A BLEAK sense of humour was once the only outlet for stressed police officers. But in “the more enlightened times in which we now live, with free counselling for even the minimally-traumatised”, pranks, wind-ups and gallows humour are frowned upon.
So says Inspector Simon Hepworth, of West Yorkshire Police. In Police Review (Aug 11), he says that “by our present standards, jokes were occasionally taken too far”. However, Mr Hepworth does think that a sense of humour is necessary for officers to cope with the stresses associated with working in the police service. So how should police vent their frustrations? The answer: notice boards.
“One solution might be to allow staff to have a notice board, well out of public view, for the display of defaced memos and other assorted wind-ups,” suggests Mr Hepworth. “This would act as a safety valve and might also be a useful indicator of what the staff really thinks. Naturally, nothing of a discriminatory or personally-abusive nature would be acceptable.” Perish the thought.
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