tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post4777166824997441302..comments2024-03-28T16:04:49.918+00:00Comments on On Probation Blog: Pick of the Week 15Jim Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-91188611119262814152016-09-25T21:07:44.635+01:002016-09-25T21:07:44.635+01:00The managers job is hell right now! Yes, not worth...The managers job is hell right now! Yes, not worth the stress for an extra £50 a week!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-21414027821237288232016-09-25T21:01:58.138+01:002016-09-25T21:01:58.138+01:00Oh dear... Guardian 2005: "The last inmates h...Oh dear... Guardian 2005: "The last inmates have departed and a skeleton staff is left guarding Britain's only prison ship - in case anyone is minded to break in rather than out.<br />After eight years in which it has gone from being an object of political controversy to something of a tourist attraction, the prison ship Weare closes for business today.<br />Prison campaigners were pleased, arguing that the Weare never provided suitable facilities, and people who live and work near its berth in Portland Port, Dorset, were relieved that they would not have to deal with prisoners as they left the ship.<br />But some business leaders and local politicians, including those who originally spoke out against Weare, regretted the loss of jobs and multimillion pound income it brought to the area."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-84212152092029162322016-09-25T20:10:44.840+01:002016-09-25T20:10:44.840+01:00I think the bionic badge idea is great. Who on ea...I think the bionic badge idea is great. Who on earth do these bosses think they are telling us what we can and cannot say. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-81528553775294267382016-09-25T20:09:12.357+01:002016-09-25T20:09:12.357+01:00NPS staff have also been asked to volunteer for ta...NPS staff have also been asked to volunteer for tag trial who would bother !! There's no payment but they will kindly pay for your fare to get it fitted ha ha Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-90866364645803374452016-09-25T19:28:06.022+01:002016-09-25T19:28:06.022+01:00Love it!
Love it!<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-71020177205712551712016-09-25T19:13:00.436+01:002016-09-25T19:13:00.436+01:00Hey! How about sending prisoners to the other side...Hey! How about sending prisoners to the other side of the world? Or putting them on an isolated island? Or using a prison ship moored offshore? Or fitting a ball-and-chain to rheir ankles?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-74043231102456129862016-09-25T19:10:14.912+01:002016-09-25T19:10:14.912+01:00If GPS tags are to use rechargeable batteries then...If GPS tags are to use rechargeable batteries then there are serious health and safety risks. You cannot expect that no one wearing a tag will not get an ankle injury wearing one. The choices are lead acid, who wants sulphuric acid strapped to their leg. Lithium catches on fire in contact with water. Nickel Cadmium is safer, but these batteries can deliver an enormous amount of power if short circuited and get very hot very quickly. The batteries that we use by the millions have a fuse and it almost always blows, so we can consider the standard commercial varieties safe for normal use.<br /><br />Why do we need an ankle tab, Swedish prisons have been giving prisoners mobile phones with GPS for a few years. Enabling the prison to check where the user is whenever they want to using free public domain software. There have been no failures yet. The phone has the added advantage of pictures and speech for extra security and of course its cheap. Why not start with that? <br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-44813249942461710962016-09-25T19:08:04.960+01:002016-09-25T19:08:04.960+01:00I was thinking of volunteering my teenage daughter...I was thinking of volunteering my teenage daughter. Would be useful to know if she ever gets up off the sofa.On my way outhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03293840581211656608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-10227531868114125492016-09-25T18:32:31.381+01:002016-09-25T18:32:31.381+01:00Wouldn't it be great if prison staff say no! W...Wouldn't it be great if prison staff say no! What will NOMs do then perhaps they could ask the civil servants who are destroying our profession to partake in this scheme. You couldn't make it up! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-3204298473601962792016-09-25T18:07:19.057+01:002016-09-25T18:07:19.057+01:00Well done 08:11 Resistance is far from dead when t...Well done 08:11 Resistance is far from dead when there are still those around willing to stand up to the nonsense. They can try but they won't be able to silence us all. I don't think many of these corporate carpet baggers realise how loathed they really are. <br /><br />Looking forward to catching up with former colleagues at AGM next week. <br /><br />I hope you'll be there again Jim this year. Some quite respectable ale in Cardiff these days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-59106450967913073772016-09-25T17:15:01.323+01:002016-09-25T17:15:01.323+01:00So will Noms find 80 turkeys willing to vote for X...So will Noms find 80 turkeys willing to vote for Xmas & join in the tagging game? Yes, of course they will. And it will be deemed to be a roaring success. And the GPS tags will be implemented & fitted in next to no time. And before you know it there'll have been a series of catastrophic failures & some poor victims will wind up seriously or fatally injured. Look how effective OASys has been; or TTG; or bog standard tags; or privatisation & TR in general. The Noms/MOJ record of successfully implementing these ideological notions of nanny-state monitoring, control & restraint is beyond belief, i.e. Its a big fat f****ng ZERO, yet has cost the taxpayer what must now be many £Billions.<br /><br />GPS tags, probably a keystone feature of MaccyD's Ambition 20/20 project?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-10688588204968085732016-09-25T16:46:11.335+01:002016-09-25T16:46:11.335+01:00In North Korea it has been reported that 1,000 off...In North Korea it has been reported that 1,000 officials responsible for failed projects have been shot. I wondered if the plausible but incompetent consultant types would be put off from applying for our top jobs if we had the same policy. Seriously I think the selection process should exclude anyone who has not managed something successfully before, even if it was a shoe shop. We seem to select people who talk the talk, not those that have a track record of successful decision making and planning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-7642761661416841602016-09-25T15:10:21.000+01:002016-09-25T15:10:21.000+01:00PRISON chiefs are asking officers to test electron...PRISON chiefs are asking officers to test electronic tags to check they are comfortable enough for criminals. Eighty volunteers are wanted for the two-week trial in November. Staff from all areas of the jail service are being asked to take part, including guards, whose numbers have been cut.<br /><br />A source said: “You really couldn’t make it up. They want volunteers to wear tags to make sure they work. This includes ensuring the poor inmate isn’t too uncomfortable with it around their ankle. They’ll be asking them what colour they prefer next.”<br /><br />An internal email from the National Offender Management Service warns: “Volunteers will not be able to enter the secure parts of prisons during the trial period, or travel by plane.” It said the tests will be used to assess “comfort, durability, impact on daily life, ease of fitting and removal.”<br /><br />The new tags will include GPS monitoring for lags and those on bail. This means a controller can continuously monitor a subject’s location. But Steve Gillan, from the Prison Officers Association, said: “We will be asking our members not to become involved in this nonsense.”<br /><br />It is estimated that 25,000 people are tagged in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice said: “GPS tagging will allow us to monitor high risk and persistent offenders so there are fewer victims in future. We will be testing tags from a range of providers to ensure they meet our requirements.”Jim Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-35413664675277562712016-09-25T12:47:04.527+01:002016-09-25T12:47:04.527+01:00Anyone know if probation services will be represen...Anyone know if probation services will be represented at the Speak Up For Justice meeting at the Labour Conference tomorrow? <br /><br />https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-163d-The-governments-austerity-measures-have-left-our-prisons-in-meltdown-1-2#.V-e1ncvTXqA<br /><br />And did anyone know that NOMS are asking prison officers to wear electronic tags to test out their suitability for use? The article is in today's sun. Priceless!! <br /><br />'Getafix'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-23398944275140229432016-09-25T12:32:45.149+01:002016-09-25T12:32:45.149+01:00Good for you sticking up for freedom of speech and...Good for you sticking up for freedom of speech and freedom of opinion. It only takes one or two people to voice what we can all see and the floodgates open. The emperor's new clothes and all that. I find another delicious way to rebel is to spend time with our service users, make referrals for them, allow them to ring the dwp to sort out their benefits and all sort of useful things and yes it has to be said frequently at the expense of those other things we have to do to make things look good for the company. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-53136362176659525262016-09-25T10:08:59.669+01:002016-09-25T10:08:59.669+01:00I work in a WL CRC and see similar situation where...I work in a WL CRC and see similar situation where SPO's privately shaking their heads in frustration and publicly trying to manage their teams as best as they can. SPO's are struggling (by the way I'm a Band 4 member of staff, and would hate to be in a manager role - pay not worth the stress).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-1192219722302803682016-09-25T08:11:17.761+01:002016-09-25T08:11:17.761+01:00'We had an emergency team meeting - told not t...'We had an emergency team meeting - told not to discuss private things in public and forbidden to talk about Jim Brown at work' <br />In LondonCRC Helga's attempts at trying to stop us reading this blog have backfired big time. I challenged her censorship at our team meeting - the only time I see my colleagues these days. At first our SPO said that she was only passing on the firms message. We had a really good discussion about how the cohort model and agile working was rubbish. Eventually she told us that her opinion and the opinion on of most other SPOs was that we were now being led by a shady bunch who had no interest in probation. We spent most of the team meeting discussing what was on this blog and even colleagues I would say aren't really computer users make sure they read it. Our team was united in defiance of the ban and for the first time in months we felt a real feeling of solidarity and determination to oppose all the bullshit. Helga 'the axe woman' Swidenbank and her sidekick Mr MaccyD with his Ambition 2020 were pretty much dismissed as irrelevant nonsense. If the inspectors had turned up they'd have got an earful. Keep going Jim you are a thorn in the side of these awful corporate nobody's and their brainless zombie minions. One suggestion at our meeting was to have a whip round to get some BIONIC badges made with Believe It Or Not It's Crap. Best team meeting we've had in months. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com