The Police, what's the point of them?

Sorry GSN x post.

An appalling criticism. The case of the policeman who recently lost his life trying to save someone from a railway line has already been mentioned. Some people have very short memories when complaining about thefts of bikes and mobile phones not being investigated. That policeman, like all his colleagues, was no namby pamby afraid of his own shadow. Perhaps to honour his memory, and the memory of all other serving police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, including one whose widow posts on GN, we could end this thread now.

Nicenanny3 How did the police know the person had taken a picture of the sign? Wouldn't have posted it on social media by any chance!
The police have more rules, regulations, laws to deal with than ever before, bigger populations. Just like NHS they have to prioritise.

Obviously if there has to be a choice between dealing with a missing child for example, or a violent domestic situation, and theft from a shop, then the first two situations should be prioritised
So what’s the answer? Give in to it? Let them help themselves?
On our business park, the business owners are pretty much doing their own policing, and the time will surely come when something goes horribly wrong.
I know the police are overstretched, the last dealings we had with them, was with an elderly chap brought out of retirement.
I’m not knocking them, just saying that the police force is completely inadequate to meet the needs of the community.

Cutbacks, police stations closed and lack of community police, paperwork for everything. No I don’t the police as rubbish ! Sad sign of the times

I don't think the police are rubbish but there is a lack of investigative work going on because they are thin on the ground. From what I have experienced, this lack of police officers leads to them having to rush their paperwork which leads to mistakes. Those mistakes can change the course of the investigation or even mean the case doesn't go to court.

Those who think insurance is the answer, it just means the public end up paying dearly for that. If the public are going to pay increased premiums which only lines the pocket of the insurance companies, let's make a change an pay that money to the police to police.

As for bikes being stolen, the business where I got my bike from is like Fort Know but they got into the building by stealing a farm vehicle and smashing through the walls. The police did get an automatic call but didn't attend so he lost tens of thousands of pounds and was left without stock. The building had to be rebuilt and the insurance company increased his premium so much, he was considering whether to stay in business. These businesses are often run by people who have sunk everything they have into them and then some scumbag ruins them.
Even when the thieves are convicted, they get a slap on the wrist. It is quite disgraceful.

I find the tone of some of these messages quite sad. Have we forgotten PC Andrew Harper who went to investigate a robbery and was dragged behind the suspect’s getaway car to his death? Or the two WPCs who were killed in a gun and grenade incident whilst investigating a robbery, plus countless others hard working officers killed in the line of duty?

Sad? I find them disgraceful,

Exactly!!!!

What do we expect - with all the cutbacks and underfunding by the Tories? We have a police force that can't manage to do their jobs properly. They have to prioritise the really important stuff, also pick up the problems caused by a lack of mental health services etc.

Sorry but I stand by my point if you feel a post breaks guidelines then report it, trying to shut a thread down when people are trying to discuss things isnt great.

GSM
What are you finding disgraceful?
Just asking

Nicenanny3

Essex police chief whose force raided pub on suspicion of 'hate crimes' for having golliwog dolls behind bar has 'no 'regrets' despite CPS later dropping the case (Daily Mail)

They sent 6 police officers to seize the golliwogs. The golliwogs had been on display for 10 years landlady said. Pub now closed. Essex police chief had no regrets, you couldn't make it up could you, a good use of 6 policemens time I don’t think so.

I was pleased and reassured that the police chief who ordered the investigation into the provocative presence of dolls that are offensive to many.
I’ve read interviews with the landlords, racist views expressed as would be expected

AGAA4, and granny bags, Beauty and the beast (and anyone I missed) if I was American, I’d say please thank your relative for their service

I’ve needed the police in my private life and regularly in my working life. At work I remember two who were in need of further training/a personality transplant, in almost 40 years. In my private life - no criticisms at all.

Sara1954

GSM
What are you finding disgraceful?
Just asking

Let’s start with namby pamby, afraid of their own shadows.

Ok, yes, I must have missed that somewhere.

I don’t have a personal thing going with the police, but I do question how they use their resources.
I was recently followed for fifteen miles by a police car. When I got to work it drew up beside me, and asked me to get into their car.
My crime? The previous evening I had backed into a wall ( on my own property) and smashed a rear light. I hadn’t driven in the dark with it out
I was ordered to report to the police station later that day after I had it repaired.
That’s two police officers who could have been doing something more useful for an hour.
I would have had it fixed without their intervention

But, in the interest of fairness. We recently broke down on motorway, a long way from home.
The AA wouldn’t come out until the police had made the area safe, and the police were great, cheerful and helpful.

Seems strange posters wanting to shut down a thread which they have been posting on since the beginning 🤔

I think the police are underfunded and that is a Tory government issue. That said, there will always be priorities: it's a matter of how those priorities are set, how consistent they are and how they are explained to the public. Brexit has probably caused some problems with international crimefighting.

I suppose crime is changing, therefore the police have to adapt to a new way of crime fighting .
Cyber crime is the new big threat, and I suppose more and more police are needed to try and keep up with it.
Despite thinking we’re quite sceptical about things , we were recently scammed, which cost us a lot more than a few things taken from the shop floor.
The scam was so elaborate, with so many different people involved, That we just didn’t question it.
We feel pretty stupid now, I don’t think the police could have helped us, but I imagine a lot of police resources has been diverted to cyber crime
But we still need police on the streets and in the communities, so unless we’re prepared to accept a complete breakdown in law and order, we really need to be recruiting a lot more police.

As police cannot strike we can only guess ‘what’s the point of them’ .

Nicenanny3

Seems strange posters wanting to shut down a thread which they have been posting on since the beginning 🤔

Strange? After the disgraceful things you have said about the police whilst others have mentioned some of the terrible things they have to deal with and the brave policeman who died after trying to get someone out of the path of a train?

This thread is another started by this OP, with the intention of trying to provoke a row.

Anniebach

As police cannot strike we can only guess ‘what’s the point of them’ .

👏👏👏

Perhaps lobbying your local MPs to get more police might be the way to go? Perhaps a group to deal with ‘minor’ crimes would be good , as opposed to violent ones ? We have people assigned to the railways who are not fully fledged police but have powers of arrest. The railways and stations are much better and safer now as a result. Maybe they could look at that sort of model ?