John has been an Honorary Policeman (Constables Officer) for more than six years and has served in two different Parishes. That was until he reported his immediate superior for suspected drink-driving to the States of Jersey Police.
For the benefit of our national/international readers; Jersey has thirteen Police Forces. There are twelve Honorary/volunteer forces, which equates to one for each of the 12 Parishes, and the States of Jersey Police who are the "paid" or "professional" Police. The Honorary Officers are elected (mostly unopposed) at a Parish Assembly.
The Constables Officer is immediately answerable to a ventengier/Centenier who is answerable ultimately to the Attorney General. At the Head of the Parish is the Constable who also has an automatic right to a seat in the Island's Parliament.
It is important to note that the States, or paid, professional, Police DO NOT have the power to charge offenders, it is the Honorary Police, or more specifically, a Centenier, who has that exclusive power. Centeniers are more often than not elected unopposed at Parish Assemblies also.
We have interviewed John (below) who has decided to blow the whistle on what he, and many others, believe to be "an old boys network." After doing what he was trained to do (reporting a fellow officer to the States of Jersey Police) he now tells us that he has become a victim of whistle blowing and been ostracised. Fellow Officers, according to John, have turned their back on him, refused to go out on duty with him, at the time of the whistle blowing. John also tells us that these actions were supported by the Parish Constable.
After going through all the "correct channels" he has come up against a brick wall and now feels there is no other option open to him other than to go public and expose, what he calls, "an old boys network" that is the Parish system.
He now believes that if, as an Honorary Officer, you suspect a crime being committed by a fellow officer, keep your head down and turn a blind eye. (The Jersey Way)
VFC has not approached the Parish for a comment (who will no doubt have a different version of events, and strenuously deny the claims made by John,) but offer a right of reply should the Parish wish to make contact.
Time for a long overdue whistle blowing policy.
It takes real guts to go up against the parish polity old boys network so fair play to him for having the courage to go public with this.
ReplyDeleteThere's not even a story here.
ReplyDeleteSo he reported somebody he assumed to be DIC and another person said they couldn't smell alcohol on him so see him as a trouble maker, whoopee.
You spent most of the time sticking words in his mouth anyhow.
The issue is not about drink driving and who could smell what on whose breath. The issue is that these events expose yet again the tribal nature of the honorary policing system and the culture of casting out anyone who puts their duty to the public before the interests of the tribal leaders. If anyone is still wondering how decades of child abuse could be covered up in Jersey then just take a look at the culture and attitudes displayed in these events. Nothing much has changed.
DeleteJohn's story is relatively mundane but abuse and corruption are like FRACTALS (but not as pretty)
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal
Corruption looks the same at the small scale (parish) at the medium scale (national) and at the large scale (international).
Corruption infects both up and down the food chain, and leaves the weak with no protection from the parasites and bottom feeders.
Meanwhile, outside of the Jersey bubble, a guest posting by a former Special Branch Officer:
https://retiredandangry.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/independent-child-abuse-inquiries-a-question-of-trust/
I believe the officer was breathalysed by the States Police and blew negative....... End of story!
ReplyDeleteSadly as drink driving is not a crime but an administrative matter, I think there was a better fight to fight.
ReplyDeleteanonymos at 16.06 how do you know that unless you are an honorary?
ReplyDeleteI remember reading somewhere that Lenny Harper was told he had to ask permission from a parish constable before any of his States police cars could sound their sirens going through the parish. I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Mr Harper was regularly stopped by the parish police while driving his car but when he started driving his wife's car he wasn't getting stopped. The Parish Mafia.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 16.06 no not one ........down to hearsay knowledge and logic
ReplyDeleteHearsay (gossip) can be a dangerous thing. Knowledge must indicate you actually know something, and logic? What is logical about this and how does it enter into the equation?
ReplyDeletePerhaps best if you explained yourself more fully.
Yes he is quite correct about the bullying and harrasement from colleagues if you report anyone. The Attorney General is a terrible one and it is not a wonder why we have no Deputy Bailiff. The man is out of his depth.
ReplyDeleteFor years there has been two officers in St Martin who are known for their aggressive and over enthusiastic policing they are well known island wide ,and I have often spoken to their fellow officers in St Martin and they totally agree,
ReplyDeleteand yet not one of them has the guts to officially challenge their behaviour, these two officers are not worthy to represent the system. I two served In the system in another parish, and well remember at a meeting officers suggesting that they were not traffic wardens and parking attendants and were not keen to direct traffic at parish functions etc I left after 9 years as matters got worse, so I know what goes on, I always advocated that when on duty we should be smartly dressed, not in trainers shorts and a tee-shirt and a tabard wrapped around the waist, but I was always shouted down, it was seen as unreasonable to carry a few smart clothes in ones car ,some months later I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw officers starting to wear items of Police uniform, and as we all know now they are in complete uniform, making it impossible to distinguish them from the Professional Police Officers which is a let down for the Paid Police when one sees the way some of the Parish Police carry out their duties . In my opinion these people should not have police powers they should be called specials or marshals and assist were required ,and if they see a crime or infraction then report it to the Paid Police, I would like to see an end to HOBBY BOBBIES.
If John had been a coward like Francis Le Gresley then he would at least have had the choice to stay in the Honary's. Francis watched a colleague neck nearly a whole bottle of whisky before driving home, Francis did nothing but tell the parishioners of Grouville how honourable he (Francis) was by resigning!
ReplyDeleteOf course, the States Police have a number of checks and balances when similar circumstances occur. For example, they have a Professional Standards Department to undertake appropriate investigations against serving officers and they can also deal with bulling behaviour towards whistleblowers. Where are the checks and balances for the Honorary Police? The Attorneys General as titular heads of the Honorary System don't have a great record of holding officers to account (eg. Philip Bailhache and the acceptance of the proven paedophile Roger Holland as an HonoraryOfficer?
ReplyDeleteTo suggest the Honorary system is an old boys network is an insult to all those who dedicate their time to it.
ReplyDelete"To suggest the Honorary system is an old boys network is an insult to all those who dedicate their time to it."
ReplyDeleteMmmm. I think there must be some elements of an old boys network, especially with the older lot. However, like in any Job, nobody likes a snitch, even if they officially encourage it. That's them just being 'legal', about it.
In reality, this ex officer would still have had his job if he'd have remained anonymous about reporting the suspected drink driver. This is not to say i agree with what has happened to him, but it does not surprise me. But of course if it was against a member of joe public than things would have been entirely different. A flock that is self protecting and 'them', is certainly not, 'us', and therefore prone to 'old boy networking', on 'flock deviants', regardless if they're officially doing the right thing?! lol.
As a footnote, checks and balances occur regularly at Esso. Tanker drivers are checked without warning and on the spot, for drug or alcohol intake, so as not to claim discrimination are the Esso office staff. Is it the same with the States lorry drivers, States public services heavy goods drivers or other police units ?
ReplyDeleteBy in large the Honorary serve a usefull purpose. One told me, we work with and watch over the States police to make sure they don't over step the mark and abuse their power.
To end, does anyone have confidence in the States police Chief Mike Bowron ?
Has he investigated the theft of Chief Powers documents including work contract from his personal office safe and the loss from a states department thereof. Has he investigated a drunken unreliable witness found guilty indeed of verbal and telephone abuse, as correctly accused and blogged by Stuart Syvret, the same person then took the stand in a secret trial against Syvret.
Has Police Chief Bowron investigated and presented his findings to the AG and in the name of justice asking for a miss trial to be recorded as the witness has again been caught doing exactly as Stuart Syvret said in his bloggs. In the UK and other civalised properly policed juristictions having a criminal, unreliable witness would not be allowed in any trial - under threat of a miss - carriage of justice.
In Jersey I believe its called " The Jersey Way "
Everyone knows this deranged troll but the reason he won't be charged even after having been exposed in hate-filled drunken phonecalls is because a charge would mean admitting the secret court case was a State organised scam. This loony tune is obsessed with Lenny Harper, Graham Power, Syvret, the Pitmans and even Rico Sorda's wife. So as long as he sticks to those who challenge the Jersey Way he is left alone on order of our esteemed Crown Officers. This incident just shows how wide the old boys network of establishment scum is.
DeleteThere are more rotten eggs in the states police than the honoraries.
ReplyDeleteAnd to say that the states police are independent of political influence is just a joke
The states police are as responsible for decades of child abuse in Jersey as any other state agency. You call them professional !! You talk about cronyism !! Read the Sharp report
Bowron, got the job after Warcup! Therefore knows perfectly well what he, {Warcup}, did to Power. Police Headquarters safe breaking and all!
ReplyDeleteThere is a profound and inescapable problem for Mike Bowron - one of reputation-annihilating inevitability - coming down the tracks in light of the now unstoppable & epochal reckoning with concealed child-abuse underway in Britain.
ReplyDeleteNamely that the Jersey Police under his leadership received a very detailed - significantly evidenced - and witnessed - criminal complaint against the plainly illegal conspiracy to suspend Police Chief Graham Power. The suspension of Graham Power - and all of the associated conspiracies to pervert the course of justice and instances of misconduct in a public office - had as a core objective the sabotaging of the child-abuse investigations.
But Mike Bowron and the Jersey Police refused to even investigate it - not even to do so much as contact, and carry out initial interviews with key witnesses - such as Mr Power himself.
Instead Bowron chose to go along with the child-abuse cover-ups by just asking a conflicted Jersey law-firm to give him an "opinion" to the effect that what was complained of "did not amount to criminal offences." An opinion - of course - which is manifest garbage.
The disaster for Bowron and the rest of this "apparatus" is that, of course, none of this is going away - nor was it ever going to.
It's all carefully collated - into the historic record. And there will be a reckoning.
And on a related note - could I urge readers to buy the current edition of Private Eye magazine. On page 12 they report on the child-abuse cover-ups in Jersey - including such acts by the establishment as blocking Leah McGrath Goodman from entering the UK - and the illegal suspension of Police Chief Graham Power.
And quite obviously - with the UK child-abuse revelations and investigations having now gained unstoppable momentum - this is just the beginning of the reckoning.
It is clear to any thinking person that Mike Bowron - in choosing to enable the continuance of the child-abuse cover-ups by refusing to investigate the illegal suspension of Graham Power - chose the wrong side.
History is not going to be kind to him.
Though that could be the least of his worries.
Stuart Syvret
(Gameshow) Mike Bowron was the Commissioner of the City of London Police from 2006 to 2011.
DeleteExarno news made their name exposing his force as a cab for hire (fares paid for by the public of course)
www.exaronews.com/articles/4458/kroll-persuaded-city-police-to-launch-doomed-1m-probe
www.cityoflondonpolicecorruption.co.uk/
DeleteIs he still walking round the town at week day lunch times with his fluffy hat and blinkers on?
ReplyDeleteSo tomorrow the Jersey legislature votes on whether to sabotage the public inquiry into decades of child-abuse cover-ups in Jersey. Oh sure, that's not how the vote on further funding is framed or spoken of, but we're not idiots. Everyone can see that is what the vote amounts to.
ReplyDeleteIt is also a vote which will reveal who Jersey's real Chief Minister is, Ian Gorst or Philip Bailhache. If Gorst loses the funding debate and Bailhache wins, not only will it show that Bailhache is the real Chief Minister and Gorst is empty front-man, it will also show that in a matter of profound importance and a question of deep principle, Gorst does not command the confidence of the House.
Ian Gorst will have no choice other than to resign as Chief Minister if he loses. At least, no choice if he possesses any calibre, ethics and real political wisdom.
He and others might make the excuse that the issue is not that important, and that "political stability" matters more. If so, they're fools. This vote in many ways represents the first of what will be many savage, unavoidable, self-condemnations the Jersey parliament must face following the previous years of disgusting, low-calibre, sleazy unethical failure to deal responsibly and properly with the child-abuse cover-ups. And I do not mean something as glib as the political cliché 'damned-if-they-do - damned-if-they-don't'. That phrase implies just a bit of political collateral damage from having to make a run-of-the-mill 'hard choice'. The debate on the funding for the child-abuse public inquiry is much, much more serious than that. And much, much more damaging, no matter which outcome is voted for. And that is not because of the additional expense.
The continuation, with necessary funding, of the public inquiry cannot be other than, ultimately, savagely damaging to the Jersey establishment. That much is plain, even on the basis of the very limited work it had done so far. It is that clear fact which is driving the fear and desperation of establishment figures such as the Bailhache Brothers and others to sabotage the CoI. On the basis that funding the continuation of the public inquiry is going to be so damaging to the establishment, you might predict the Bailhaches and their equally conflicted allies such as Andrew Lewis to carry a majority in Jersey's essentially inadequate and non-functional parliament.
But, the consequences for the Jersey establishment and their protectors in London of failing to vote the necessary funding for the child-abuse public inquiry will be even MORE savagely damaging, perhaps terminally, for the Jersey establishment. For many, really obvious, reasons.
Obviously, the outcome of the vote does not depend upon the very few non-establishment members, nor does it depend upon the hard-core corrupt, self-interested oligarchs. The outcome of the vote will be decided by the usually silent & passive rank & file conservative lobby-fodder who make up the great majority of the assembly.
Do those people have the wisdom, the intelligence to see the time has come for the Jersey establishment to swallow the nasty medicine, for the long-term good of the island and finally reign in the obviously dangerous, self-interested nut-case Philip Bailhache and his equally eccentric and idiotic brother William?
I fear not.
In which case the Jersey establishment will have finally authored its own doom.
There are a number of people who are deeply, deeply conflicted in the debate on funding for Jersey's child-abuse public inquiry. Will all of those people declare that conflict of interests and withdraw from taking part in the debate?
ReplyDeleteThat's an important question, which will, of itself, be an interesting test of the ethics and calibre of your legislature. Will rank and file members have the self-respect to demand that those who are conflicted withdraw?
There may be other conflicted parties, if so, maybe other readers could name them, but off the top of my head the following are fatally conflicted:
Philip Bailhache;
William Bailhache;
Tim Le Cocq;
Anne Pryke;
Geoff Southern;
Judy Martin;
Andrew Lewis;
There are probably more. Have I left anyone out?
Why would Pryke, Southern and Martin be conflicted? With the others its obvious. And isn't it a mistake to want Southern and Martin out of the debate as they would vote for the funding?
ReplyDelete'Southern and Martin would vote for the funding'? Are you sure about that?! Really sure??
ReplyDeleteIf they did it would one of those 'fingers crossed behind the back votes' in which they'd be supporting it for appearances sake but secretly hoping to be on the 'losing' side.
Don't be too hard on Judy Martin. She is the only half decent Deputy we in St. Helier Number 1 have left. Labby and especially Scot 'I never knew about my friend not living in the district, honest!' Wickendum are crap.
DeleteBut why are Martin, Southern and Pryke conflicted? Maybe I've missed something but I don't understand that. Can someone explain?
DeleteTalking about people being conflicted I hope William Bailhache won't attempt preside but I bet he will.. And he will get away with it because I doubt there is now anyone left Mike Higgins aside brave enough to tell him to recuse himself. Coz as I recall even when he has been told to recuse himself he just refuses. Now that IS the Jersey Way!
ReplyDeleteWithout doubt, the most important debate in the States this week will be the extra funding for the Child Abuse Inquiry. Yet the only local media reporting is the JEP and that's just a snippet!! Whether they like it or not this is a huge debate and the result of the members vote either way, will not close it down....
ReplyDeleteThe World is watching!?
A reader says: -
ReplyDelete"Without doubt, the most important debate in the States this week will be the extra funding for the Child Abuse Inquiry."
No.
It is without doubt the most important debate in the Jersey legislature for centuries.
Why?
Because this public inquiry - as deficient and as flawed as it is - represents the last crumbling tatty fragments of a fig-leaf behind which the Crown can attempt to shield itself.
If the public inquiry into decades of child-abuse cover-ups is sabotaged by rejecting the funding proposal - the monarchy has no place left to hide.
It is as simple as that.
Stuart Syvret
Today is the day the spineless follow the Bailhache lead and decide that Jersey is too poor to investigate what went wrong with decades of child protection and their basic human rights.
Delete(And therefore ensure the continuation of the same flawed and abusive systems)
On another day they would vote £8m + to buy a couple of fields at Plemont and then spend further millions returning them to nature.
La la-la la-la...
The proposition is Gorst v Bailhache and as much as I support Gorst on this if he loses he will have to resign as Chief Minister because it will show that Bailhache has more influence over the House than he does.
ReplyDeleteThose who would like to see Jersey mired by this for the next decade or more would welcome a vote to stop this CoI in it's tracks.
ReplyDeleteThe cat is out the bag
Timeline: Jersey's decades of abuse
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-28423082
Politicians 'interfered' in Jersey child abuse inquiry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/world/europe/jersey/8512237.stm
Boys raped by CTV founder & political and policing linchpin, Wilfred Krichefski
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-30350191
When one victim eventually complained of his abuse he said he was immediately sectioned and taken to St Saviour's Hospital, where he was told to forget about what he had said.
This sectioning of complainants was still in use a couple of years ago (& probably still is!)
Those who are invested in this history would work to keep it hidden.
Cancelling this CoI will buy them time but double the cost and embarrassment to the island when a fuller inquiry is finally held