http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/disclosure_2011/december/2011110000259.pdf
Can't they just buy a clock?
Can't they just buy a clock?
Met spends £15k on talking clock.
- Thread starter RomanNose
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 19 Dec 2010
- Posts
- 1,113
- Location
- Berkshire
Criminal
I'm sort of stuck as to why they'd need to call the talking clock - unless for some reason they needed an accurate time (possibly for legal reasons), and thus could not rely on officers own watches or normal clocks.
I can only imagine that it's this, still seems silly though.
Going with this. One could argue the time was set wrongly on the persons watch/phone I'd imagine. Not with the talking clock though.
I can imagine some times when looking at your phone for the time, may not be allowed or sufficiently accurate for anything that requires an accurate time for legal reasons/evidence (it might also be used to ensure everyone's phones/watches are giving the right time sometimes)..
dont they own mobile phones that sync the time? or have access to the internet at the police station?
Indeed, I would have thought it was something along the lines of recording an interview - you can confirm the date and time with a short call on speakerphone, or confirming the time and date stamp of a video is accurate etc etc.
Neither of which are owned or operated by an independent third-party.
non of the time websites are owned by an independant third party?
i dont see the difference betwene using a telephone to call the talking clock thats owned by BT and just using the internet to find the time
And how would you record an internet page on an audio recording or video recording in an interview room?
I could be completely wrong of course but that seems the simplest explanation which comes to mind - you can put a phone on speakerphone, dial the speaking clock and it will spit out the correct time - and you have the speaking clock output as well as phone records to back up the call if there is any doubt as to the time and date of the recording.
No doubt some of the calls are going to be unnecessary, hell there are 30 million calls to the Speaking Clock every year which no doubt are largely unnecessary
But the volume (100 per day at 51p a call!) would indicate there is a legitimate reason rather than just for the lulz.
*edit*
As it happens the ACPO Guidelines specifically suggest that when obtaining digital evidence, the speaking clock is used to check the time on the system
I could be completely wrong of course but that seems the simplest explanation which comes to mind - you can put a phone on speakerphone, dial the speaking clock and it will spit out the correct time - and you have the speaking clock output as well as phone records to back up the call if there is any doubt as to the time and date of the recording.
No doubt some of the calls are going to be unnecessary, hell there are 30 million calls to the Speaking Clock every year which no doubt are largely unnecessary
But the volume (100 per day at 51p a call!) would indicate there is a legitimate reason rather than just for the lulz.*edit*
As it happens the ACPO Guidelines specifically suggest that when obtaining digital evidence, the speaking clock is used to check the time on the system
Last edited:
thats just a guideline though, they could ask the person beeing interviewed to read the time from the website
btw http://www.speaking-clock.com/ (says official lol doesnt seem it though )
BT should get with the time and do a website like that
btw http://www.speaking-clock.com/
(says official lol doesnt seem it though )BT should get with the time and do a website like that
I think you should do a FOI request to ask how much tax payer money has been wasted by people taking up public servants time with FOI requests........
My dad used to be a very high ranking police officer. He had a FOI request made against him by a national newspaper about his expenses in the year before he retired. He was given the response for his information and he was so shocked, he couldnt work out what he had spent it on. Then he realised that the £7.50 that he had claimed for the year was on a light meal whilst on a hotel stay in London.
Needless to say the paper never ran any story on it.
Easy to bash when you do an FOI request, but isn't it just as bad with all these people making pointless FOI requests and costing the tax payer even more money?
My dad used to be a very high ranking police officer. He had a FOI request made against him by a national newspaper about his expenses in the year before he retired. He was given the response for his information and he was so shocked, he couldnt work out what he had spent it on. Then he realised that the £7.50 that he had claimed for the year was on a light meal whilst on a hotel stay in London.
Needless to say the paper never ran any story on it.
Easy to bash when you do an FOI request, but isn't it just as bad with all these people making pointless FOI requests and costing the tax payer even more money?
probably asking for the number to the talking clock
I don't know much about police processes, but to be honest £15k over the whole of the met police service for a year to call the talking clock, isnt really that much expenditure.
I'm willing to give the Met Police the benefit of the doubt as to why they use it. The fact they already route it all to one service suggests to me they are perfectly aware of its use and have controlled it appropriately. If they thought it was not needed then they would just block it entirely.
I'm willing to give the Met Police the benefit of the doubt as to why they use it. The fact they already route it all to one service suggests to me they are perfectly aware of its use and have controlled it appropriately. If they thought it was not needed then they would just block it entirely.
brilliant! "hello 999 can i have the number for the talking clock" its now 11:32:10 after the third beep it will be 11:32:20 - ahh missed it ring 118 118 for the talking click again."
A radio controlled clock is accurate to 1 second in 1 million years, I know this because that's what the manual for my Origin Scientific one I got over 10 years ago says and that cost £15. Nowadays you get ones that speak the time as well.
Why could someone not have used common sense at the Met?!
Why could someone not have used common sense at the Met?!