I’m after your views on something!  The blog is now approaching 675 posts, as well as various other pages and resources and when the Policing and Crime Act 2017 eventually takes effect, it will render many posts instantly out of date. On previous occasions when I’ve attempted to go through the blog updating every single post on something or changing appearance to make it fit a new ‘theme’ that I’ve used on WordPress, it has taken me a week of effort – and that was when the BLOG was nowhere near as large as it now is.

The BLOG always was intended to help police officers navigate their way through incidents and I’m still getting feedback that it continues to be valued for this. I therefore feel I have to make it clear that pre-PaCA stuff is now potentially out of date so that no-one attempting to use the posts as information falls foul of the update. I’ve been thinking of a few options and I thought it was probably better to ask those of you who are good enough to read, use and circulate this how you’d prefer me to do this from a few ideas I’ve had … and if you’ve got an idea that is better than any of these, I’m all ears so please feel free to leave a comment below. I’m not the one using this BLOG, so you’re probably better placed to advise what you’d want!

There are three potential options as I see it –

• Work my way through the old posts and put a colourful disclaimer at the top of anything potentially affected by changes – this will take considerable time but if it’s the preferred way of doing it, I’ll make the effort over the Summer!

• Put a massive disclaimer-caveat on the front page of the blog pointing out that anything published prior to PaCA could be out of date and to check carefully before relying on anything.

• Archive the whole blog so it’s there on the internet to be read as it currently is, but closed to comments and start an entirely new BLOG from the point of the PaCA amendments and transfer material across that remains relevant.

For what it’s worth, I’m leaning towards option 3, not least because I’ve been thinking for a while of getting around to doing something different, based on requests – vLogs, or short videos on YouTube and uploaded to the BLOG which allows an audio-visual versions of the Quick Guides and other stuff like the PaCA amendments themselves. Some officers have asked for this, especially as smartphones have proliferated, as an easier way of consuming this stuff. Such a change of style in the way of presenting material might mean a new website, with links to the old that means nothing is lost or unavailable, is the best way to go?

As I say, I’m struggling to think what’s best to do and in all fairness, option 3 came from someone else I happened to discuss this with (thanks Dan!). It may be you can think of something even better! … thoughts welcome.

Thanks,

.

Michael./

Winner of the President’s Medal from
the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award.