Have you noticed the recent increase in the use of the word ‘Plod’ by politicians,
journalists and TV political interviewers such as Andrew Neil when referring to police officers and the service in general?
It’s not used affectionately by the chattering classes but in a rather contemptuous and insulting way inferring that ‘coppers’are all a bit slow-witted or dull; perhaps not much further up the evolution scale than a Neanderthal.
This sneering condescension is aimed at all ranks and deliberately fails to acknowledge that many who choose a police career will join with university degrees and a whole host of other qualifications, but perhaps not the right ‘old school ties’ for some of these elitist snobs.
The current government, not content with running the police service down, both physically in terms of cuts and verbally in terms of the constant negative dialogue have also decided to introduce an officer class: ‘Direct Entry’.
This scheme dispenses with the promotion based on merit system and allows applicants to skip progression through four ranks, with the invaluable experience that they bring and join as a superintendent.
I strongly suspect that the government’s intention is to catapult like-minded people from their business ‘chumocracy’ into top ranks with a view to ensuring that the the police service issues more lucrative contracts to favoured private companies. (Two of which are currently the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation, but still allowed to bid for work in the public sector!)
Returning the the subject of ‘Plod’ for those of us who are familiar with Enid’s Blyton’s Noddy’books, PC Plod was the local Bobby in‘ Toyland’ who either plodded or cycled around his beat as depicted in the illustrations of Peter Wienk.
Blyton spent a lot of time here in Dorset, particularly in the Purbecks. Enid’s husband purchased the Isle of Purbeck Golf Club in 1950 and owned it until its sale in 1965. Her Famous Five stories, with the scrapes, japes and“lashings of ginger beer”were set in our county.
It is widely believed that she based her Plod character on the then Studland Rural Beat Officer, PC Christopher Rhone. I can’t claim to have known Chris, but did meet him one Christmas as after retiring from the constabulary he worked for many years at the local magistrates’court in Wareham.
If we were to bring Blyton’s stories up to date, no doubt Noddy would be depicted as a hoodie wearing‘boy-racer’and in all probability on the ‘at risk’ register due to a somewhat ambiguous relationship with ‘Big-Ears’.Toyland’s Police Station would have been long closed due to government cuts and policing will be provided by a PCSO‘ Plod’ working from a distant ‘hub’, only visiting occasionally and without the powers to deal effectively with any incident.
Clive Chamberlain
