South Wales Police: Thieftakers, or Publicity Seekers?

by johnofgwent

I'm getting more than a bit fed up of seeing and hearing Barbara Wilding.

Because in my personal opinion her job is to organise her not inconsiderable resource of professionals into doing as much thieftaking as they can with the resources she is given.

That is, after all, what Sir Robert Peel set out to do with his Bow Street Runners, was it not ?

And while the police have moved into a position where they now control aspects of our lives unthinkable to the man who invented them, inclding restricting our ability to collect photographic evidence when they cross the (ever-expanding) line, all I hear from this woman is whinge whinge whinge.

First she whinges that her authority is not going to get the money they felt would fall off the conveyor belt automatically as it does year in, year out.

Then she whinges that she needs an extra million pounds to police Cardiff because it is the Capital of Wales because the Scottish police get extra money to police Edinburgh the capital of Scotland. Note carefully that she does not say what she wants the extra million pounds for - just that she wants it. If she had said that the expansion of Cardiff Council's outrageous denial of the use of the streets to motorists policy had turned the streets near the centre into no-go areas where muggers run rife because no-one in their right mind passes by, and so she needs fifry more policemen, then maybe I might have had some sympathy.

But no, she decided her approach will be "they get it north of hadrians wall, so I should get it down here".

And on the subject of what she is getting, how is the freedom of information request for details of her sdalary and bonusses doing ? Because her whinges so far sound more like the whinge of Halifax Bank Of Scotland's wunch of bankers that they are not getting the same gravy train deal that their counterparts in Barclays got, and look where that got us

But does this woman stop her whingeing ? No she does not. Peeved at being put in her place by those who have to chuck her the endless sackfuls of cash, she launches a press campaign to belittle those who fund her, threatening to remove patrols from the motorways (but there are none anyway - they all skulk on overbridges raising revenue with speed cameras) and then tries to blackmail the welsh rugby union with threats that she will use her multitude of powers to cancel the six nations rugby matches at the millenium stadium.

And now she dexcides that she will waste christ knows how many barrowloads of twenty pound notes paying lawyers to mount a legal challenge to the amount it has been decided she will be handed.

Now I have a message for Barbara Wilding.

Even the "spend, spend, spend" maniacs who run Plaid Cymru have realised there is no cash left in the bucket for Rhodri to dish out to their pet projects. Which is why Plaid and Labour are having a bit of a tussle over subsidies to education, and why Teh Deputy First Minister is not exactly being feted by his party's ruling council right now.

So why should she be any different ?

Why indeed.

The reason for Rhodri's new found thrift is of course there's an election coming soon and he was almost thrown off his throne in the Cardiff Bay Hot Air Pit last time.

I say it is time Chief Constables had to face the same electoral music.

And there is only one political party whose manifesto includes the demand for chief constables to be elected in order to be accountable to the people that they are supposed to protect.

You know who that is.