Mr Bill has had an interesting week ending with role-playing in a local motorway service station car park. Drama students from the local college turned up to act in scenarios for Mr Bill and his colleagues. The situations were such as:
a car pulled over as the driver was weaving across the road
a car spotted as having a light not working
The students took their roles very seriously and as some of them had been told to act up - they did.
Mr Bill always enjoys these role-play sessions, much more than some of the other recruits; but they managed well and were told they have all improved considerably since the morning spent role-playing in Llanffuglen Shopping Centre a while back.
Next week is serious study as they have the exam on Thursday and Mr Bill is keen to do better in this one than the last.
One of the talks they had this week was about road accident investigation. The Collision Investigation Unit is required to attend the scene of any serious accident to take pictures, measurements etc. It is imperative that the officer arrives at the scene as quickly as possible as the road may be closed and cannot open until after the investigation has occurred. This means the officer is obliged to drive around most of the time in a high performance car with siren and blue lights on. They all have to pass the advanced driving exam, which Mr Bill is quite keen on doing. Apparently you need to be hot on maths – presumably trigonometry to work out angles and distances. There is at present a shortage of Collision Investigation Officers and Mr Bill is looking forward to his time on Traffic from Monday 5th November–Friday 16th November to see whether he would like to join them when he has finished his initial training.
The sorts of traffic law Mr Bill has been learning consist of definitions, precise wordings of cautions to be read to drivers as well as the actual relevant road traffic acts. It seems the Police have lots of powers – one of them being that if they try to pull you over but you don’t stop they can come round to your house, smash your door down (if you won’t let them in), and arrest you.
Mr Bill also watched the adverts, shown only in Northern Ireland, to warn of the dangers of dangerous driving and drink driving. They cannot be shown on mainland UK as they are too graphic, but the resilient NI audience can take the tough scenes depicted. Mr Bill is going to give copies of these movies to the older of the Bill offspring as he thinks they should be aware of the possible results of mixing alcohol or reckless behaviour with driving
Saturday, 27 October 2007
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Traffic
Mr Bill is learning all about traffic offences this week. It has made him look more closely at drivers he sees on his way to and from work. He has been tempted to stop a couple of people on his way home; one for driving while using a mobile phone and another for driving without due care and attention. But he didn't (I don't think he is allowed to yet). He merely allowed them to notice his half blues; white policeman shirt and black trousers (but no epaulettes) and enjoyed the look of shock horror on their faces as they realised what they had been spotted doing and by whom!
He has been issuing HORT1s to just about everyone in the family (although the cat might have got away so far). These are the notices that are given to drivers who have to then produce their documents at a police station or prove that they have had a defect repaired on their vehicle.
After finishing these sessions in the classroom the recruits are going to be out and about with the Traffic division. So beware any drivers who have bald tyres, cracked mirrors, or drive too fast or whilst drunk: in a couple of weeks the roads of Llanffuglen are going to be at the mercy of Mr Bill in a traffic car who will be trying to use all the skills he has learned.
He has been issuing HORT1s to just about everyone in the family (although the cat might have got away so far). These are the notices that are given to drivers who have to then produce their documents at a police station or prove that they have had a defect repaired on their vehicle.
After finishing these sessions in the classroom the recruits are going to be out and about with the Traffic division. So beware any drivers who have bald tyres, cracked mirrors, or drive too fast or whilst drunk: in a couple of weeks the roads of Llanffuglen are going to be at the mercy of Mr Bill in a traffic car who will be trying to use all the skills he has learned.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
You do have to be mad............
Mr Bill is having a very interesting week so far. He is on placement, as an observer, at a specialist mental health unit in Llanffuglen General Hospital. He has seen ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) which is nothing like it was in the olden days when people could end up with broken bones from the convulsions caused by the electricity - now they have muscle relaxant, are anaesthetised and then have a small electric current passed through their frontal lobes. Some people have these 'brain reboots' weekly for a period, some only need then after several years. Seeing the difference in one lady he talked to made him understand how effective this treatment can be; he said this patient had looked depressed in a way he had never seen before – her countenance made him think of a ‘dementor’ (apologies to non-Harry Potter readers)
The side effect of this treatment is patients invariably suffer some short-term memory loss – they just do not remember much of what happened in the hours before the treatment – so I guess it is important to schedule ECT well away from events where memories are going to be precious.
Some people think the life inside a mental institution beats prison so they try and imitate the behaviour of a mentally ill person; Mr Bill has met one such faker – quite why anyone would want to be locked away for years with little chance of freedom escapes me. The staff pointed out the behaviours and the things this individual had said which suggested this was imitation. This naughty man was not happy when they would not give him what he was hoping for and it was at this stage Mr Bill had leave off being an observer and put his enormous muscles to good use as the medical staff administered an injection; chemical straightjackets are used instead of the fabric ones these days and can be quickly effective on a healthy young man – within minutes indolence and lead-booted apathy replaces the aggression.
Mr Bill has been very impressed with all the staff he has met so far and the standard of care offered to the patients.
But if there if there is one thing to be learned from the week it is that if the men in white coats arrive here at the Bill home then Mr Bill will be rushing to put on a shirt and tie :-)
The side effect of this treatment is patients invariably suffer some short-term memory loss – they just do not remember much of what happened in the hours before the treatment – so I guess it is important to schedule ECT well away from events where memories are going to be precious.
Some people think the life inside a mental institution beats prison so they try and imitate the behaviour of a mentally ill person; Mr Bill has met one such faker – quite why anyone would want to be locked away for years with little chance of freedom escapes me. The staff pointed out the behaviours and the things this individual had said which suggested this was imitation. This naughty man was not happy when they would not give him what he was hoping for and it was at this stage Mr Bill had leave off being an observer and put his enormous muscles to good use as the medical staff administered an injection; chemical straightjackets are used instead of the fabric ones these days and can be quickly effective on a healthy young man – within minutes indolence and lead-booted apathy replaces the aggression.
Mr Bill has been very impressed with all the staff he has met so far and the standard of care offered to the patients.
But if there if there is one thing to be learned from the week it is that if the men in white coats arrive here at the Bill home then Mr Bill will be rushing to put on a shirt and tie :-)
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Misper
A misper is a missing person: Mr Bill learned about the procedure to follow when someone reports a loved one who did not come home or has gone missing after an argument. Mr Bill says it seemed like common sense to him - if it is a child the investigation gets underway immediately, if it is a parent phoning about a teenager who went storming out after an argument then enquiries would start differently. If the individual is vulnerable then obviously common sense tells you that you need to make sure they are safe and also that the public are safe too. It seems some of this might be in preparation for next week; a chance for Mr Bill to find out more about mental health problems as he spends a week at a mental health centre.
Mr Bill learned a little about searches – he was going to learn how to search a room but Sergeant Shiny Shoes is the expert and has been called in to an important case locally which everyone wants to solve as quickly and effectively as possible. The Serg did give them an explanation of what he is doing and how he goes about the search in this case– which Mr Bill said was very interesting.
He learned about some of the Police powers to be used with mentally ill people – they cannot often be arrested but they can be taken to a place of safety – safety for them and the public too one hopes. It just depends whether there is a place in a psychiatric unit which sometimes there isn’t :-(
Mr Bill learned a little about searches – he was going to learn how to search a room but Sergeant Shiny Shoes is the expert and has been called in to an important case locally which everyone wants to solve as quickly and effectively as possible. The Serg did give them an explanation of what he is doing and how he goes about the search in this case– which Mr Bill said was very interesting.
He learned about some of the Police powers to be used with mentally ill people – they cannot often be arrested but they can be taken to a place of safety – safety for them and the public too one hopes. It just depends whether there is a place in a psychiatric unit which sometimes there isn’t :-(
Monday, 1 October 2007
Sudden Death
Mr Bill had a talk today about dealing with sudden death - another form to fill in. He was a bit shocked that the others, including the tutor, did not see the importance of looking smart to deliver bad news to someone. It seems to us that if you are going to hear bad news it somehow shows more respect to look smart when you deliver the news - I know it does not make it any easier or reduce the grief - but it is a mark of respect.
Over the next few days Mr Bill is going to learn about autopsies and perhaps see one if he wants - apparently the smell is so distinctive if you ever smell it again your memory will take you back to the mortuary.
He will also hear about the Coroner and his work and find out how scary they are – they like to terrorise police officers. There should be tutorials about dealing with a missing person situation and searching a room too – he should always be able to find his keys and phone after that!
There probably will not be a blog tomorrow as Mr Bill’s schedule had been changed because of an incident locally so they are going to do computer based stuff which Mr Bill has already finished.
Over the next few days Mr Bill is going to learn about autopsies and perhaps see one if he wants - apparently the smell is so distinctive if you ever smell it again your memory will take you back to the mortuary.
He will also hear about the Coroner and his work and find out how scary they are – they like to terrorise police officers. There should be tutorials about dealing with a missing person situation and searching a room too – he should always be able to find his keys and phone after that!
There probably will not be a blog tomorrow as Mr Bill’s schedule had been changed because of an incident locally so they are going to do computer based stuff which Mr Bill has already finished.
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