Popularity and Balance

I can't help noticing that Inspector Gadget has now passed 8 million hits, but has recently been musing that despite this, nothing seems to have changed. It got me thinking. Having been hugely successful and named by The Times as one of 40 blogs That Really Count, it occurs to me that he actually seems to feel that things might change. On the contrary, I'm fairly sure that they won't and that gives me cause to feel rather more optimistic about things as a result. 

When I started blogging I was angry about what was happening to my profession and quite quickly found it therapeutic. I've always wanted to try and explain the intricacies of what largely remains a much-misunderstood field of human endeavour, but I don't think I ever thought things might change just because I started writing about them. Chance would be a fine thing! If you think about it, there have been relatively few people in history who's writings alone have changed the course of events. In a job like probation, especially nowadays when initiative and innovation are impossible, you mostly have to be content with just trying to help change an individuals life for the better, rather than the social policy failure that in large measure lead to the person's life being a mess in the first place. 

Basically I think most work-based blogs are essentially a useful commentary on what goes on from an insiders point of view, and at the very least might prove to be of some interest to future historians. To be taken seriously though I think they have to at least try and aspire to being reasonably balanced. I'm a big supporter of the Police, appreciate the very difficult job they have to perform for all our safety and love reading Gadget. But I'm always worried about stuff I don't see him mentioning, like the recent revelation that two undercover officers secretly fathered children and a PC in Manchester has been dismissed for having sex with five women at Police Stations. Apart from anything else, it brings policing into disrepute, fosters the impression that it's almost a perk of the job and gives a whole new meaning to the term 'Police Service.' And what about the news from 34 Forces who responded to an FOI request that there are at least 1,000 officers and PCSO's currently serving with quite serious convictions to their names?

Gadget regularly has a pop at the coalition government's plans for elected Police Commissioners, but at the same time is dissmissive of current Police Authorities like that covering London and recently abolished. I would tend to agree with him on this point, but exactly how do we exercise some accountability over Police Forces? It seems that Nottinghamshire Police Authority wasn't even aware of their Chief Constable's decision to co-operate in the making of the Channel 4 tv show 'Coppers' and is mightily vexed at some of the broadcast footage as a result. He's not a fan of the Independent Police Complaint's Commission either, so do we go back to the days of simply relying on internal investigations? Popularity is one thing, but happily common sense is quite another.