A POLICEMAN'S lot is not a happy one these days and it's not surprising that they struggle to keep any sort of check on the rising crime wave (don't let anyone try to tell you things are under control).

The problem is, as I see it, that they are too busy defending actions or bringing actions themselves.

Everybody will have seen the £1.2 million pay-out to 14 police officers who claimed they suffered traumatic stress after the Hillsborough tragedy. I make no comment on the award.

A comment from Trevor Hicks who lost two beautiful daughters, aged 19 and 16, will suffice. "They chose to be police officers. We did not choose to be victims."

However, I was intrigued by another comment from solicitor Simon Allen who acted for the police. He said: "They accept the reasonable risks of their service but they should not be expected to deal with the appalling consequences of the negligent actions of others."

And that opens up a real can of worms.

On that basis, they should presumably be happy enough to deal with a hypothetical incident in which a driver accidentally mows down a bus queue of schoolchildren; if he was blitzed on booze then that would be a different kettle of cod. And a quick call to m'learned friend would soon spark off another action.

Get in the queue ambulancemen, doctors and nurses. And how about the local hacks who had to report the incident? Post-traumatic stress? Yes, why not.

In the good old days journalists out on a gruesome job would dive into a 'phone box, rattle off a dozen paragraphs, pop into the pub for a couple of pints and get on with the next job. So did PC49 and his colleagues. Blood and gore; death and destruction came with the territory. If you couldn't handle it you were quietly advised to go and get a job with the local building society or supermarket.

Stress is the big buzz word of the 90s. It has spawned a massive jobs market for counsellors, many of them barely in their 20s (what do they know about life?), and the legal eagles are cashing in on the boom.

Did you see, by the way, the award of £150,000 to a gentleman who had been lawfully arrested on suspicion of credit card offences? Police found a stolen tax disc in his possession. He was awarded the damages after he had alleged false imprisonment, assault and malicious prosecution.

Now, if I had been a policeman involved in that case I would already have been on the 'phone to m'learned friend complaining about stress. I'd be looking forward to picking up millions!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.