Propper Copper

Ok so why are 29% of @metpoliceuk Officers looking to leave as soon as possible or within the next two years? 👀 The overriding reason, is the stress that is generated by such a demanding job. 🙃 The stress that’s caused a perpetual exodus of Cops from BCUs since they began in 2017. BCUs are ‘Basic Command Units’ not exactly an inspiring name I agree, and they were created by the then Commissioner in response to the Met somehow owing the government £400 million. The answer? Selling 2/3s of Police Stations, firing thousands of Police Staff and merging 32 boroughs in to 12 BCUs. Something policing seems to really not understand or grasp is identity. Cops were proud of the boroughs they worked on, proud to look after ‘their part’ of London. They also enjoyed the routine of six on four off and a ‘clear slate’ when they came back in. ‘Mi Investigation’ has been an unmitigated disaster from its inception and continues to be. It’s also not been reviewed since it began…🤷🏼‍♂️ So removing borough identities, removing the one social area available to Cops; canteens, arguably one of the few calming rooms in police stations, and then increasing the work load of the most stressed Cops was never going to work was it? What do they buy into? Why would they? To the point we have next to no experience left on the teams who the public see day after day. And they in turn are burnt out, because there aren’t enough to them to respond to the demand and morale sadly is through the floor. 😞 Proactivity has become a dirty word. Stabbings continue weekly, yet Cops are deterred to stop and search because they fear a complaint, going viral and being charged with a criminal offence and potentially losing not just their job but their liberty too, for doing what the public expect of them. 🔪 So Cops move away from BCUs or try to re balance their lives a little. Those that do find a role they enjoy may try to stay for the rest of their career or they may lose sight of why they joined in the first place and want to leave. 😔 Traffic officers question why they should pursue criminals, if they may face allegations of dangerous driving themselves? 🚔 And firearms officers, as we all know, are utterly demoralised, not because they mind scrutiny, but because the scrutiny isn’t timely and is played out like a macabre pantomime in the media. 📱 There’s also a real lack of understanding of what Cops do go through in a set of shifts. One minute you’re chasing burglars over garden fences and the next you’re picking up a piece of human brain so that a road can be reopened after someone’s lost their life in a collision. ⚠️ It’s a dark and murky world, where the wage isn’t even enough to build a life in the city you protect. 💰 Finally, the shadow left every time another corrupt or criminal Cops is identified, falls on all of us. Being called a murderer repeatedly and hysterically whilst you’re trying to police a protest will get to the best of us after prolonged exposure. 😓 So it’s not a simple answer, and doesn’t have a simple solution, but I’d argue that’s probably why we’re in the situation we’re in right now. 🤷🏼‍♂️ #ThinBlueLine 🚨