Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

For all those who think every single member of the Police spend all day doing nothing more than hiding behind bushes with a speed gun Greater Manchester Police are tweeting every single incident they deal with for a 24 hour period.

http://www.gmp.police.uk/

Some complete waste of time calls already and some of the more 'sensitive' jobs won't be published but I reckon it's a good idea and should create a debate about what the police deal with (the general rule right now is if it's on fire call with fire brigade, if it's bleeding call an ambulance. For everything else call the police) and if they should be concentrating on the core stuff.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

What if its an arsonist who falls and cuts his hand?

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I think it's a good idea too. It's a great pity that some of those who make such silly claims don't get out there and try the job as a special - I bet most wouldn't last long but it probably wouldn't stop them spouting nonsense.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I wish all forces could do this every day... then we might see if they are reacting to calls made to them by us!

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Call the no win, no fee personal accident claims line??? :D

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

From what I've read on this so far, it does seem we'll only hear of the more interesting call outs, but I hope they also include the "33.6 in a 30, gotcha !! Only two left today to meet my target" tweets.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Its actually Police PR Staff tweeting incidents, not actual officers, because that would take officers off of the beat, which isn't good (especially in Manchester :))

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Gotta love the fake accounts...

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Yeah, there were some amusing ones, however, I was keeping up with the official feed on the GMP website :)

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Well Derek do you think it was a good decision overall?

Personally if it does make TPTB rethink about how to view and measure crime stats and what the police do on a day to day basis it can only be a good thing especially for the public's perceptions.

However I think that this government will just impose cuts willynilly because the alternative is way too expensive to set up.:(

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I think it's a good idea and there should be far more transparency in the justice system overall with all court results published online.

From the tweets ive seen GMP have the same issues as most other forces with harassment via facebook and SMS being favourites and the same people calling 15-20 times a day.

It also showed the police work that can't be measured. How do you league table the amount of checks on welfare? Give awards to the force with the least dead people behind doors?

---------- Post added at 08:50 ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 ----------

Two people who deserve a slap.

In what way are either of these Police issues?

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I saw one yesterday that was a parent calling up to find out where their 16 yr old daughter could stay while the caller went on holiday!

Honestly that is not a Police issue!

It was a good idea and really interesting reading some of the things they deal with. I would love Strathclyde Police to do that!

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Here's a more direct link to the tweets:

http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/24hourtweets.htm

---------- Post added at 14:38 ---------- Previous post was at 14:36 ----------

Whilst I agree it would have been better if her call had been aimed at social services, or the local children's services, at least she bothered to check. Some mothers wouldn't have given a hoot.

---------- Post added at 14:43 ---------- Previous post was at 14:38 ----------

Well, of course they are not but some people with mental health issues (whether diagnosed or not) should be flagged to someone.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I wasnt aware stupidity was a mental health issue :dozey:

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Some people who call 999, for what seems frivolous reasons, are generally those who have a mental illness. Yes, many of them are certainly because they are just stupid, or think they are being funny, but for some it is an extension of a diminished mental state.