This is not the force I was looking for...

I'm sitting here at my home PC on my first rest day after what can only be described as working a weekend in hell. It's around 7pm, I've been up since 7.30am after a 2am finish. My body clock is screwed, I can't eat, basic chores are getting left much to the disgust of my better half when she gets in from work. I have a headache and another sore throat, possibly the start of man-flu, but who knows. All in all I'm feeling pretty pooped.
No doubt I am feeling like thousands of members of the emergency services who endure shift work on a weekly basis. Then there's the guilt, not seeing the kids, missing out on key events like birthdays and Christmas (public holidays or special events have restricted leave), the strain on relationships with your loved ones. It's no surprise that the divorce rate in the emergency services is so high.
I should be used to this by now, shift work is no surprise and many would say I knew what I was in for when I joined and they would be right BUT something has changed, the mood at work is darker than ever. I know I can speak for many of my colleagues when I say we are getting sick of all this talk of spending cuts, no overtime, changes to pensions, no recruitment / less police, changes to practices etc etc. On top of all this the Government seems to be doing its very best to stick the boot in, the media continually egging them on for a good story. Public support also seems to be an all time low (if you believe the media). All in all its all a bit depressing.
Someone of a senior rank told us the other day that we should all be grateful that we jobs (I am) and that it is protected under law (I wanted to remind him that there was a price we paid for this, like foregoing any possible industrial action ever, but I decided not too given the three pips on his shoulder). I think he meant this as a pep talk, but to be honest it just highlighted the chasm that has come between our two ranks.
Since Friday night I have racked up 37 hours at work, only 26 of those will be paid, the rest is 'put in the book' as TOIL. Whilst standing in the holding room at 4.30 am on Sunday, one of the three I had arrested for TWOC / Drink Drive following a decamp then a foot chase told me I was useless (hey, you're the one in handcuffs remember and I'm twice your age) and that he was going to sue me for wrongful arrest (please do so, I could do with a laugh). I was supposed to finish at 3am but turned out from the police station when no other units were available. I recall looking at my watch during my conversation with my prisoner, assessing that I was still 3rd in the queue, I had this one to book in, search, then put through the intoximeter process. I then had to repeat this for my other two prisoners. I estimated that after completing my statement and handover it would be 7am before I walked out of the police station in civvies and I was spot on. The Inspector informed me that there was absolutely no budget for my overtime request and that I would have to take the time off in lieu. Of course I would much rather have gone home, on time, and have had quality time with the kids the next day but that was completely out of the question, given the 'lack of resources'.
In these times of austerity we can all expect to see changes by putting more officers back on front line duties and trimming back on excess spending. I applaud this but fear in practice we will never get to this utopian position as we still have the legacy of targets and whole departments dedicated to managing them, with senior officers more interested in promotion than policing.
With the Hutton report we can expect changes to pensions and terms of employment. Currently the biggest fear is taxing the commutation after 30 years (could cost an officer 50k +), increasing contributions to 15%(we are already at 11%) and even performance related pay. Now when I joined up they were not the terms I signed up for and regrettably at the moment there isn't much I can do about it. Best I just shut up and enjoy these two rest days before it all starts over again. Out.