I'm pleased to have found some common ground but please note that I did not mention the cops. Until we have a national police force and 43 forces all sing from the same Hymn Sheet we are wasting the effort.
Yes, an 'all military' solution would offer some uniformity but the military system itself has some devastating shortcomings. The ravages of the 'Peter Principle' (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle) have more scope to work their evil magic in an organisation that relies on regular rotation or posting. It has been my experience that the encumbant dreams up some 'mega-plan', sells the idea to his superiors, gets a good promotion out of it and then the poor sod taking over the position is left to implement it. He had no idea why this mega-idea was introduced because he came from some other obscure part of the military machine.
Sorry Crab, in my 40 years in this job I've learnt that the most efficient units are those that are driven by profit. Somehow loftier ideals breed a nauseating bureaucracy and the 'my-way-is-best' mentality stifles initiative and innovation. If your only experience is within the RAF then you never have experienced the vitality of the civilian world and if that's the case you cannot criticise it - not justly anyway.
G
