52 replies to this topic

[Cheetah]

2012 Olympic torch police counselling 'barking mad'

The police guard for the 70-day Olympic torch relay will be offered psychological counselling to help them "reintegrate" after the event.

Some 28 unarmed Metropolitan Police officers will guard the Olympic flame as it journeys around the UK in 2012.

A spokesman said they were "mindful" the officers would be away from home and said staff welfare was paramount.

But critics said the "barking mad" offer of counselling was a waste of resources.

The torch will leave Land's End, Cornwall, on the morning of 19 May.

The route, which covers every nation and region in the UK, will see the torch travel 8,000 miles before arriving in London for the start of the Olympics.

A minimum of two police officers will accompany the torch bearer at all times.

A Met spokesman said: "We recognise this is a unique policing role never performed within British policing.

"Mindful of the fact that officers will be taken away from their homes for 70 days, their reintegration back into the Met after the event is already being carefully planned.

"The welfare of our staff is of paramount importance."

He continued: "Occupational health specialists are already developing plans.

"The Met already has specialists who work with officers. These include counsellors, occupational psychologists and other medical staff."

London Assembly Member Jenny Jones, who sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority committee, said: "It sounds barking mad.

"A briefing, fine, but counselling? What a waste of resources.

"All the time we're talking about value for money and then we have the Met doing this."


Source BBC News

Edited by Cheetah, 03 June 2011 - 11:37 AM.

[LankyDan]

"The Met already has specialists who work with officers. These include counsellors, occupational psychologists and other medical staff."

London Assembly Member Jenny Jones, who sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority committee, said: "It sounds barking mad.

"A briefing, fine, but counselling? What a waste of resources.

"All the time we're talking about value for money and then we have the Met doing this."

Overkill?

[Killicksparker]

A spokesman said they were "mindful" the officers would be away from home and said staff welfare was paramount.



"Mindful of the fact that officers will be taken away from their homes for 70 days, their reintegration back into the Met after the event is already being carefully planned.

Ahh, Bless 'em! .... Good job they weren't in the Navy - Standard patrol - 90 days without ever seeing land, Deployments - a hell of a lot longer than that. Counciling - don't make me laugh.
The only counciling I needed was a pint with my mates when I got back (and the chance to tell some sailors yarns !!)

[Rocket]

Of course they will need counselling, the are Met and have probably never ventured outside the confines of the M25 before. It'll be a shock for them if they come across strange beasties such as cows and sheep. There will be grass and trees too and all these things will be new and scary to them.

[Enraged flea 1]

My friends did not seem to need or get counselling after 2 tours in Iraq........then again I guess they we not guarding a touch for 90 days pffftt give me a break.


And I think I speak for a lot of people when I say 90 days away from the family ....... No cleaning, Kids (if you have them), being nagged, going out after work for a pint, having control of the remote if they stay in hotels.

give them some money for the local Takeaways and you can shove the counselling where the sun does not shine. Or at least that is what my reply would be.

[Burnie]

Ahh, Bless 'em! .... Good job they weren't in the Navy - Standard patrol - 90 days without ever seeing land, Deployments - a hell of a lot longer than that. Counciling - don't make me laugh.
The only counciling I needed was a pint with my mates when I got back (and the chance to tell some sailors yarns !!)

Especially if your deployment was in a big steel coffin that stays between the seafloor and the surface most of the time....

[Killicksparker]

Especially if your deployment was in a big steel coffin that stays between the seafloor and the surface most of the time....

Ahh, you know me so well !!

[Rorschach]

Sounds pretty silly to me too, but lets not make a mountain out of a molehill. Occupational health and counsilling services are available to police officer at any time, for whatever reason.

It does sound like this "met spokesperson", whoever they are, doesn't have much faith in the resilience of police officers, but seems like a bit of a non-story to me.

[TCambs]

Non-story. Occupational health are always there if an officer has problems. It seems to me the crux of the story is that they're saying they're preparing for the eventuality of someone coming to see them as they have been away from home which seems entirely sensible. I'm sure counseling is not going to be forced on officers.

I get an email every time I'm involved with a one under from Occupational Health to remind me that if I've had any issues I can go see them. Whether I take it up is neither here nor there but acknowledges the fact people deal with things in different ways and for some making jokes and going down to the pub doesn't help.

[Duffman]

Ahh, Bless 'em! .... Good job they weren't in the Navy - Standard patrol - 90 days without ever seeing land, Deployments - a hell of a lot longer than that. Counciling - don't make me laugh.

Hmmmm... the extra King's Shilling probably helped though....
90 days? Pah! Try 116 days at sea without touching land. Although we did have the advantage of seeing it....

[Four Plus One]

London Assembly Member Jenny Jones, who sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority committee, said: "It sounds barking mad.

"A briefing, fine, but counselling? What a waste of resources.

"All the time we're talking about value for money and then we have the Met doing this."

Maybe we could also get more value for money in not having to pay those like Jenny Jones £9,570 every year in an "allowance" (http://www.mpa.gov.u...r/list/02jones/)

With her background and wealth of experience (she spent ten years as an archeologist specializing in "analysing ancient bird droppings"-http://www.guardian....eb/19/uk.london) I'm sure her contribution to policing must be invaluable.

[TallGuy]

With her background and wealth of experience (she spent ten years as an archeologist specializing in "analysing ancient bird droppings"-http://www.guardian....eb/19/uk.london) I'm sure her contribution to policing must be invaluable.

Perhaps the job spec had a tick box for; Knows how to deal with getting shat on from a great height.

[AmISpecial]

Let me get this straight, they are sending the same group of met officers to guard it for the whole of the UK?

Why not just allocate teams within each force up and down the country to hand it over?

Problem Solved.

[Rocket]

Let me get this straight, they are sending the same group of met officers to guard it for the whole of the UK?

Why not just allocate teams within each force up and down the country to hand it over?

Problem Solved.

Because they are the Met, and rule the whole planet apparently.

BTW, Heart goes out to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson who has been unsuccessful in obtaining tickets to actually attend the Olympics.

[Hades]

Non-story. Occupational health are always there if an officer has problems. It seems to me the crux of the story is that they're saying they're preparing for the eventuality of someone coming to see them as they have been away from home which seems entirely sensible. I'm sure counseling is not going to be forced on officers.

I get an email every time I'm involved with a one under from Occupational Health to remind me that if I've had any issues I can go see them. Whether I take it up is neither here nor there but acknowledges the fact people deal with things in different ways and for some making jokes and going down to the pub doesn't help.

Exactly.

And if somebody does want to see Occupational Health then who are any of you other [critical] members to say they shouldn't need or accept the offer of it? It wouldn't be unrealistic to think that some officers might feel depressed or at least stressed from 70 odd days at work away from their family and home life.

[AmISpecial]

Because they are the Met, and rule the whole planet apparently.

BTW, Heart goes out to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson who has been unsuccessful in obtaining tickets to actually attend the Olympics.

I gathered that this might be the "reasoning" behind it all. Uh oh, looks like i upset a Met officer -1 for meee :'(

Edited by AmISpecial, 03 June 2011 - 05:31 PM.

[Hades]

I'm all for a bit of Met Bashing usually, but the two of you are just being offensive for no reason and with no basis to it.

It's being policed by the Met as a dedicated unit. It makes operational sense to have a specialist team carry out such a specialist role. The Olympics are being held in London which realistically leaves the Met with a sort of operational primary responsibility for it, particularly given their significant resources compared to other South-Eastern forces where almost all events are being held.

[Rocket]

I'm all for a bit of Met Bashing usually, but the two of you are just being offensive for no reason and with no basis to it.

It's being policed by the Met as a dedicated unit. It makes operational sense to have a specialist team carry out such a specialist role. The Olympics are being held in London which realistically leaves the Met with a sort of operational primary responsibility for it, particularly given their significant resources compared to other South-Eastern forces where almost all events are being held.

OK, fair play. But were any other forces given the chance to get involved or was it a case of "I found it first so I'm having it"?

The fact that these Met Officers are going to need counselling after straying outside of London for this period of time does indeed indicate that there is a problem here.

[Hades]

OK, fair play. But were any other forces given the chance to get involved or was it a case of "I found it first so I'm having it"?

The fact that these Met Officers are going to need counselling after straying outside of London for this period of time does indeed indicate that there is a problem here.

Nobody in the Met has said that they will need counselling as far as I can see from this story... Just that it is available (which it is to any officer) if they need it, and that they're considering the fact that officers might need some sort of support to integrate back in to a normal role in the Met after carrying out the Olympic job, although they haven't specified anything in particular (such as counselling).

It's not a case of pinching a decent job - it's just practical that that role gets carried out by the Met. I'm sure considerations will have been given as to the role of other relevant forces at a much higher level than anyone on here.
It's only running alongside a load of people carrying a flaming torch - it's hardly worth slating an entire force over...

[AmISpecial]

I'm all for a bit of Met Bashing usually, but the two of you are just being offensive for no reason and with no basis to it.

It's being policed by the Met as a dedicated unit. It makes operational sense to have a specialist team carry out such a specialist role. The Olympics are being held in London which realistically leaves the Met with a sort of operational primary responsibility for it, particularly given their significant resources compared to other South-Eastern forces where almost all events are being held.

I find it hard to extract anything remotely offensive, maybe i was a little sarcastic, but heh that's me

[Rocket]

Nobody in the Met has said that they will need counselling as far as I can see from this story... Just that it is available (which it is to any officer) if they need it, and that they're considering the fact that officers might need some sort of support to integrate back in to a normal role in the Met after carrying out the Olympic job, although they haven't specified anything in particular (such as counselling).

It's not a case of pinching a decent job - it's just practical that that role gets carried out by the Met. I'm sure considerations will have been given as to the role of other relevant forces at a much higher level than anyone on here.
It's only running alongside a load of people carrying a flaming torch - it's hardly worth slating an entire force over...

OK, fair play again. I just think that the other forces in the UK could have handled passing the Olympic Torch though their own Counties. That is what passing the torch on is all about after all, it's about trusting the person you hand it to will carry it safely until they pass it on again etc.

I know the Met has better resources than the Shires, but most of us still wake up alive every morning without being murdered in our beds so I'm pretty sure all the other County Forces do a good job.

[Shikari]

I reckon it's all been taken out of hand. I bet they'll get an hour of counselling, and maybe some kind of a special shift, to get them back into the swing of things. Sounds like it's all been exaggerated for a good story.

Hotel? More like a tour bus ^^. I thought the torch ran continuously, not stopping at night.

[pmtts]

Let me get this straight, they are sending the same group of met officers to guard it for the whole of the UK?

Why not just allocate teams within each force up and down the country to hand it over?

Problem Solved.

Because you will probably find that London 2012 or the IOC will be paying for the Met team to carry out this task.

I really don't see an issue if the tax payer is not forking out for it.

[samt]

"Mindful of the fact that officers will be taken away from their homes for 70 days, their reintegration back into the Met after the event is already being carefully planned.

Peace and quiet for 70 days - who needs counselling?

[Killicksparker]