It had to happen. They are privatising the Police.

[Gromit]

// Private security firms could investigate some crimes and patrol neighbourhoods under plans being drawn up for police in England and Wales. //

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17242956

Good or bad?

[naomi24]

Bad – and apart from that surely it has to be more cost effective to employ more people directly rather than farm the work out and create ‘middle men’.

[rojash]

Let's say I have a budget of 1.5 Billion to spend on policing. I can spend it directly or I can give it to a private company. The private company has to make a profit and pay some of it in dividends to shareholders.
So, one way 1.5 billion gets spent on policing and it costs me 1.5 billion, the other way, (say) 1.2 billion gets spent on policing, 0.3 billion goes into the pockets of the shareholders, and it's still cost me 1.5 billion.

Of course when I say "I have" I mean "the taxpayer has", when I say "I give", I mean "the government gives", and when I say "a private company" I mean "a company that contributes to the Tory party's coffers".

As usual, the Tories are looking for ways of taking money from the taxpayer and giving it to their mates.

[naomi24]

Rojash, //As usual, the Tories are looking for ways of taking money from the taxpayer and giving it to their mates.//

That's not entirely fair. The Labour government did the same.

http://www.independen...up-4-van-1253901.html

[emmie]

not good, i would rather they ploughed money in the police force, get rid of the so called community police and beefed up the bobbies on the beat, foot patrols are more effective than fat plods sitting in their cars.

[HowardKennitby]

As long as the level of policing is the same or better it makes no difference.

[jno]

I doubt it's being done to improve the service; saving money is more likely. The price to be paid will be loss of accountability. If Surrey's security firm hires Glen Mulcaire to hack a few phones, will anyone in the police force, let alone parliament, take responsibility?

[vulcan]

The only place civilians should work is within the police stations, dealing with phone calls, paper work etc, thus freeing up police personnel for the streets. What's the point of employing more people who are unable to make arrests ? What happens when these security people see a burglar leaving a building ? "excuse me, would you mind hanging about until I can call a proper policeman"?.

[rojash]

You're right of course Naomi. But the Tories do seem hell-bent on going a lot further, including of course, privatising the NHS.

[birdie1971]

It's a dreadful idea. The employees of these private companies will not have the same powers of arrest that ordinary coppers do and quite rightly so. However, I doubt that this minor inconvenience will stop certain individuals from attempting to use such powers. Expect to see a massive rise in cases of assaults on members of the public as a result.

It's also worth mentioning that it is a criminal office to impersonate a police officer.

[woofgang]

rojash, the current nhs plans including contracting out were formulated and started under the labour government

ha my spellchecker just offered me "layabout" for labour!

[ludwig]

as predicted by Fry and Laurie..

[exdc]

"What happens when these security people see a burglar leaving a building"

Arrest them for Burglary

[ladybirder]

ludwig, thanks, that was funny. Don' they look young.

[nungate]

Question. If the money can be found to pay private security firms to do policing work, why can't they use the money for that to employ more police?
Or am I being daft?