CRIME STATS HERO PC FORCED TO RESIGN

 

 

 

It is with a heavy heart and immense disappointment that we hear of the resignation of Met PC James Patrick.

 

Whilst it may not seem so, whilst the wounds are so fresh, many congratulations are due to you James. On the basis of all you have experienced you have made the best decision for you. Your courageous commitment to exposing the truth about the scandal of police recorded crime and statistics and other matters displays a level of integrity sadly lacking in the leadership of the service who continue to defend their pensions, careers and fiefdoms with their lies, obfuscation and pathetic deflection strategies. They remind us more of politicians rather than police officers.

After years of campaigning by James, our website, Copperfield, Gadget and many others, along with many brave officers who have shown great integrity sadly lacking in many of their senior officers, the scurrilous and pernicious deception foisted upon the general public has been exposed.

We continue to perhaps vainly hope that the Chief Officers of ACPO and SMT ranks will finally be held to account, for it is THEY who must be held responsible for this disgraceful travesty. They should hang their heads in shame that such a fine officer feels forced to walk away from the job for these reasons.

It is THEY who have benefitted financially from exorbitant 15% bonus payments for fallacious crime reduction figures.

It is THEY who are being dragged, lying, denying, obfuscating, scheming and kicking to admit the truth that many have known or suspected all along, that the now discredited police recorded crime and the equally fallacious detections are manipulated for political, career and monetary gain, whilst rank and file officers have their professional integrity compromised as they are pressured into implementing strategies they know to be corrupt.

It is the ACPO and SMT rank officers who could have stopped this fiasco in its tracks. It is THEY who chose to perpetuate the myth of falling crime, for their own selfish, corrupt motives.

It is THEY who, even now, with all of the evidence being exposed for the world to see, who are desperately fighting to protect their careers, pensions and fiefdoms.

It is THEY who will undoubtedly point the accusatory finger at junior officers for strategies THEY constructed, orchestrated, enforced or at the very least condoned.

It is THEY who must answer to this. It is THEY, who in all likelihood, will walk away scot free, having been ultimately responsible for the decimation of the police service so many have been proud to commit their lives to.

It is THEY who will likely evade punishment for depriving the tax paying public with the police service we deserve.

Yes, politicians and Home Office civil servants of all persuasions have played their part, many of whom now display a sense of mock surprise and horror at the revelations we have seen. Many of them knew full well what was happening, yet chose to capitalise on the opportunity to boast that crime had fallen to unprecedented levels. Rest assured, THEY KNEW!

ACPO and SMT rank officers lacked the integrity, honesty and courage required and so bravely displayed by James Patrick, to stop the rot. They were the only ones who could have resisted the pressure to manipulate and distort crime. They failed in their sworn duty to the general public and the rank and file officers they command when they chose the corrupt and crooked path. It's high time those who are responsible were brought to book. They do not meet the standard we expect of our most senior police officers. They have not only failed us, they have betrayed our trust and faith in them.

The only just result of the crime statistics mess, is that those officers who KNEW full well what they were doing and chose the wrong crooked path, should face criminal or at the very least severe disciplinary punishment.

And those who castigated and scorned James Patrick should be publicly shamed and removed from the proud office of constable, for they do not deserve the respect and honour of the position.  

 

JAMES, WE SEND YOU OUR VERY BEST WISHES, OUR THANKS FOR YOUR COURAGE AND INTEGRITY AND WISH YOU THE VERY BEST OF LUCK FOR YOUR FUTURE.

 

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke (British Statesman and Philosopher 1729-1797)

The last words must surely go to James by reprinting his public statement here.

Date: 24th of March 2014

With deep regret, I have just resigned from the Metropolitan Police Service (‘the MPS’).

I am giving several weeks notice, effectively one week for every complete year of service at this time, plus two to conclude the allegations of misconduct. I had intended to resign after the meeting in any case, but disturbing developments have brought this forward.

This has not been an easy decision and has certainly been made with no jerk of the knee.

I am very proud to have served the public, in the Office of Constable, since the 10th of May 2004 – first at Derbyshire Constabulary then transferring to the MPS on the 9th of October 2009 – even though my service could by no means be described as having been an easy ride.

My experience led me to see just how flawed the whistleblowing system is, how it fails, but also to firmly believe that no police officer should normally resign or retire while subject to any misconduct investigation; but the circumstances are such that I have no choice.

The decision has not been rushed, and I have given the MPS countless opportunities to set our relationship straight; I have also had to weigh, somewhat extraordinarily, the public interest and the impact such a decision may have on me.

This resignation arises directly from my treatment as a result of making disclosures in good faith and in the public interest.

In 2012 I publicly raised concerns over policing, police reform, statistical manipulation, the Olympics and lobbying. I made a permanent record of these concerns in one place, a book, the proceeds of which were destined for and donated to a charity supporting bereaved police families. The result of this was a gross misconduct investigation which had a significant impact upon my work, health and family life.

My family and I have had to live under this threat while the MPS pursued it, yet even so I carried on acting in the public interest, resulting in my being effectively bullied at New Scotland Yard and, in the end, with my sparking a parliamentary inquiry into crime statistics which has had a significant national impact. In the wake I had to watch senior officers deny it was happening, but I couldn’t reply as I’d been warned that it could result in further discipline. Worse still, Essex Police were sent to my home under the Trojan banner of welfare, concluding themselves that they had been sent to rattle our cages. To add insult to injury, it was then conceded that, in fact, what I had said was a truth that needed to be heard.

Having fought through delays and procedural irregularities in the proceedings before this, and having won the argument of bias, I was then informed that a review had been carried out and the gross misconduct dropped. I had to hear via a reporter, on open social media, that this happened after an external force had reviewed the determination of gross misconduct. I had pleaded for external scrutiny from the outset, had hard won an independent panel against the wishes of the MPS.

The situation has had a significant impact on my health, but there has been no real consideration for me. My management has been highlighted as a conflict of interest, driven by questionable motives, and left me subject to open threats of discipline and performance procedures for damage the MPS has caused.

Throughout the misconduct process it has been denied that there were any senior level discussions about me, or policy deficiencies relevant to my case. It was discovered on the 19th of March 2014 that significant material does indeed exist. On discovering this, and immediately serving it on the misconduct meeting Chair, the reaction from the MPS has been aggressive; implying that I am the person whose integrity is in question for trying to discover the truth, and threatening me with potential discipline for defending myself.
It is impossible for me to see how I could ever trust the MPS again, that is something which is permanently destroyed. I have held out for as long as I can but enough is enough: the camel’s back has been broken with a sledgehammer.
JP.