Thoughts 11 Apr 2008 01:40 pm
Met Police officers to be ‘microchipped’ by top brass
I came across this on a blog called Madness Beckons. It originated in the Daily Mail.
Evidently the Brass of the London Metropolitan Police department have decided that the best way to keep track of their officers is to implant an RFID in each of the 31,000 men and women on the street.
This is their reasoning:
“Steve Rands, health and safety head for the Met Police Federation, told Police Review: “This is so that we know where officers are. Let us say that when voice distortion or sound quality over the radio is lost, if you cannot hear where that officer telling you where he is, you can still pinpoint his exact position by global positioning system.”
“If he needs help but you cannot hear him for whatever reason, APLS will say where he is.”
These devices will also tell them if an officer is at lunch too long or is taking too much time with tickets. It will also tell them if an officer is at home, at the pub or visiting a friend.
Given the nature of the beast, I would make the assumption that somebody will monitor these cops 24/7.
They will probably set up a completely automated system so that nobody ever has to look at it unless they get bored. Or a supervisor wants to make brownie points and prove his power, by spying on the troops and inventing problems.
The basic premise may be fine, but the abuse of the system is pretty much a sure bet.