortune in payouts, no questions asked.
Such double standards show how wretchedly out of touch they are.
Internet? What’s that?
Of course, the internet, with its blogs, chat rooms and reader response, was not around during the last recession.
If you thought government and institutions were corrupt or incompetent then, you would have shared your opinions with a few like-minded newspaper columnists and letter writers.
The internet has revealed the huge numbers who are seething with anger. These people now know that there are millions of others who feel exactly the same way.
As we go deeper into the financial mire it would be wise for politicos of all parties to root out what is perceived to be dishonesty from the top down.
A stouter defence
Unfortunately this general distrust of all authority is now smearing on to organisations like ACPO which has enjoyed a positive public profile.
ACPO has, of course defended itself on its website but perhaps, in the face of such criticism, a stouter defence – possibly in a question and answer format tackling the different points – should be posted there.
The police increasingly, and often unfairly, seem to get a bad press. ACPO should remember that, while the internet is often the chosen weapon for attack, it can also be used defensively.
Same old story
Security has dominated a lot of the press in the last couple of weeks.
There was the House of Lords report “Surveillance: Citizens and the State”. Here we go again – photos of CCTV cameras in the press and on the news – the perfect picture to illustrate the Orwellian society.
But haven’t we been here before? How many reports on “Surveillance” do we have to have before “CCTV” and “databases” can be separated at birth?
These two concepts are not joined at the hip. They might both come from the same mother but one is generally liked – CCTV, the good guy – and one is generally disliked – database collections, the bad guy.
It doesn’t seem we are ever going to get a surgeon along to do this separation. CCTV will be forever linked with its nasty sibling until the security industry comes out firmly against this creeping database culture.
If you go through this report merely highlighting in a search these two different words, you will find that, although there is concern about who has access to images, there is a very great deal of public support for CCTV that reduces crime and helps protect people.
Similarly, there is a great deal of fear and concern about the increasing database culture and all the dangerous control freakery that goes with it.
No matter. To every outsider they are still considered in the same breath.
I used to believe the creeping database culture was part of an establishment plot to keep tabs on us against our will. Despite the huge number of appalling data losses this was just a necessary setback in the march towards the government’s insane goal to control us for the sake of control itself.
Now I believe it’s just IT technology that’s gotten out of hand. It can be done so it’s done – and usually not very well, despite the cost.
For the good of CCTV, the security industry must campaign against, and distance itself from, this insidious database culture that very few people want.
Even those as well in the know as Dame Stella Rimington – “the real ‘M'” – sense the imminent dangers. And just observing the news, there seems to be increasing opposition to national identity database. Pilots don’t want it and the Scottish Government doesn’t want it.
A Welsh MP wants it but he wants it in Welsh.
Democracy in action
Then there was the Coroners and Justice Bill. Doesn’t sound very interesting, does it?
But just look into it (not easy considering the very little press coverage it had) and you’ll see the bill is a real shocker.
It is said to threaten constitutional rights and civil liberties and turn us into a “less free country”.
Secret inquests? What next?
Quite a lot – including the sharing of our data by all government departments, and a lot of other people.
According to this writer (one of only two journalists said to have attended the select committee), the secret inquests issue will draw all the parliamentary attention.
Then there won’t be any time to discuss the “huge issue of the uncontrolled sharing of personal information between government departments and agencies”.
Why? Because our MPs, currently on a ten-day break, will be going on their holidays – seventeen days for Easter and ten days for Whitsun.
For a more detailed report of what this database sharing means you might be interested in this report from Privacy International. Download the pdf. Frightening stuff.
Not tonight darling, I’ve got a recession
The recession is changing society. Staying in is the new going out. Long queues at cut price supermarkets, fast food restaurants having a field day at the expense of pricier eateries, Great British holidays in the rain instead of exotic foreign destinations.
If you can believe it, according to this positive thought message from the BBC, losing your job can make you happier.
But with many people worried about committing too far ahead, there must be quite a few in the security industry who are looking forward to that very expensive occasion, their wedding, with a little trepidation.
If it’s not already too far advanced, you might contemplate being spliced at sea.
Forget the average GB pound 19,000 wedding bill. You could get the whole thing thrown in for “little more than GB pound 2,000” – honeymoon and all.
McDonalds and Burger King could capitalise on this. How long before we see the fast food recession wedding for the recently unemployed? Vicar in silly baseball cap, sectioned off area, burgers all round, free white balloons, toys for the kids, out in an hour and all less than your job seekers allowance?
Do you want fries with it?
