The Police, what's the point of them?

So shall we try not having any at all? That would be in the spirit of austerity.

Giving the police a name isn't evidence. They would need more than that and a lot more police to chase up bikes that will have been out of the country within hours of being stolen.
Sadly there is more serious crime and less officers to deal with it. Personally I would prefer police to be catching terrorists as in a recent case.

They don't respond to burglary, they don't respond to shoplifting if its under £200, although they do respond to hate crimes when there is actually no crime. Don’t get me wrong I want a strong efficient police force, I want zero tolerance on knife crimes but what have we got a lot of namby pambies frightened of their own shadows, kneeling to BLM and waving raimbow flags.

If a cyclist loses their bike l don't want my tax spent on getting it back.

54Wenmore

If a cyclist loses their bike l don't want my tax spent on getting it back.

He didn't just lose his bike he was robbed of 4 specialist bikes worth over £36,000 I'm sure you'd change your tune if robbers came into your house and pinched goods worth that amount.

I don't think the families of police officers killed or injured in the line if duty would be happy about them being called ' namby pambies.'

Nicenanny3

54Wenmore

If a cyclist loses their bike l don't want my tax spent on getting it back.

He didn't just lose his bike he was robbed of 4 specialist bikes worth over £36,000 I'm sure you'd change your tune if robbers came into your house and pinched goods worth that amount.

He should have been insured for valuables.

Perhaps he was insured for valuables but that's not the point surely the police should investigate every crime, if you are robbed the crime should be investigated you should not just be given a Crime No to claim off your insurance pushing insurance premiums even higher. Perhaps they haven't got the man power, but it seems to me soft crimes are investigated.

There are not enough of them so have to prioritise, there is no point in wasting police hours if there isn't any chance of a conviction.

A pensioner was questioned by police for a “hate incident” after taking a picture of a sticker that said “keep males out of women-only spaces”.

The retired social worker was looking at a transgender flag-themed poster in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, which carried the slogan “stand by your trans”.

A sticker had been placed on top of the poster that said “keep males out of women-only spaces”, referring to transgender women who are born male.

But the 73-year-old was left shocked when, several days after she took a picture of the sticker, officers from West Yorkshire Police turned up at her home and recorded it as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI).

Seems they had time for this non crime, it beggars belief

Why would she take a photo of a sticker? More to this story that we haven't been told.

AGAA4 what has insurance got to do with it. If goods worth £36,000 are stolen I expect the police to make an effort to find the culprits and if someone, even the owner, gives them information I expect the police to follow it up.

How can you react like this when we hear that shoplifting gangs operate with impunity and shop owners do not even to tell the police

It has been found elsewhere that cracking down on low level crime is effective in cutting down crime overall. More effort should be put into neighbourhood policing. Responding to shoplifting, theft from domestic premises and TWOKing.

'ism' policing should be limited to only the most egregious cases where a crime has clearly been committed. Fishing for easy cases where nothing illegal has been done or said should be stopped

I'm sure the police have better things to do than bother with stolen bikes, whatever they are worth. The cyclist wasn't forced to spend £6000. It was his choice to do so.

So if I spend £6000 on a car or a piece of jewellery or anything really, does that mean someone can just take it off me and the police should do nothing? What's the point if the police then? I don't understand your argument Kate1949.

The government is ultimately to blame for the lack of police officers and their orders come from them on what they want prosecuted.
We would all like to see low level crime dealt with by the police but there is so much life threatening crime about that they can't deal with everything.

I think these posts about the stolen bikes are absolutely ridiculous

What items worth £36,000 is he allowed to own that the police will investigate if they are stolen.

The police are meant to investigate crime and make it possible for us to go about our normal lives without fear of personal injury or being deprived of our belongings by people not entitled to take them.

It doesn't matter whether someone owns £36,000 worth of bikes, jewellry, furniture, cars, books, garden gnomes or football cards. They should be able to own them and use them without being in constant fear of them being stolen because aall the local thieves know the police do not investigate thefts. That is what the police are there for.

No not at all anna. What I should have said was that in this case the police said there was insufficient evidence and, I assume, to them the matter was closed. I understand that the man was upset, but the police have priorities.

If a cyclist loses their bike l don't want my tax spent on getting it back
What a horrible thing to say it may be the only way that person can get to and from work and as valuable to them as a car is to others

Kate1949

I'm sure the police have better things to do than bother with stolen bikes, whatever they are worth. The cyclist wasn't forced to spend £6000. It was his choice to do so.

Where does it stop?
A crime was committed so therefore it’s the job of the police to catch the criminals.

Some years ago our card was cloned. The scroats spent £100 at a takeaway. At the police station the officer asked if we had got our money back ( yes) the office said oh that’s ok, then
My oh can get very shouty when there’s a wrong being done.
It got to the raised voice stage when he pointed out to the officer that it was a takeaway, it was delivered to a house, the takeaway have the address
It went to court 😊

This all seems to be outrage over property versus life and well being. There are just not enough police to go to serious incidents and chase stolen property.
Too much of their time has been spent on people with mental health problems which they aren't trained to deal with.
The police do need evidence to prosecute and another problem is the justice system when even sound evidence is produced the thieves walk away laughing as there
is a loophole in the law.
I think all crime should be investigated but until there are more police people's lives will take precedence.

That is what the police are there for.

However a huge percentage of the calls they receive nowadays are related to mental health incidents.
So, property or people?

Crossed posts AGAA4

I looked up the article. The man said he gave the police names which had been passed to him. If there was insufficient evidence there would be no point in their wasting their time. The cycles had been taken abroad. The cost of an international police investigation would be out of all proportion to the scale of the crime and the value of the stolen goods - which he should have had insured.

Does anybody realise how many hours and days of police time would be taken up pursuing those bikes and thieves to Poland. Would you prefer them to spend that time on possibly no result or on saving lives? There are serious crimes happening every day in the UK.