Volunteer Border Force

[Javelin]

Read this to day on the BBC site,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42527750

In essence there are plans under consideration for "Border Force Special Volunteers" to be used at small air and sea ports.

I wondered what the the panel thinks?

For my part I think its a good idea, especially for a place like Southwold.
I'm personally down at the harbour almost every day and know every local boat and always take an interest in whats new in port.
We have two employees who live on the river and we know well the five others who also live on their boats in and on the hard at the harbour.

We also know well the local conditions, when you can get in, when you can't, the likely arrival times of visitors etc.
We had occasion where the official coast guard turned up in force looking for a body, roared down our unmade road at speed and set off to search on the North beach. We had to ask "whats going on?" and grudgingly we're told but to keep out of it.
We'd just had 5 hours of flood tide so we suggested they might have more luck with the the South beach and especially halfway down the south side of the South breakwater where there is a back eddy that runs at all states and catches all sorts of floating stuff.
They completely ignored us and wasted hours of fruitless searching before a dog walker spotted a body on the beach halfway to Sizewell.

OK I know thats not not Border Force's job but the fact remains there is a lot of untapped local expertise that goes to waste.

 

[Champagne Murphy]

I’m thinking the problem will be that the volunteers will be roughly equivalent to the PCSOs and so will need lots of trining first. Imagine the H& S stuff they’d have to go through. Also, wasn’t there a Coastguard volunteer force a few years ago? What happened to that?

 

[stuey_two]

I’m thinking the problem will be that the volunteers will be roughly equivalent to the PCSOs and so will need lots of trining first. Imagine the H& S stuff they’d have to go through. Also, wasn’t there a Coastguard volunteer force a few years ago? What happened to that?

Are you referring to the National Coastwatch Institute, website www.nci.org.

Currently 50 NCI stations are operational and manned by over 2000 volunteers keeping watch around the British Isles from Rossall Point in the North West, through Wales, to Wearside in the North East.

 

[pvb]

Are you referring to the National Coastwatch Institute, website www.nci.org.

Currently 50 NCI stations are operational and manned by over 2000 volunteers keeping watch around the British Isles from Rossall Point in the North West, through Wales, to Wearside in the North East.

Didn't anyone ever tell you to check links before posting?? Anyway, even the real NCI website makes absolutely no mention of border control.

 

[Plum]

I’m thinking the problem will be that the volunteers will be roughly equivalent to the PCSOs and so will need lots of trining first. Imagine the H& S stuff they’d have to go through. Also, wasn’t there a Coastguard volunteer force a few years ago? What happened to that?

There has been volunter Coastguard Rescue Teams for over 50 years and still going strong. About 340 teams around the UK with well over 3000 volunteers and still recruiting in some areas. Funding for management, equipment and training has been increasing in recent years.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[snowbird30ds]

I recon it's a great idea, most coastal places have a wealth of local folk that live and breathe the sea and harbours and know most of what is coming and going, as Javelin says they know the local systems better than any national agency and probably already keep an eye out for problems before they occur letting the appropriate authorities know about it.

 

[Cantata]

Re the last two posts.....most coastal areas have a local CG Rescue Team! I was on one of these (volunteer teams) for nigh on 15 years. Many of us knew the local patch blindfolded and in the dark, so I was a bit surprised to hear of Javelin's experience at Southwold. We also made a point of knowing the most knowledgeable locals and would always ask their advice if need be.
The CG role is most definitely S&R only, no question of doing any sort of 'policing', but such people are well placed to help with any sort of border force eyes and ears.

 

[Tomahawk]

We only have to look to the behaviour of various community moderators to see what happens when someone gets a sense of "power"....

Do we really want a bunch of self appointed traffic wardens pstroling the shoreline armed with authority to board you and demand to see your papers and anythingelse they think they can demand?

 

[Greemble]

We only have to look to the behaviour of various community moderators to see what happens when someone gets a sense of "power"....

Do we really want a bunch of self appointed traffic wardens pstroling the shoreline armed with authority to board you and demand to see your papers and anythingelse they think they can demand?

+1

Adding to that, didn't the Border Force have a major cut to it's funding and loose a large number of its staff?

Sounds about right, cut spending, make people redundant then bring in volunteers to do the job for nothing...

 

[Poignard]

We only have to look to the behaviour of various community moderators to see what happens when someone gets a sense of "power"....

Do we really want a bunch of self appointed traffic wardens pstroling the shoreline armed with authority to board you and demand to see your papers and anythingelse they think they can demand?

+1

 

[Poecheng]

This seems to be resurrecting that which was done away with years ago.
Didn't there used to be local(s) plugged into the Customs & Excise (as it was then) so that strange goings-on would be notified to them so they could respond.

 

[Prasutigus]

We only have to look to the behaviour of various community moderators to see what happens when someone gets a sense of "power"....

Do we really want a bunch of self appointed traffic wardens pstroling the shoreline armed with authority to board you and demand to see your papers and anythingelse they think they can demand?

Greetings well said.
Also, we don't need to carry papers of any description, or inded any form of identification, in UK waters ( or ashore..)
I think this volunteer coastguard notion hasn't been thought through.
Regarding PCSOs, they aren't 'volunteers' in that they are reasonably well paid. They have no powers to arrest or enter property etc. though.
How could we give ' volunteers' the legal power to board and rummage boats? Load of nonsense!

 

[Plum]

Read this to day on the BBC site,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42527750

In essence there are plans under consideration for "Border Force Special Volunteers" to be used at small air and sea ports.

I wondered what the the panel thinks?

For my part I think its a good idea, especially for a place like Southwold.
I'm personally down at the harbour almost every day and know every local boat and always take an interest in whats new in port.
We have two employees who live on the river and we know well the five others who also live on their boats in and on the hard at the harbour.

We also know well the local conditions, when you can get in, when you can't, the likely arrival times of visitors etc.
We had occasion where the official coast guard turned up in force looking for a body, roared down our unmade road at speed and set off to search on the North beach. We had to ask "whats going on?" and grudgingly we're told but to keep out of it.
We'd just had 5 hours of flood tide so we suggested they might have more luck with the the South beach and especially halfway down the south side of the South breakwater where there is a back eddy that runs at all states and catches all sorts of floating stuff.
They completely ignored us and wasted hours of fruitless searching before a dog walker spotted a body on the beach halfway to Sizewell.

OK I know thats not not Border Force's job but the fact remains there is a lot of untapped local expertise that goes to waste.

You are quite right that locals will always be better at spotting any suspicious behaviour. In our local harbours and marinas we can usually spot activity that does not look quite right. Mostly it is a visiting yacht or an unsure person so we help and provide local knowledge but if we are still suspicious it is in all of our interests to report it. We are all mostly in a much better position to do this than the Boarder Force and the mechanism to report suspicions already exsists, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...rt-suspicious-behaviour-at-sea-project-kraken

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Poignard]

For God's sake don't let them have a uniform or they'll soon become insufferable. :nonchalance:

 

[Tomahawk]

Uniform or not, anyone who takes on the job will become insufferable. Give a nobody a sense of self importance and a badge and they revert to type.

 

[matthewriches]

Uniform or not, anyone who takes on the job will become insufferable. Give a nobody a sense of self importance and a badge and they revert to type.

 

[pks1702]

Uniform or not, anyone who takes on the job will become insufferable. Give a nobody a sense of self importance and a badge and they revert to type.

I can't agree with that based on my experience of chatting for a few hours with the Border Force guys this year - see link

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?486001-Border-Vessel-Alert&highlight=pks1702

 

[Marmalade]

I agree with your comments about the full time professional Border Force officers. I suspect the comment was referring to the kind of person who self-selects to be a part time pseudo-officer - and that I can relate to as well.

 

[steve yates]

I think it's a dreadful idea.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Brilliant idea .

The situation is now too serious . The border force needs all the help it can get. One can always look for negatives in any situation .

We used to be responsible much more in our communities before farming it all out.

Huge thanks to the Coast Watch and volunteer groups who already give their free time to the benefit of all.