The Policeman’s Blog (via What’s New on the UK Legal Web?). On closed-circuit TV:
bq. The widespread use of CCTV in British town centres is not without its problems. The first of these is that it allows to police to arrive at situations very early on when people are highly agitated and anxious to make complaints of assault against people who happen to be standing next to them. This sets up a trail of bureaucracy which will ultimately result in the arrest, appearance in court and acquittal of both parties. A large part of my work consists of arresting people who make accusations about other people and subsequently end up getting arrested themselves. If I can generate crime numbers and get them to court I can improve my detection rate, I can also earn a bit of overtime by conducting the relevant enquiries, so its all win, win, win: Newtown police detection rate goes up, the participants get the satisfaction of seeing their drunken acquaintances in court and Mrs C. gets a new frock.
Walking the Streets, a traffic warden’s diary:
bq. Between one thing and another this isn’t such a bad way to make a living. The pay is better than being a Supermarket Shelf Stacker and once out of the office, you’re your own person. No time to be bored. Every day as they say, is a whole new ball game.