I get second thoughts about the job.
On the most frustrating days, even allowing for urgent incidents, I can struggle to investigate my own workload crimes.
What's worse is that from attending incidents you can pick up even more crimes for investigation to add to your ongoing allocated crimes.
What's most annoying though is when you get something allocated and told that it is your priority. Even though the things you've already got on your plate are supposed to be your priority.
Then an urgent comes in and that supersedes all previous priorities.
Later you're asked why you didn't do various things in time and why you haven't got 'X' number of ticks-in-boxes from your shifts on patrol.
Prioritisation is a skill, but there comes a point when you cannot split yourself into five bloody separate officers to do five different things.
Blame falls downwards. And one of the most depressing things about the job so far seems to be that sometimes it's not always about doing the right thing, but doing enough to cover your own back to deflect the downward cascade of blame, crap and shifting goalposts.
Because chronically stretched resources mean that you simply cannot do the right thing by everybody.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Oh hon, I'm not surprised you're having second thoughts. You're working hard and haven't had a break for ages.
Hang in there sweetie. It'll be fine.
Amusingly, my word verification today is: wsackfnd
It's not just work.
It's business.
It sounds not dis-similar to the way things happen here. Only with less death and crime here ;)
We have all had schedules drawn up of things we MUST be doing each day at the moment.
Mine was whacked before the first day was up.
Why did you want this job in the first place?
I have similar issues with vunerable teenagers. What you describe about priorities is spot on not only for myself but also my close friend in social work. Cascading crap, time constraints, lack of resources, too many cases and enough paper work to make even writing Christmas cards more appealing.
We both have to make sure our down time counts (moreso her, she has more tumbling crap to avoid than i do), also, every now and then we really make a difference and that's what keeps us both juggling.
I imagine with the police force, once the basics are down, you can springboard into various areas/divsions within the force?
I wish you could go back and correct typo's on these things <:/
Don't even try splitting yourself or trying to please more than one person at a time, it rarely works & makes you feel even more frazzled & stressed, I know from experience. Just plod (excuse the pun!) your way through your work & do waht you can which Im sure you do anyway :o) And relax
Sounds like you're a teacher! Welcome to the world of "civil servants"!
The Yank
So, why did you want this job in the first place? :-P
As IM said it's business and how things go sometimes...it's hard to see a way out of it, but there will be one, in time, when things will be quieter/seem easier/less stressy.
As someone in the public sector too, I wholeheartedly understand :) as Diane says you have to take the positives where you can...
KPIs, targets and tick sheets mean sod all (and secretly everyone knows that) but when you do that one special thing that really helps someone, that's what counts and that's why we do it...even tho it's hard and thankless at times. hang in there
Thanks again everyone for all the support.
IM - Why did I want the job in the first place? Well, I wanted a varied job that got me out and about, and where no two days were the same.
NM - Aye, the 'special things' mean a lot, the thanks for the small things. However, it's the ticky-boxes that come back to haunt you at the end of the month.
Guess I should be carefull what I wish for...
Indeed. :)
Have you spoken to anyone there about this? Someone who trained with you, or the guy you were with before you went out on your own?
Hi Ing,
finally found my way to this site (again) - I had lost the address but at least I can blame the baby :-) Hey, I like the comment "sounds like you're a teacher". What you're talking about reminds me very much of my last job. I guess the problem is that you either have a really boring job without any challenges, doing the same thing from 9-5 every day and then go home and forget about it or you have a job you actually thought you liked and then end up like you do at the moment. There doesn't seem to be much in between.
Hopefully you'll get a chance to take a nice big break again and do some travelling. After six months at home I've just started to look forward to working again ;-)
Take care, liebe Grüße von Ina
Post a Comment