Originally Posted by Raven30
That is eerily similar to an experience I had in the 80s at the hands of the SIB. The allegation in my case was drugs although at the time I was not told what they were investigating, merely that if I didn't own up and provide them with more names, then my short career was well and truly over. Given that I hadn't a clue why I had been dragged out of my quarter, I was bricking it! Even thought about confessing to taking home a few service issue biros to see if that was what they were hunting for! Yes, I was fairly naive, having kept my nose clean the whole of my short working life. I spent a couple of hours in the guardroom - most of it being left to contemplate my fate. Eventually I managed to get the so called investigating officer to re check my details because I was convinced they had pulled the wrong person. 30 minutes later they released me - warning me that this was an ongoing investigation, and if I muttered a word to anybody they would pull me back in and throw the book at me again! Turns out that the person who had been implicated shared the same surname as me. Trouble was, my christian name initial featured 2 places before his in the alphabet, so I was the one dragged in. Basic stuff really. No apology, nothing.
The worst aspect of this was that next morning, still angry about the whole shambles,I reported it to my section warrant. He was disgusted and we trotted off to the Wing Commanders office to complain and hopefully get an apology or at least an acknowledgement that they had f***ed up from the RAFP. OC Ops happened to be one of the most unpleasant officers in the branch and promptly tore me off a strip for being involved and told me I was lucky no further action was being taken!
The banter on both sides in this thread is amusing, but after my experience am left in no doubt about the professional capabilities of a good proportion of this branch. In 20 odd years, I saw many examples of unprofessional conduct by other members of their branch(trying to get a 5 year old to admit on the doostep that daddy had been drinking and driving!!), and although many no doubt did a lot of good work, its always the a***holes who provide the lasting impressions. I still do not trust them and never will.
Common experience across the Services, I'm afraid. When the green Burton's besuited SIB come calling, they are possibly the most unprofessional groupI have come across. Threats are not uncommon, and outright refusal to provide legal counsel has been experienced before the tape gets turned on. The only bonus now is that many people are far more aware of their legal rights and don't simply cough because the SNCO tells them to - or downright lies to them. Took me 10 years to realise that there was more than just "Guilty" or "Not Guilty" - you can refuse to make a plea which involves them having to supply witnesses and evidence for the officer presiding to make a decision based on what he sees in front of him.
Fact - when I worked for another unit, we were left in possession of hundreds of interview tapes, records of seizures (many illegal), and evidential records which seemed to carry lots of corrections and modifications. These tapes were to do with interviews for homosexuality before it became not-illegal-in-the-forces. These tapes contained coercion, bullying, harassment, threats, and were in no way legal interviews. When it was discovered that we had these tapes, we had to have a mass destruction, which involved chucking the whole lot in a skip, covering them in lighter fuel, and torching them. Because the uniformed staff refused point blank to do this, they brought in civilians to do it - and the SIB big stick was waved once more. We had the whole HMS Dryad episode, including the way that they were playing people against each other with "evidence" of relationships - such as being seen in the same car.
Perhaps, now they will become tri-Service police, the standards will improve, but I fear they will drop to the lowest common denominator. Says a lot when the unofficial slogan is "Never Succumb to Malice - but never forget a face."