NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE
A report of Manx Radio today relates the story of the appearance and disappearance on a police social media site of a report from a Chief Officer of the Isle of Man (Special) Constabulary about concerns within the Police Service about diminishing numbers and shrinking budgets.
Check it on Manx Radio the story is entitled;
Special Concern over ‘thinning blue line’
The actual message is not surprising. Celtic League alluded to the situation after that weird televised briefing the Chief Constable gave to MTTV in November with the Minister for Home Affairs sitting silently in the background like some ‘Cold War Soviet minder’ overseeing the utterances of a subordinate (see link):
We said then:
“Gary Roberts, the Chief Constable, (who I have no doubt will be put in the frame if this policy goes ‘belly-up’) faces inordinate difficulties at the present time. He has to face a shrinking budget something none of his predecessors EVER had to face. He has to contend with an exodus from the Police as many Officers, tired of the vagary and uncertainty surrounding public sector pensions, take their money and run! All this is happening at a time when the Island has also suffered the phenomena of what appears to be a peripatetic crime gang committing burglaries on an unprecedented scale.”
We returned to the theme when DHA and the Government ran a police ‘good news’ story before Xmas – ironically our piece was titled ‘The Thin Blue Line’ (link):
DHA Had previously had to fend of criticism from firefighters about staffing, morale etc. To lose the plot with one emergency service is one thing to have another where there are open expressions of concern articulated suggests something of a crisis.
Now how do you manage a crisis if you’re this government? You shut it down – quick! That’s what happened – the Facebook post on the police site disappeared.
I don’t know what worse. That we have concerns expressed or we have them censored. This ‘touchy-feely’ social media savvy modern police force apparently has its limits when the command comes from on high to button it!
Photo: CPHQ not so social media friendly after all!
BERNARD MOFFATT
Issued by: The Celtic News
21/01/16
THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
The Celtic League established in 1961 has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It promotes cooperation between the countries and campaigns on a range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, military activity and socio-economic issues
