Cancelled Rest Days

Now, most of the time, I am not too bothered about Mr Dibble having a cancelled rest day, we just work round it, but every now and again it really annoys me. Two years ago me and Mr Dibble got wed, we booked it for a Saturday that he was on a rest day, we only wanted a quiet affair as we have been together for donkeys years, just us, the kids and a couple of mates, then some food and a drink down the local, well, his rest day was cancelled, he put in a request for the day off, giving the reason and it took them until two days before to tell him yes, ok then, have the day off Mr Dibble as its your wedding day!!!!!!
Sometimes I think, well actually, make that a lot of the time these days, that the 'Higherups' think that Officers do not have a life outside the Job, cancelling rest days, moving shifts and generally buggering around with family life.
This time, Mr Dibble has been told that he has to go in on a night shift smack bang in the middle of his annual leave, luckily we are not going away, as me and the kids are caravanning the week before!!! but that isn't the point, they have ok'd the annual leave, therefore he shouldn't have to work, well, we will see what happens there, but I am not holding my breath.

Bloody Media

I have posted this as a comment on Inspector Gadget's blog and wanted to post it here too.
I have just been listening to the news on the radio, PC Rathband was not even mentioned!! they said how Raoul Moat had shot his ex girlfriend and killed her new partner then went on to waffle on about the Police not doing their job yet again, not providing protection blah blah blah, I am sick of this drivel!!! I am disgusted that the BBC have not mentioned the attempted murder (as that is what it was) of a serving Police Officer, but, what do I expect!!!
On another note, I hope I am not flamed for this, it is my honest opinion as a school worker. I work part time in a local primary school in the less desirable (shall we say) part of our town, now, we are no inner city so I am sure our problems are no where near as bad as they are in our cities. Everyday I see kids that do not stand a chance of becoming decent citizens, and that makes me very sad and sorry for them, their parents are always in bother for something or other, the kids come to school looking like they haven't seen a bath in months (some probably haven't) their clothes certainly haven't been washed and the throw their free school dinners down their necks like they have never had a hot meal, and in some cases I know that the only hot meal they get is at school or at neighbours homes. In most cases these kids will grow up to be exact replicas of their parents and so the circle will continue, and people like Raoul Moat will continue to do what they do.

Police Bashing (rant)

I am sick and tired of seeing the media and people who think they know it all, bashing the Police for something that to an extent they had no control over.
PC David Rathband was shot by a man who was released from prison early, 99% of the time prisoners are released early, the Police have NO control over this, they also receive thousands of calls daily about someones boyfriend/girlfriend/father/brother/sister, the list could go on, threatening them, they CANNOT send a protection squad (call it what you will) to each and everyone of these people, there are not enough of them. So why now across the media does all this seem to be the Polices fault, another comment I am seeing is that during the Cumbria shootings the ARV presence wasn't as big as it has been after a Copper has been shot, that is just not true, then the worst one of the lot (and most common) about Police victimising 'normal' people for speeding/not wearing seatbelts etc and not dealing with 'real' criminals, god I am sick of it!!! if you break the law, then take the consequences and shut up bashing these hard working men and women who do a job that most MOP would never be able to do.
Mr Dibble has a very thick skin about this sort of thing, I expect most Police Officers do, but I don't, the little Dibbles and I are very proud of Mr Dibble and we hate to see the media firing up the general public about the supposed uselessness of the British Police Force, and then the general public falling for it.

Officer Down

Sky News
A Police Officer has been shot in Northumberland overnight, he is in a critical but not life threatening condition. My thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery go out to him, his family and colleagues.

Neighbourhood Bobby

In the last few weeks, Mr Dibble has had 2 official jobs on our street designated to him, this doesn't happen too often here in our Small Town. Last week, on a rest day, he got an unofficial one, we had gone out to sort the brake lights on our car, as I walked to the car and opened the boot ready for Mr Dibble to do the bulbs (mine was the important job of pressing the brake pedal!!) I heard his voice ask 'I don't think that belongs to you does it?' I turned to see him approaching a young lad who was dragging a bike down the street, lock still in place around the wheel, the lad said 'no' Mr Dibble took the bike from him and told him and his mates, who he knows quite well!!, to clear off or he would call the Police. He took the bike back to the man it belonged too, who was extremely happy to have had it returned before he realised it was gone, he didn't want charges brought as he was just relieved he still had it as he needed it to get to and from work.
The next day when Mr Dibble was back on duty he went round to see the lad to let him know he was lucky this time, and wouldn't be making a trip to the local Nick, this time!!!
I am so proud of Mr Dibble and the job he does, especially when I get to see him doing it, even when he isn't wearing the uniform.

Weekend Working

When Mr Dibble works on a weekend I feel like a single parent, when most of our friends have family days out on a weekend, we feel lucky to see him for a few hours or even minutes before he goes to work on a late, or to bed after a night shift. Tea, bath and bedtimes are the worst for me, as that's when the kids are getting tired and grumpy, and dealing with tired kids is no fun, especially when you are on your own!
Sometimes they want a friend over for the day or for a sleepover on a Saturday night, but its never as easy as 'yes OK, we will have little Johnny to sleep on Saturday' as I need to check what shift Mr Dibble is working, as I won't have friends over when he is on nights or lates, keeping excited kids quiet on a Sunday morning is almost impossible if not completely so.
But, on the plus side of shift work, Mr Dibble often takes the little Dibbles to school on his rest days, so I get a little longer in bed, before I have to get up for work. We also occasionally go for lunch together on a week day. So all in all its not too bad, just not as easy as 9-5 Monday to Friday and Bank Holidays off.

Unruly Customers

Mr Dibble got a little hurt on his last night shift, a fairly common occurrence these days, not badly hurt, but scrapes to his arms and a very sore neck all due to a stroppy 'customer' not wanting to leave the premises he was in!!! It could have been worse, and has been in the past, Mr Dibble was once bitten by yet another drunk and stroppy customer who had been arrested and did not want to be put in the Police van, it went to court (eventually) and he and another collegue who was also injured during the incident were awarded compensation, a huge amount it was not, in fact Mr Dibble still has not received his £7.50, yes I have typed that correctly, seven pounds and fifty pence was the compensation award both him and his collegue got, but, there you go, thats justice these days for you.
The customer the other night was not arrested, but removed from the scene and sent on his way, not worth the paperwork you see.

Night Shifts

Mr Dibble is on Nights right now, I hate it, I worry that something bad will happen, I know there is as much chance of him being hurt on a day shift as there is on a night or late shift, but that doesn't stop me from being concerned that some muppet with a knife or gun will hurt Mr Dibble when he is working. Friends have asked how I cope knowing that he is going out to work as a possible target for people who hate Cops, I usually answer that I try not to think about it!!! Thats not really the truth, I do think about it, lots. Take this morning, he was due home by 7.30am, by 8.30am when I left with the little Dibbles to take them to school he still wasn't home, I started to worry, I know deep down (in the sensible bit of my brain) that if anything had happened, I would have had ' The knock on the door', the one every cops wife dreads, no matter where in the world they live. I rang his mobile, not available! I waited until me and the littles had got to school and rang again, this time he answered, he was on his way home, he had had to go to Big Town with a victim in the early hours, Big Town is a two hour drive away, and had not left there to drive back until about 6am this morning. So, as usual Mr Dibble was fine, just caught up with work again, still doesn't make any difference to me though, I will always worry.

Hello

My first Blog Post on my new blog. I am Mrs Dibble and am married to Mr Dibble, a Police Officer in the UK.
This blog is a place for me to vent about the trials and tribulations of being a coppers wife in the UK in 2010.
Don't get me wrong, I love being married to a Police Officer, but its pretty hard going, working shifts, weekends in particular, especially as we have little Dibbles, its no fun for them when Daddy is working the weekend, or worse still in bed for all of it due to him working nights.
I will post about the good stuff too, but mostly the crap, the cancelled days out because of rest days being cancelled, the holidays taken with no Mr Dibble because of leave embargoes and the Christmases spent with small kids and no Daddy.
So, welcome to my blog, I hope you enjoy reading it.