Five of the worst

Hampshire Police had a rough time at a local meeting in Thornhill recently. Residents there seemed to expect the police to actually arrest young thugs whose acts of vandalism had caused the suspension of the area's nighttime bus services. However, the police rep said they would have to make do with five do-nothings, or as he terms them, PCSOs.

Hampshire Police Farce (sic)

Hampshire Police have earned the ire (ooo!) of the race-based National Black Police Association, after inviting back a potential candidate who failed the Structured Entrance Assessment for Recruiting Constables Holistically (ye Gods! what overpaid jobsworth thought that title up?).

The applicant failed a role-playing exercise in which he had to pretend to be a shopping-centre boss dealing with racist graffiti about an employee, played by an actress. He thought the priority should be to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible (i.e. the common sense approach which normal people would expect), but said the assessor expected him to spend more time on the racist aspect and its effect on staff and customers. As a result, he scored 57 per cent – three per cent below the pass mark. But the force told him that a "dramatic decline" in the number of candidates passing the test led them to review some cases – including his own – and that he could continue with his application.

So. We have PCSOs who let young kids drown whilst they stand by and do nothing, and PCs who are expected to ignore criminal damage in favour of 'racial awareness'. They no longer have a police force in Hampshire. Farce, more like.

But there were no flashing neon signs!

Hampshire Police have come up with what must be a strong contender for Worst Excuse of the Year Award. On being told that Jean O' Sullivan was missing, they searched her house and found - nothing. However, a second search eighteen days later did find Mrs. O' Sullivan's body - in her house! But Hampshire Police do have a reason for their failure to spot her dead body - searching the house was 'difficult'. Presumably because there were no flashing neon signs stating 'Dead Body Here!!!!'