01 Dec 2004

More burnished copper

Another thought on policing.

Say you get dragged into a fight by a drunken teenager (or “yoot") who has barely wiped the milk from his face before filling it up with factory brewed lager which pretends to be imported ("best served ice cold so you can’t tell how awful it is"). What happens?

David Copperfield, he of the blog, sent over the realist insider’s view -

Let’s take a fight as an example:

1. You report that you got in a fight and you want to make a complaint.
2. You wait a day or so for the police to arrive.
3. The police turn up and take a statement.
So, at this stage, you think that your complaint of assault is being dealt with by the police officer who met you and took a statement from you, right?

Well, kind of.

You see, the officer will need to speak to witnesses and take statements from them, check CCTV, arrest the offender arrange a lawyer and interview him, arrange the ID parade if he denies it, arrest you if he makes a counter allegation and then put the file together and get it to court and then arrange an interpreter if the offender does not speak English.

So when does a patrol officer have time to do all these things? Never, because there’s always a queue of people trying to report robberies or assaults and never the time to conduct a proper investigation. So next time a police officer asks you for a statement about an incident that occurred a few months ago, or you wonder why a relatively simple matter has taken so long to get to court, now you know why. If you can think of a less efficient way of working, let me know.

On enquiry, David also sent us his wibbi .

The answer lies in having dedicated investigators (not necessarily police officers) who can go and gather statements from witnesses, collect CCTV, arrange ID parades and put together files. CID obviously do this for serious crimes, but for routine stuff it is still the duty of the uniformed officer who attended the incident to follow through the whole crime from start to finish.

The actual arresting would be done by the uniformed police officer, and the uniformed offficer would have to do all the enquiries at the scene (eg take the IP statement and arrest the offender if he was still there), but what’s the point of having uniformed officers spending most of their day either in the office or in people’s homes, taking statements?

People are most satisfied when they see a uniformed police presence on the streets, keeping a lid on disorder and , by their presence, preventing crime (which was the whole point of the police in the first place).

This seems an eminently sensible post-event wibbi, and it points to a whole rich seam of ways in which front line professionals’ time could be better used with better administrative processes. These would be worth collating systematically. 

At same time, I suppose as well as evident policing there’s also a pre-event wibbi to do with better educated yoot, less boring schools etc, licencing and tax regimes that don’t encourage binge drinking, more stoned yoot and less drunk yoot. But that’s a wide canvas.

 

First contact - lemon curd and blueberry sandwich

Ha! A definite encounter tonight. Brief and unremarkable on the outside, but perhaps laden with significance.

Bit of a shaggy dog intro. I had supper with two complete strangers in a friend’s house. They poured me a tumbler (sic) of wine. Knowing I had to drive but not wanting to give offence I sneaked some of it back into the bottle (tiny spillage) sipped a bit, and slipped the rest down the sink, then rushed off late to collect my son. I pulled out “POB” (as the minicabs say) on to Castelnau - a long straight road, technically well suited to my car manufacturer’s top design speed of 135mph but with the cultural norms of any place with street lights. I asked my son to make a phone call to say we were late and to unwrap sweets for us....

Two men in luminous plastic jackets next to a large SUV with lemon-curd and blue markings waved a red light at me. I pulled over, curious, and asked what their story was. They showed great interest in the fact I was driving rather slowly, around 20mph in fact (they seemed to have already decided this using some sort of video camera). They said “it could be a sign of...” and indicated tilting their throats back and pointing their thumbs into them..."I’m not saying you were, mind...”

They were perfectly courteous and showed concern that one of my headlamps had failed (Volvos always blow bulbs because they have zillions of lights you can never turn off).

That was it.

On reflection if I had drunk the booze or made the mobile phone call or engaged the turbocharger thrust with a two inch movement of my big toe I might at this very moment be on a prolonged and involuntary anthropological journey into the rituals beyond traffic offences (jail? producing papers? or just a simple Verordnungswidrigkeit wegen Geschwindigkeitsbeschraenkungueberschreitung as the speeding ticket I once got in Germany was called). But it was not to be.

We’re still shadow boxing here, but there’s definitely something out there.

The Wibbi?

I dont know. Not to be stopped in the first place I suppose. But it was harmless and perfectly courteous.

Weird postscript - I dreamed the night before this happened I was stopped for drunk driving. Is there a shamanic power in bureaucracy that gives people precognition of routine administrative encounters?

 

The policeman’s blog is rather a happy one….

White Rose (whose editor taught me what little I know about blogging) points to the Policeman’s blog which reports back from the public-service front line on bureaucracy, technology and the common sense world of real life.

He calls himself David Copperfield and thinks of his force as the “5th Battalion of the Newtown Regiment of the People’s Motorised Bureaucracy”. Check it out.

 

30 Nov 2004

Couple of myths to kick into touch…

There is definitely a “touching the state” issue about the ID systems, and some myths that need to be kicked into touch. The FT today comes out against....

The consultation was a bruising experience for those who tried to comment via Stand. It’s still not accepted that the over 5000 inputs via Stand included considered, balanced and contrary views and not simply signatures to one petition. Silicon which has also come out against says the 79% majority is now 31% pro and 48% anti (which figures does Blunkett keep quoting?)

ID cards may become the defining way of “touching the state”...we’ll have to see; that’s for the future.

But some myths

“Those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear” - - Patent rubbish. It’s essential to have a domain for experimentation and mistakes. The noblest figures of history who strove in good conscience to change society for the better invariably came into conflict with the status quo. JC himself had some inner teachings for his disciples etc. A society which can brings its awkward squad into line ceases to innovate. If anyone comes up with this old chestnut tell them they ought to be ashamed of themselves.

“Er, I seem to have loads of these loyalty cards in my handbag and I’m not worried. So what on earth are you worried about?” We had this line from Home Office ID cards official Katherine Courtenay last week and I heard it yesterday from Edwina Currie on LBC, talking to me on a phone in ("William - what century are you living in?”. Edwina is not big on privacy (link//endless-dirty-linen-in-public etc) and perhaps Katherine isnt either. But some of us are - we wont have supermarket loyalty cards, Nectar cards, Oyster cards. We feel its kinda creepy having marketing trainees poring over our purchasing habits. We make the economic choice that if they want our data it’s going to cost them a lot more than what they offer now. We’re just kinda classy about that.

It’s right to have higher expctations of a compulsory scheme (and one for which we have to pay to boot). Those who don’t care about their privacy are not well placed to speak for those who do, just like junk food addicts cut no ice with people who care about their food.

More myths later. 

 

Your card please?

O so many things i don’t understand… under this number 8 item there seems to be contradictions but perhaps it is the home office use of language which i can’t grasp...

For instance, this:
“However, this is not an automatic requirement and there would need to be a separate decision for each service."…

looks unintelligible but promises chaos.

0. Will information be disclosed without an individual’s consent?

We expect most identity checks using the Register to be done with consent.” (arf arf)


Other unintelligible (but scaring) bits are highlighted in case a kind, brave and caring reader would disentagle meanings…

(Arrived safely to info from home office search facility, after looking in vain (but a few minutes only) for a direct search facility under uk online. gov. uk)

_______________________________________________________
8. Will it be compulsory to have an ID Card?

The identity cards scheme will immediately provide a more convenient way for people to show their identity when accessing public or private sector services. However, until it becomes compulsory to register, the ID card would not be the only way of proving identity. The Bill makes clear this prohibition on mandating use of the card before any move to compulsion.

The Bill does enable regulations to make use of the card a condition of the provision of public services once the scheme is compulsory. However, this is not an automatic requirement and there would need to be a separate decision for each service.

Emergency medical treatment or other services needed to deal with a genuine emergency would never depend on production of an ID card.

9. Will it be compulsory to carry a card?

No, it will not be compulsory to carry a card and there will be no power for the police to stop someone and demand to see their card.

10. Will information be disclosed without an individual’s consent?

We expect most identity checks using the Register to be done with consent. Information may be provided without consent to Security and Intelligence Agencies to ensure that the scheme helps in the fight against terrorism. The Police, Customs, Inland Revenue and Department for Work and Pensions may also be disclosed the types of personal identity information described in the Bill as “registrable facts”, e.g. name, address, place and date of birth, minus the audit trail of card use for law enforcement and related purposes. The more sophisticated types of disclosure to these organisations, for example, to look at card use, would only apply in cases of serious crimes. The Bill ensures that the provision of information will be properly regulated and subject to independent oversight.
__________

Thank me for your patience (!?)

 

29 Nov 2004

An Encounter with the NHS

Last week, I had a pre-arranged clinic appointment at a “Foundation” hospital. The clinic was busy and the room so small that there were not even enough chairs for the waiting patients. Although there were no interruptions for special emergencies, I did not see the weary but kindly doctor until about 4 hours after my appointment time and finally reached home at 9.30 pm.

The doctor prescribed an extra medicine, largely to counteract side effects of one that I already use. He had no readily available information about satisfactory alternatives to the original troublesome medicine or about the side effects of medicines. (The paper directory seems not to help.)

Result: A whole day lost for just a brief 10 minute consultation.

Question: How could e-Government or better IT have helped?

1. Appointment Process
I received two reminder letters. (Each threatening removal from the list if I forgot to attend.)

a. Could these appointment reminders have been sent electronically?
(But with all the spam, would I trust or even read such an email or SMS?)
b. Could the clinic have made a better estimate of the real appointment time?
(But doctors seem to like having a long queue waiting?)

2. Waiting Room
The order of seeing the patients apparently depends partly on appointment time, partly on arrival time and partly on the whim of the doctors. Patients brought in by hospital transport are always seen before those who struggle in alone, regardless of distance. Most patients hate “badgering” the receptionist for information about their continuing wait, but worry about “losing their place” in the queue if they leave the room. In desperation, some even chat with other patients!

a. Are patients with “hospital transport” always the most in need of rapid attention?
b. Could the clinic reveal the waiting order and estimate the remaining waiting time?
c. Could they perhaps estimate the number of chairs needed?

3. The Consultation
This medical problem was caused largely by the side effects of a common prescription medicine. However, the doctor had no information about suitable alternatives, either to give to me or to advise my GP.

a. Could doctors have a convenient database which lists side effects and suggests other suitable medicines?
(But would such a database be free of marketing and commercial pressures from drug companies and NHS accountants?)

 

IPPR Proposal for a Community Commons

The BBC is carrying a story about a proposal from the IPPR that the Government could do well to provide an online community for pre-legislative discussions.

On the surface, this is a good idea - but it goes on to propose that Blunkett’s ID card could be used to provide the secure authorisation credentials, which shows that the IPPR have failed to grasp the point.

In all, the IPPR’s reported comments seem to me to be more in line with casting around for some potential beneficial use of ID cards rather than the grokking the obvious benefit inherent in the discussion space itself.

You don’t need ID cards to foster a workable online community where the two tribes can get together and talk to each other.

 

28 Nov 2004

UK online privacy policy

What is UK online?

An ideal page: clearly written, with clear indication of privacy measures and jargon-free information.

Reached through its “Privacy” section, from main www.ukonline.gov.uk

following their statement about providing “a single online point of entry to government information and services.”

Now this is the kind of path i would like other public services sectors to walk.
But it is unlikely that similar caring sites continue to develop steadily in view of other foreign-affairs and foreign-policy implementation, including ID system cards.

 

26 Nov 2004

What’s it like on the front line?

Anyone been affected by benefit claim problems, as reported by BBC and KableNet? The London welfare advisers network seems none too impressed.

 

25 Nov 2004

(Revised) Even Belgium, the CIA, Vegas and Microsoft aspire to doing ID better

As Sir Humphrey once advised - “If you must do this damn silly thing, don’t do it in this damn silly way.”

Stefan Brands mails to remind me that it is possible to do a privacy-friendly ID card, and tells me there’s a new academic project afoot triggered partly by the need to provide a more privacy-friendly alternative to what’s available in Belgium. He’s confident it can be done..  (I’ve revised this para - see below)

Or how about this from Jeff Jonas at SRD? (OK, so it comes from Vegas and is funded by the CIA...be happy if we even ask for something as good as this).

Even Microsoft, which once asked why not use the lamentable MS Passport as a real passport, now seems to be thinking of privacy-friendly authentication services in its future software releases. Its Infocard means zero cards - even better than just one.

Signs of supply of privacy-friendly authentication services are there...but where’s the demand? I think the tribe has a blind spot about this. We must make sure we ask for it. Rehearse, repeat and say a little prayer for privacy. We’ll only set this architecture up once. Just our luck it has to happen in the middle of a climate of fear.

 

Oh! Another myth to which I cant find the counterpart in reality - residential care

Heavens! It turns out that my Dad was a member of the public service tribe most of his life! I’ll ask him for stories and recollections - more of that anon.

But the point is it seems that for all his life the priestly elite required he pay something called national insurance. What is this national insurance? Here’s a fascinating factual-looking description of it, which doesnt really describe what it feels like.

He does get a pension, which is cool, but it’s not at all clear what happened to all that money (presumably lots of other people paid it too...). Where is it now?

Anyway, if he needs residential care (and long may my Mum remain on the case, because she’s doing a fine job) it now turns out he has to pay. Suddenly the priestly elite doesnt want to talk about national insurance at all - this is a bit odd.

Ive found a dissident sect called the Pimpernel Trust (no link available) operating inside the system who are perfectly happy to be frank about all this, which is very helpful. Thank heavens for the human workarounds, which Helen S and other have referred to already.

 

Ow! Toothache takes me to a place where I dont find public services

I nearly had a quick brush with the public-service people this morning, but it was a false alarm.

I needed a tooth filling, and I’d heard stories about a 5m strong tribe called the National Health Service that does that sort of stuff. But I think it’s a myth - they dont actually do it. Instead I found a straightforward dentist who works for money - he did a very good job, I must say, and I paid him.

I also heard reports of spend of £6-30bn on a national programme for new tools and rituals in this NHS. But I cant see any signs it will make dentistry work (or chiropody for that matter). It must be to do with something else.

Anyone else come across myths of things the public sector community is said to do, but in fact turns out not to?

 

map map

neo

Neo is a very pleasant site aimed at ethical businesses. Links to Ngos and quangos… mainly in the arts. Elegant (imo).

And… a brief quote for anthropology fans:

(from “getethical”, “ethical matters” content):

“Congratulations, if you are reading this article then you are probably a Cultural Creative (CC).

Welcome to the club and it is a growing one at that. According to anthropologist Paul Ray there is a new group in town - The Cultural Creatives. “This group has no established leaders, no professed ideology and no cohesive sense of community. Its members loosely adhere to humanistic/spiritual ideals and life-styles that are eco-friendly.” He believes he has identified at least 50 million in the United States and another 50 million in Europe.

And right now you are quite likely sighing ‘oh, no not another bloody stereotype’ this may be because cultural creatives hate to be put in to boxes. While wanting to refrain from doing this there are some fascinating facts that we feel duty bound to tell you about. We disagree with some of what Mr. Ray is saying as we find people with the interests proported to be of cultural creatives are often politically active - this political with the small p - concerned with their community, with environmental destruction, with globalisation - what cultural creatives are not are new age hippies.

Although they cannot be discerned from any particular demographic group - Cultural Creatives come from all walks of life from accountants to acupuncturists, supermarket buyers to computer consultants and lawyers and doctors to midwives and gardeners - the overriding factor is that they tend to be involved in, or care intensely, about environmentalism, globalisation, peace, social justice, holistic health, civil rights and new spirituality.

Many cultural creatives have dabbled in or are committed to self-development and growth; many would like nothing else but to leave the rat race to lead a more sustainable life. While they may not be lucky enough to do this they want to make difference in what they do right now. knowledge and increasing wisdom.”


 

24 Nov 2004

Map or be mapped

Strange, frightening myths are emerging from the unknown tribe we call government - stories involving electronic tags, ID cards, drug testing and fingerprints.

This tribe is trying to map us out - we’d better get on with mapping the out first!

Plus some specifics coming soon (I hope)

- the diary of a social worker told to hot-desk and go paperless
- top tips on observational research of public services from the man who brought mystery shopping to the UK

So if you have any direct encounters with this tribe or their activities called public services record and send them in. Also, if you have any insights of the “wouldnt it be better if...” variety, post them up.

 

23 Nov 2004

Just for interest - Maharishi’s ideal government (TM)

Ideal government means:

Conflict-Free Politics

Problem-Free Administration - ability to prevent problems

Simplified Administration and Low Taxation

Automation in Administration through Natural Law

Ideal Education - which offers the fruit of all knowledge to everyone - mistake-free life in enlightenment and fulfillment

Prevention-Oriented Health Care to Create a Disease-Free Society

Invincible Defense - to disallow the birth of an enemy

Flourishing Economy- self-sufficient, debt-free, and progressive

Stress-Free, Pollution-Free Industry

Healthy Agriculture without poisonous fertilizers

Naturally Law Abiding Citizens and a Crime-Free Society

From http://www.alltm.org/pages/ideal_gov.html

 
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Ideal Government

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