Policing today - I'm almost ashamed to admit what I did for a living for 28 yrs.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

My  next door but one neighbour is a retired Police Comms Room Sergeant, I am a retired Custody Sergeant, we have both  retired in 2003. When we joined up it was called a Police Force not rebranded as a Police Service like today.
We both read with incredulity the Media coverage of the poor performance of todays Police Service not to mention Met Police Murderers & Rapists in the news. When I meet someone today I'm close to ashamed to tell them what my occupation was. I'm not sure if it's Social Media or disproportionate media coverage that's to blame.

I suspect Teachers and Scout Leaders feel the same. Thank goodness I can now enjoy my twilight years fixing up old Honda's and re-live the 1970s to 1980s tinkering with these brilliant bits of engineering.
My apologies in advance if sometimes I revert to the stereotype,  I can assure you I am not racist or sexist, in fact I probably should have been a Social Worker. The reality is Policing is really a branch of Social Work with added powers of arrest.

[Bryanj]

Ted, i get the way you feel.
For my sins my brother was a Commander in the Met, starting out as a cadet at 16 and whilst i commend him for his diligence to the job and hard work to get that far as a "decent human being" he is a failure, but not in his eyes.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Met Commanders in the Met were the equivalent to Divisional Chief Superintendents in the Provinces. Respect to your brother in achieving that rank, if he has now retired he deserves every penny of his pension. My last C/Supt died earlier this week aged 91.👍