Out Back

For anyone who stumbles into this disused box room during a spring clean of their favourites tab, I thought I'd out a short note of explanation on about my absence over the last year or so.  

I never took a decision to stop blogging, but it tailed off for various reasons.  Some personal - I became busier at home.  But also because of work. I started my blog to put across what it was like on the front line of Britain's police force. I did end up satirising performance culture, and bureaucracy, and the insidious world of senior policing.  But really my aim was to fly the flag for the front line bobby.  I never intended to keep blogging if I was no longer front-line, which is the case at the moment.  Although the role I do now is still police work, I am a lot less likely to be assaulted or vomited on. Well, by non-police officers anyway.

I believe that those who take the greatest risk have the most right to tell others what it's like out there.  I still fight daily fights for common sense in uniform, and I still have a lot to say about the world that politicians think we live in. I guess I've become a bit jaded when it comes to my ability to change anything - some of those we bloggers talked sense to 3-4 years ago are now the worst instigators of lunatic policy when it comes to the police. 

I will go back to the front-line, and I hope I come back to blogging. The archive will remain up for anyone who's interested, and to remind myself what I joined both my force, and Blogger.com, for.  Contrary to what a lot of people think, the two aren't mutually exclusive. 

For now, stay safe out there.

Sgt Ellie Bloggs

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'Diary of an On-Call Girl' is available in some bookstores and online.