Somnus Awake
Every so often we have a training day. We’re supposed to learn things which help us to do our job better such as new legislation & procedures. We often just have repetitious, condescending training on diversity. We’re paid a full wage for training but we waste it with meaningless drivel which the social engineering department of the government say we must have. Everyone knows it’s complete shite & is not helping to break down social barriers or increase social cohesion, it just breeds resentment from almost everyone who has to sit through the drivel & gains a tick in the chief constable’s ‘I’ve done my bit’ box.
We once spent a whole afternoon designing a poster on the subject "What does diversity mean to us?" We couldn’t actually say what diversity meant to us as we’d get in trouble, we just had to say what we thought the ‘facilitators’ wanted us to say.
Sometimes we get to question the bosses. It makes no difference when re raise points of concern. We just get told to bear in mind ‘the larger picture’. You can tell the superintendent has no intention of actually answering the question you put to him, he keeps repeating the first semi-syllable of the first word of his sentence until he gets to give his speil which answers nothing except what’s on his agenda. It’s a battle of wills, he keeps waiting for the gap to interject his response & you keep talking knowing that it you pause before you get to the end of the point you’re making he will spout forth on a filibustering reply guaranteed to bore you totally shitless into either forgetting the point you set out to make or losing the will to live, whichever comes first.
I think they must go on the same course that politicians appearing on on ‘Any Questions’ go on.
The second half of training is the worst, it’s the time when you’re most susceptible to catatonic states of sleep & they always send in Ms Boring-voice 2007 to send you deeper into a state of somnambulance.
When you’ve been off for a week or so, the first day back you want isn’t a training day.
some bloke says:
My job provides similar training in all kinds of wonderful unconnected stuff including diversity.
Good post and this bit struck home
“We couldn’t actually say what diversity meant to us as we’d get in trouble, we just had to say what we thought the ‘facilitators’ wanted us to say”
We are firmly warned that any ‘ negative input ‘ could lead to disciplinary action so we sit through it like sheep.
I missed a one day-session due to illness but one of those responsible said ” Oh, don’t worry ( as if ) we’ve provided the training ” (ie Our backs are covered and we don’t care if you have actually recieved the training or not ).
Of the sessions that I have attended,even if I agreed that the training was usefull in principle, I genuinly believe that what is provided is third rate and amateurish; either my employer is being ripped off or they simply do not care because they are only going through the motions themselves.
June 5th, 2008 at 4:43 am
Litew8 says:
I hate training days… my employer has the best intentions, and whoever has the unenviable task of trying to animate a team of otherwise professional and time-pressured people who don’t want to be there; should be felt sorry for… the worst thing is when the tealady (yes we do still have one!) arrives… attentions are entirely focused on that trolley with the blah-blah from the trainer fading into nothingness (if a tree fell in the woods, and there was no-one to hear it… would it still make a sound?)… sometimes the biscuits is the only thing keeping us sane…
L.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Litew8 says:
Hi 200, saw this and would be interested on your thoughts… I am curious how such calls are handled and thought I’d ask you…:
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is independently investigating the actions of Warwickshire Police following the death of a 60-year-old woman from Rugby.
At approximately 8.50am on 12 May 2008 Police received a silent 999 call. The police control room made a number of unsuccessful attempts to contact the caller by phone but the line was constantly engaged. Warwickshire Police did not dispatch anyone to the address in Norman Road, Rugby until 3.25pm the same afternoon. At this time an officer discovered the body of resident Anne Traynor, aged 60. Police believe there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
The Force referred the matter to the IPCC and IPCC Commissioner John Crawley determined that an independent investigation should be undertaken. He commented: “Our investigation is examining the way Warwickshire Police dealt with the initial call, and why resources were not deployed much earlier when no response was obtained to repeated calls to the number.â€
Source: PoliceOracle.com
June 5th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Tony F says:
Most of my current training is ‘on the job’. But when I was in the services in the early 90’s they decided to take on ISO9000 accreditation and TQM!!! FFS! TQM standards were bar far lower than our then current working practices. We were lectured for 3 solid days of forced sleeping and ‘workshops’. At the end of it, we were asked what we thought about it. I got a right bollocking after I pointed out that in the military, we had a chain of command that could not be overruled by fancy ideas, and that when the shit hits the fan, one person is in charge and we all don’t get into a meeting decide what is ‘best practice’ I hate to think what it cost the tax payer then, and I suspect this sort of nonsense still goes on.
June 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
200 says:
LiteW8,
I can’t comment for any other force but our procedure on this would be that if we got no response to an abandoned call from a private address, we would send a unit to check. Ideally this would be within about half an hour of the time decision would be made to attend (not including time to make a few attempts to ring).
Of course, if there are no units free due to other incidents which may well take priority I can see it taking a few hours to get there.
The problem is that we get lots of abandoned 999 calls every day & the vast majority are either faulty lines or kids playing with the phone.
There aren’t enough officers to deal with everything else let alone sending someone to check on every abandoned 999 call.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:12 pm