Sorry in advance
Its been a bad day

In the last year the following have happened:

I see a scrote helping himself to £500 of building materials from my neighbours house who is away so I call the police giving a full description and reg number of his car. Police say he may have permission to do this, as I dont know where neighbour is and dont have mobile contact so wont do anything.
An hour later scrote returns with a trailer and his mate and helps himself to more gear, again I call 999 who will not attend as he may have my neighbours permission.
Neighbour gets back following day, confirms these guys do not have consent so police visit me to take a statement. Police then go and visit low lifes which didnt take much as I gave them their car details but none of the stuff is at his house so dont pursue it further! WTF!

Next I witness a hit and run, HGV driving down narrow street side swipes row of parked cars and drives off.
I see beat copper round the corner who must have heard it but didnt see it, I give full details of incident and HGV and leave note on cars windscreens. Roll on 4 months and I get a call from insurance comany of one of the cars, HGV denies any liabilty and police didnt take it further. Fortunately my witness statement leads to a claim on his insurance but no police action

And then today my GF’s sister gets her shed burgled.
Kids bikes taken and some garden tools.
Nothing fancy but about £600 worth of gear.
As its an outbuilding police allegedly wont attend as unlikely to get a result so just give a crime number for insurance purposes

My experiences would seem to suggest its possible to keep under the radar if you lead a life of low level crime

Somebody please tell me Im wrong

🙂

I have a theory. It goes something like this – everyone apart from me is a criminal – the crap criminals are in jail, the good ones are in politics or big business.

I would love to tell you your wrong, but i’d be lying.

My experiences would seem to suggest its possible to keep under the radar if you lead a life of low level crime

Seems like a fair reading.
I would search for the “The Police didn’t attend our serious crime because they were busy dealing with shed theft/500 brick/sloppy driving crimes, WTF? OMG! This is an outrage.” thread. But I can’t be arsed, sorry.

I’d probably have gone and asked wtf they were doing rather than watching them twice…

A hit and run usually involves an injured person?

A conviction rarely results where there is only 1 witness, corroboration is needed. Video the thieves next time.

Davidjones15 – it does not feel like petty crime when you are the victim.

One of the most dispiriting moments of my life was listening to a short talk by a Chief Inspector at Hampshire Constabulary’s assessment/training centre. He began by pondering aloud as to whether the police were there to counter crime before answering ‘Well, that is one of our areas of interest’. I ended up joining the probation service instead and to be honest we have the same problem with regard to failing to focus on the core reason for our existence.

Lots of great people in the police, some of them are friends of mine, but they are hamstrung by layer upon layer of administrative bullshit, a target culture that is worse than in any other area of the pubic sector and (much like the probation service) a management tier jammed full of pussies and yes men.

A lot of the offenders I come into contact with got caught because they are **** stupid. It really wouldn’t take much effort to be a reasonably successful crook, remembering to pay your road tax/insurance/MOT and sticking to the speed limit when transporting drugs would be a good start, something the inept drug dealers I meet still haven’t realised, even after several spells in prison.

Jebus man – you expect the police to intervene in thefts of building materials?

Don’t you realise that someone just called their sisters ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend’s cousin a slag on Facebook!

Davidjones15 – it does not feel like petty crime when you are the victim.

You make that sound like I don’t know, but I tend to be a bit practical in my approach to things like this.

*That should be public sector rather than pubic sector, but y’know..whatever.

A lot of the offenders I come into contact with got caught because they are **** stupid.

Shop next to mine used to be an off-license and sell cigarettes – one night it was broken into through the roof. The thief got away with a couple of cartons of fags and left behind a nice leather jacket and his bail papers from Hamilton sheriff court…

I’d probably have gone and asked wtf they were doing rather than watching them twice…

Sorry, but jam bo +1. There is such a thing as civic responsibility. You don’t need to be a have-a-go-hero to stop low level crime happening.

Aye, if someone was getting stabbed on the street, your neighbors would probably watch. We have a bigger issue as a country with a detachment from any moral duty. Of course if you see they have weapons, stay in your house. If criminals thought that they would collared by a group of angry neighbors they might think tiwce.

This will go on for days, or get closed.

The police should be doing this; a reporting of a clear crime should get immediate response; unfortunately the coppers, like most/all public sector cannot receive the funding necessary to deal with what pressures are placed on them, in what a normal civilians would deem as a bare minimum of service.

I honestly do not want to imagine where this is going, but to suggest that it is some civil responsibility to intervene in a burglary, rather than trust on the public-funded policing authority, shows what a state we are in.

A crime where someone vulnerable is in threat, yes, intervene if you wish and feel able, but a burglary, no. The police should be there, but they can’t all the time, due to demands and constraints, and I feel for them as individuals and myself as someone who pays for that service.

Just look at the OP, clear crimes, lots of evidence (creditability could be established through attendance), nothing done.

Grr, rant etc.

lots of evidence

No, see my post above.

There is such a thing as civic responsibility.

There’s such a thing as common sense. How do you think this is going to play out, exactly? You go over and say “excuse me, but you appear to be stealing my neighbour’s stuff…”

A) “whoops, terribly sorry old bean, we’ll put this straight back. Sorry for any inconvenience. Pip pip.”

B) “wind your f’kin neck in pal, or we’ll cut ya.”

Plus if they’re stealing building materials, there’ll be cement and stuff, so you’re dealing with hardened criminals. Or at least, they’ll be fairly hardcore.

cynic-al: What you say though is based on constraints of the force. A witness description of vehicles with paint matches of marks left on stuck vehicles would have been a very very strong case.

Shed stuff; prints and a thorough look-thorough of any CCTV.

BUT….this is too much to do, because insufficient funding is available.

Crimes can be solved and prosecutions can be brought, but the prioritisation that is implicitly imposed through funding means that you, and I, when our garages and bikes are nicked, fall to the bottom of the list.

OP has made a good summary of where we are, and it’s worth noting that I make no political or social point. I do not know what the answer is, my gut is that there isn’t a single issue.

EDIT: ..but that the demand outstrips supply, in a public sector sense.

Paint matches = very expensive and no guarantee in court.

A shed is really very unlikely place to get prints even if you were burgled by the very last criminal not wearing gloves. I would hope the call taker asked about CCTV. If there is any then ring back and make that clear and I am sure the police will come and get it.

There is a very small pool of money and most forces will prioritise serious burglary and robbery offences and violent crime. If you send a csi out to look at an empty dusty shed with a very low chance (nil really unless there is blood and the call taker should have asked about this too) of finding anything then that money has to come from somewhere else.

The incident with the bricks, if as you described then was very poor and worthy of a complaint.

correct dribbling (bar fingerprints on bricks?) there will never be money to investigate crimes like this as thoroughly as you suggest – which seems sensible to me.

B) “wind your f’kin neck in pal, or we’ll cut ya.”

You realise that most criminals run as soon as anyone get’s near them? Hardened criminals do not steal **** building materials from peoples houses. They steal high grade steel and vehicles from building sites or break into peoples houses take the keys for their car and drive it to europe. It’s probably just some local kids, and I hate to say it, but possibly, just possibly gypsy kids. Or possibly, just possibly some old grannies just to be fair.

Neighbors should have had a ring around and all turned up to confront them. They will not attack 5 or 6 men. They will down tools and run, especially if they know the police are on the way. But no, any idea of social glue is dead in our country.

We’ve turned into a country of cowards who wouldn’t take a slap on the wrist to save their neighbor some trouble. That’s the truth of it. Where my family come from in deepest darkest Devon, nothing gets stolen, do you know why? Because everyone would be out in the street demanding that all the houses are emptied, and anyone not accounted for is brought out to apologise if they are the thief. Then the police are called and the evidence is presented, OR) they are given a slap on the wrist by their gran return the stolen item and all is right in the world.

We’ve turned into a country of cowards who wouldn’t take a slap on the wrist to save their neighbor some trouble. That’s the truth of it.

No, we’ve turned into a country of pc idiots. I was talking to plod about the latest crime against me. The advice was that I shouldn’t even knock on the door for a chat because more than likely I’d be opening myself up for a harrassment charge. Ridiculous.

I’d be opening myself up for a harrassment charge. Ridiculous.

True I suppose. I cant see a bobby arresting a group of polite local residents for confronting some thieving scum who are then caught in the act not only by the residents but by the copper?

I’d probably have gone and asked wtf they were doing rather than watching them twice…

I did, thanks for asking 🙂
The reply was something along the lines of “xxxxx off, you busybody xxxx”

Not having a set of Bombers handy or even being pretend handy with my fists I retreated rapidly and called the Feds

Crime in progress, crims still on the scene, full description inc car plates, hell Id even taken a pic of the fecker just in case they needed it

But of course they didnt need the pic did they?

Just occasionally having a shit job with minimal security struggling to make ends meet for your family and do the right thing sucks

Just occasionally mind
Most of the time I’m proud of the way me, the Gf and the kids get by even if it is sometimes a struggle

Not having a set of Bombers handy or even being pretend handy with my fists I retreated rapidly and called the Feds

Which is what any citizen (without the massive e-balls many people are graced with on STW), should be able to do. In confidence that something will be done. Thast is why police are paid, to take on the crims.

God, such clear evidence seems like such a quick win doesn’t it for an organisation who’s purpose is to stop/prevent crime…but they can’t, and to be honest I feel as bad for them as I do for us.

Something’s wrong.

the easiest way to get police on site any day of the year. Just say “I think one of them has a weapon”.

Does this not require an attendance?

Just like if you call for an ambulance, if you say you’re having breathing difficulties they have to send an ambulance at the highest level of response. There must be a buzz word for police?

Buzzword, “theres doughnuts here” 😀

faz083 – Member

the easiest way to get police on site any day of the year. Just say “I think one of them has a weapon”.

Does this not require an attendance?

Better still, tell them not to bother rushing because you have a weapon.

Armed response on scene ASAP!

The only way to get the police to attend any incident where I live is to phone back for a second time after 15 minutes and say ‘and now they’re damaging cars’. You can almost hear the twos being switched on as a pixie and 2 cars turns up within 5 minutes.

“Don’t bother coming, I’ve dealt with them” did the trick last time we had an attempted break-in.

I’m not sure if part of the problem is the likelihood that prosecution (assuming its any kind of arrestable offence) will lead to not much more than a fine or community service.

It does appear that both professional sides in the courts operate a system that primarily benefits them (min of time taken to deal with a case etc etc) rather than arrive at a considered outcome.

Take this for example. Large gang of ‘steamers’ operating from a south London postcode carry out a range of thefts across several London postcodes (against retail premises with an average take of £5k per theft). Several months of trying to arrange a coordinated police response results in theft of most of the gang.

Victim (the retailer in this case) believes that by getting said criminals charged with corporate theft is a great result as the trial will take place in crown court.

Defence and crown agree that bail is appropriate (read cheaper and less time consuming) until the trial date (sometime next year).

Following day the thefts start again.

Approx 15 – 20 more thefts carried out by same gang across several London postcodes carried out since bail was posted.

Half of the gang have been re arrested and are now remanded. Not sure why this couldn’t have happened first time around (rhetorical question)

A small postscript – during their court appearances the gang have been ‘supported’ by their families who are outraged that they have even been arrested for their ‘victimless’ crime.

I’m sure there are lots of conflicting views about who’s at fault. My point is we shouldn’t put it all down to the police (who I generally don’t have much confidence in and I have family members in the Met). In this particular case they have been frustrated with the outcome too.

Low level crime an acceptable career?

Does tax evasion count?

Not defending the police in anyway but it must be very demoralizing for them when they do deal with low level scrotary as they know the courts can’t / won’t do anything effective about it. For most of us a criminal record would cause us major problems. For the sort of lives many of the scotest lead it’s irrelevant.

It does annoy me though overtime there is a high profile facebook type arrest, not saying slandering on people on Facebook isn’t serious but it shouldn’t warrant all the attention compared to dealing with this sort of low level crime. Should all be ok now though as we have elected police commissioners to do the publics bidding.

I retreated rapidly and called the Feds

Feds? Have I missed something or is my yoof dictionary out of date?

Ok – all I was getting at was that your civic responsibility should extend to , “oi, I don’t think that’s yours, is it mate – I’ve phoned the police”. Which it transpires you did. Noone could ask more than that. My Ozzie mate (female) has no qualms at all about telling yoofs on buses to stfu and is always amazed that others wont in the UK.

As has already been said, a challenge will see them off most of the time.

Edit – I should add that I’m slightly bitter as my old neighbour hid in his house whilst two lads nicked several bikes from my shed and attempted to smash the glass in my windows and doors. I’ve successfully scared off plenty of thieves as an adult living in the north east and I’m a wee skinny bloke.