Certainly there will be people who've done nothing more than shuffle paper, chair meetings, contributed little to the grand scheme, and endured nothing more dangerous than a paper cut, so there are doubtless individual cases where those receiving it aren't truly worthy.
And yeah, we're all getting the police service the Government thinks we deserve, leaving them free to door cyclists without fear of reprisal.
I explained in my previous post what alternative employment was - and still is - open to me, and the salaries they command, so unless you're a very senior officer one can hardly describe the pay as 'generous'. Most of the motor trade techs I know - my kid Brother was one - earn more on bonus for less working hours than a 6 year PC. Indeed, my Bro recently took a job at a Coca Cola warehouse in MK that pays as much as a Sergeant on max service...
As for getting more 'back out on the streets', do you think they have cupboards full of officers sat there doing nothing. As of when I left a few months ago the only folk not out and about were specialist posts, such as child protection etc, very senior scrambled egg, and those injured expected to return to full duties at some point. This idea that there are rooms full of bobbies wearing slippers and eating biscuits hasn't been true in my first hand experience once the last century. Most back office functions are being done by civilian staff, but as they're being made redundant to meet the tightening budget pressures then more and more bobbies will be pulled off the streets to back fill these roles, which don't simply go away. When over 90% of your operating costs is staff, all this guff the government trots out about streamlining, and smarter working are rubbish - the're no meaningful meat left to trim, the only savings that can be made are staff.
