As is probably obvious, I've not been around much for the last little while.

Part of the reason I've not been around much is evidenced by the fact that I just got paid £250 in overtime. Yeah, my work went bananas, but hey, they paid me moneys!

Which I promptly blew on a PS3 and a couple of games.

...so I probably won't be around for another little while.

My interview? Was seven minutes long. It started at five to two. I got back home at half past two.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THAT'S GOOD OR BAD.

Not-edit: Okay, apparently it is, because I just got offered the job as I was writing this. Woohoo!

I HAVE AN INTERVIEW ON WEDNESDAY. AHHHH.

*huff*huff*huff*

Edited to make this post public, because you know what, fuck that shit. This stuff should be available for the world to see.

One of the officers at work was assaulted by one of her offenders today.

Luckily, the assault wasn't serious - just a punch in the arm. Unfortunately, the response the officer got from the police was, in short, "It happens. What do you want us to do about it?"

Which is completely not the point. Yes, it happens, but no, it is NOT acceptable. In any job dealing with the public - or even with other members of staff - incidents like this have to be quickly and clearly dealt with to show that they are not acceptable, because otherwise people will feel they have a licence to treat you how they wish.

I've had a month of disappointments where the police (and the law in general) are concerned, it seems.

At the end of last week the magistrates at our local court basically colluded with an offender and the offender's solicitor. This offender has several convictions and arrests for domestic violence and regularly beats up his parents. His most recent arrest involved him beating his mother with a belt and destroying part of her house. He was in breach of his community order and Probation were basically saying we can't recommend any community penalty because he just doesn't comply. We also made it as clear as we could that a curfew was NOT appropriate, because it ties him to his parents' property and therefore puts them at risk.

But the magistrates didn't want to give him custody. They didn't want to give him custody, and they decided that their desire to not give him custody was more important than the safety of his victims.

So they gave him a curfew.

His mother told the Probation Officer that she's moving out. She is so scared of her own son that she will move out of her own home rather than stay there while he's on a tag. She can't even say "Get out of my house" to him, because she is too scared of what he will then do.

One of the guys who was in court put it best: "Today I watched a mother be abused by her son, a solicitor, and three magistrates."

Sometimes in this job I feel incredibly proud of our criminal justice system and have my faith in humanity restored.

Other times I just feel sick.