Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Phone in on Radio 4 - You and Yours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyo.../tuesday.shtml

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

no

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

no

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Yes. :)

Perhaps some of the people who have answered no would like to elaborate.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

No here too! There too scared to even do foot patrols in my area nowdays, I remember the days you would always see them an PCSO's but nothing now untill after an inciden has happened :/

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Scared?

Doubt it... :erm:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

We have Police more interested in giving out speeding tickets or setting up roadblocks to combat untaxed and uninsured drivers but they do nothing regards the normal policing we remember from or childhood such as foot patrols rather than whizzing past in a car.

I know the speeding tickets and illegal drivers are commiting an offence and should be prosecuted but I want to see policemen not PCSO's on patrol protecting the community from the low lifes.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I'd say a lot more people today are being labelled as criminals and given fixed penalty notices for many things. years ago a lot of people respected the law and would never think of themselves of either being labelled a criminal or being a criminal.

this causes many things.
resentment for the police and the law (even by people who wouldn't normally, but have since lost confidence either by experience or disgust)
an attitude of WGAF anymore, everyone's a criminal anyway.
and the thinking of I'll most probably just get a fine anyway if I get caught.

there's no longer a 'fear' if you like of the law.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Yes in general.:) ( Happy with our police)
The trouble today is that the courts and the general legislation means that the police time involved and all the legwork, paperwork etc is generally worthless because of our judicial system!.
The Police in general work very hard and do a great job to bring offenders to book and get them in court, only to find an antiquated judge totally out of touch with reality, passing out a slap on the wrist or something, or a sentence, that does not marry to the crime.:( How does that make them feel? They want to do their best to keep us safe so everyone can go about their business safely and freely without threat of intimidation or assault.
Don`t knock them, they`ll be there when you need them most but their hands are tied over the poor sentencing the offenders get from the courts.
Love the American judicial system......... Carjacking at gunpoint.....25 Years.:)
That sort of sentencing for even minor crimes would make all of our chavs sit up and take notice!. ;):D
Don`t forget, we ALL have the right to walk the streets without fear of getting mugged, threatened etc.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

How often do you see reports that someone locked up for a crime having 30/40/50 previous convictions (or more) or were out on bail/early release/a tag instead of in a locked room where they can't harm anyone.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Very often Derek. They should be banged up for a long, long time! It`ll be the only way that they learn. :( As i said, the judicial system needs to change. Sooner rather than later.:mad:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Local police? Do we have local police any more?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Yes. They do a superb job around here, especially dealing with floods of tourists parking willy nilly during the day and gangs of wee neds getting plastered and smashing the place up during the night. :tu:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Are you from Scotland Chris?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Not from it, but I am in it. :)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I have done in the past. Guy threatens me with a knife call the old bill they wont come out. Catch a guy trying to break into cars on the estate hours before anyone comes out.10 or more police running spot checks in one go.

There is more I can post about dirty cops in my area but if I do not think I should

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Join the force. become a traffic warden issuing fines by day, and a ned chaser issuing fines by night.
a different breed of criminal for the 21st century :D

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Just wondered from the " Wee Neds" comment. :)
Sorry, should have quoted your post in this answer.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

It's what they're known as in the West of Scotland, which is where I live. Mostly they stick to the towns and cities but the ones that get access to cars can be a nightmare around here in the summer.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Maybe there just disinterested, I dunno, but 2 unarmed officers vs a gang of hoodies on bikes in my area, I would be, maybe that's why I'm not a police officer.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Yes where i live

Where i live they have now started to work more closely with the local community :tu:

where i live they have started to respond quicker to calls for help when there is trouble in the flats nearby :tu:

Our local bobbies have certainly improved :tu:

Makes a change from how they were only 1 year ago

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Nothing but praise for them. Having seen what they do from both sides of the fence, they do a good job with limited resources.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I don't really have any dealings with them. Most people like myself, running a brothel, whorehouse and crackhouse don't have any reason to have contact with the police ;) except to renew the licenses for my private cab firm.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I feel the same too, a while back i got into a discussion with a retired officer and after a few drinks he let it slip to me that on weekend nights for my entire local area thier is only four police officers on duty. Given that i live in an area with a population of over 22,000 people i was a little shocked. aparently policing is focused on the city centre during the weekends. So if you live here then you better pray you get robbed during the week.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

100 % spot on.
Derek, do not think I need to Elaborate.
And my answer is No.
Hence the need for dealing with matters ourselves.
I'd say cut out the middleman, refund the money we pay in our taxes and council tax bills for wages and pensions for the police and let private security firms in.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

No. The small/medium sized local stations around here have been closed and the officers moved to a much larger building some miles away. We rarely see real police officers here and when there is a serious problem it always seems to take them quite a long time to respond. Pretty poor I'd say.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Genius. :rolleyes:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

And your suggestion to sort out the mess that this country presently has?
More cops doing spot checks on cars than are around local shops of a friday night when the local **** are out in force.
Do not critisise unless you can give a better suggestion.;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

What a pile of nonsense! You don't have to be able to provide an alternative suggestion to be able to criticise your idea about private security firms, which has got to be one of the battiest policing reform ideas I've ever heard.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Private security firms can't even keep hold of the prisoners that have been caught and sentenced. I don't fancy their chances of doing any catching. :erm:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

What? not even if the **** has a five minute start on a Rotweiller ?:erm:

---------- Post added at 21:38 ---------- Previous post was at 21:36 ----------

Point taken about opinion.
So tell me Chris, what is yours?
A police commander has even praised the idea of private security firms patrolling the streets, are you suggesting the police are wrong?:erm:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

The Rotweiller would be in charge of the Private Security individual. To Rotty, the guard would taste the same as the ****, but without the chasing bit.... and with a nice polyester uniform topping. ;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I don't have the answer if i did i would be running for PM. Do you really think private security firms will sort the mess this country is in?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

We could build more prisons so we can go back to the good ole days of going to prison for breaking the law. or don't we have the money? can't we raise the money by sending out the police on a mad fining spree once a week, and all revenues raised can be put towards the building of them? :)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Do you think that relying on the police, a service we pay a hell of a lot of money for, is working?
I hope you can write better than the PM ;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

How about the courts back the Police up by giving out sentences to the *******s that make them think twice? :( Lets get some real deterrents for the criminals in this country.
We need much harsher sentences for the perpertrators of violent, aggressive crimes such as carrying a weapon with intent to use it, robbery with threats or violence. If you carry a knife, you`re prepared to use it, lets make it a 15 year minimum stretch with 15 years being the minimum time you`ll spend inside.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Yes

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Everything is just about fines. as long as the courts get you to pay something then they're satisfied. can't send people to prison there's no room.

a lot of serious charges don't get to court anymore. a fixed penalty is as far as it goes. and you can get a fixed penalty almost identical in price to the GBH one just for dropping litter in the street.

---------- Post added at 22:08 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

You have to explain why. those are the rulez.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I answered the question asked by the OP.

Please show me the rules you are referring to.

btw, Derek requesting
does not, imho, count as "rulez"

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

All that energy could have been used to think something up.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

An individual Police commander is not 'The Police' - s/he's one individual officer, and yes, I think he or she is wrong.

I don't fancy law enforcement and community safety provided by the lowest bidder, thank you very much. They tried something similar in our hospitals and they became filthy places riven with nasties like MRSA.

Better policing comes, IMO, from coppers getting out of their cars and getting on the beat with orders to be visible and work on crime prevention rather than merely responding after the fact. If that requires more money for enhanced recruitment, I'd be prepared to pay a few quid extra. It works in my local area, where the National Park authority has paid for one extra bobby so there is always at least one on patrol inside the park. It has made a very noticeable difference to traffic and anti-social behaviour problems for us.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

If this Country stopped masquerading as a World Power, stopped getting into wars we can't win, junked Nuclear Deterrents we are never gonna use, curtailed overseas aid we can't afford and all the damned rest of it. Perhaps there would be enough left in the kitty to afford the manpower and resources the Police need in order to do a proper job. Maybe open up all those disused Police Stations to re-establish a long gone presence. Maybe we could build some badly needed prisons. Maybe we could even afford to fill in a few pot holes.

Things have fallen apart in the UK while that skint pillock Brown lauds it up at G20 conferences. :mad:

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I live in North Lanarkshire and yes, I feel well served by my local police force.
They are great at bringing my drunk children (16 and 14 - currently sentenced to a 2 month grounding) home.
They know most of the kids around my area by name, they have regular patrols on foot and by car and anytime I've had to call them they've arrived very quickly.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

And all that energy could have been used for something other than sniping from the sidelines.

Some people on the site obviously have an agenda, either pro or anti police. Some seem to think a bit of kneecaping is good old fashioned family fun and presumably would be happy for their estates to turn into the British equivalent of Kabul with armed gangs of mercenaries roaming about dealing out 'justice' to anyone looking a bit dodgy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. How much time do you think is honestly spent by your local force 'doing' motorists for offences? *

50% of officers time?
10%?
1%?

And whatever your guess do you think they should continue or just ignore the traffic laws and concentrate on all the murderers and rapists that some people think roam the streets (all 757 of them in 2007 for England and Wales. Not really that bad for 50,000,000+ people)

BTW if you think things are bad why not look at the root causes. Labours obsession with figures which cause endless fiddling, their removal of common sense which causes numerous cases of people being arrested for bugger all as the Police can no longer tell someone to take a hike if they are reporting something outrageous or the rapid decline of society in general.

* Yes offences. Not picking on them, not making stuff up but enforcing laws that are there and well known to most drivers even if they choose to ignore them.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

For me, yes.

You didn't answer my question. Bad eye site? ;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I believe Specsavers.com is a good one. ;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Vigilantes isn't good. not unless the police were to turn a blind eye to it.
would a vigilante get a fixed penalty or go to court and get a fine?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Some people are actively condoning vigilantism.

What punishment the courts give out is nothing whatsoever to do with the Police.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I'm not asking you as a police man, hofficer :)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

It must be damn difficult to keep up morale when the courts and CPS are working against you. I personally think the police are doing their best to keep things under control at street level but are continually undermined by their most senior officers and the 'justice' system.

I'd not want to face the drunken lowlifes that wander our town centre some nights. Particularly when you keep repeating the same performance over and over, with them released to wash, rinse and repeat endlessly.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

If he's happy with the Police service, he either lives in a safe area, and is happy the police are catching criminals, or he is a criminal and believes he won't get caught..

I tend to believe the former..

---------- Post added at 00:24 ---------- Previous post was at 00:16 ----------

Who will then cut the service down the the minimum amount of staff they are legally allowed to have, cream off the profits and in the mean time will off load as much as they can on to the few remaining police officers. You think it won't happen? It's already happening in the NHS. Private hospitals frequently use NHS facilities and staff.

Plus, as pointed out earlier, Group 4 did a sterling job with the prisoners..

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

And is if on cue here is the view of a current Police Inspector in an English force.

http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com...re-told-shock/

So Labour moan about the backlog in the criminal justice system so come up with plans and scams to get stuff dealt with out of court then moan about that and announce grand plans to get things back to the way they were which will never happen.

If the Police were free to go after the people who need to be targeted with a massive reduction in the amount of form-filling, ridiculous box-ticking and general wastage they would get impressive results.

Of course at this point the jails would be filled up and they would have to start letting people out after serving less than half the sentence or suspending sentences or tagging people who have histories of ignoring court orders.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I can't see it getting better. I see it getting worse. more and more people will be issued with PNDs for very trivial things such as swearing on your own property to a council man, and even things which before would have gone to court. crime won't be crime as we knew it.

there's no money to take criminals through the legal process. there's no money to deal with criminals. they seem to be taking advantage of 'crime' by issuing fines for this, that, and everything else.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

We is they?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

No, they is they.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Grammatically, they are they - but I agree with Dezza.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Had to have a think about this one because i don't think it is as simple as yes or no. To answer you directly Gary no i don't feel well served by our local police now that makes you happy but ask another question on top. Question being do i blame the police or the government and thats where the grey area is because i am not happy but i do not blame the police.

In my town being honest we don't really have a local police service we have whoever is spare after leicester has been sorted in terms of officers on duty and i have had this told to me by more then one or two serving police officers. I have also had many lengthy discussions with friends who are serving in the police and know exactly how completely demoralised they are and how much THEY feel they are failing local people and they are genuinely unhappy about it.

What we need is less obsession with statistics which as far as i am concerned have lost all relevence under labour as the systems are so manipulated to give the right statistic. Case in point police giving cautions for serious assaults as has been highlighted this week on one program but has been raised a few times before. Are the police happy about that, not any of them i have spoken too but government wants it that way so they are stuck.

I would like to see more police on foot rather then every officer i see in my town being a fleeting glimpse as they pass in their cars. I am not stupid we have to have officers that can respond quickly but a car passing by is not as effective as an officer or two walking the streets getting to know the people and being trusted by the local community. Thats what we have lost in the UK i honestly couldn't give you the name of my local police officer i havn't got a clue and no one else on my road has either ( yes i have talked to most of the residents) we havn't been told or notified.

Policing is a partnership between the police and the community but when the only time you see the police in person is when they are visiting you it is hard to build a trusting relationship with them so that you could pass along local info on what is going on and the police need that to police local communitys better. Anyone these days seen talking to a police officer is assumed to be doing something wrong so lets get back to the old days where i could stop and have a chat with a familiar local bobby in a social way so that speaking to a police officer was the norm and didn't mean you were in trouble or a grass.

If it is more normal to be seen talking to a police officer information will be more freely given and the people doing it won't have to fear they are easily identified because most would be speaking to the police it is the best way to keep local bad apples in check. Right now thats the biggest problem we have local bad apples are out of control running around influencing those on the outskirts of criminality because we're all individuals and there is no strength to counter them as there was once.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

No

Commenting on my local force, I am aware of over a dozen instances of vandalism costing thousands of pounds on each occasion. On at least three of these I have managed to identify the culprits, but the police have not. It's almost as if they can#t be bothered.

Adding to that a couple of instances where:

(A) I got in a police car to assist in identifying two guys who had beaten a young lad senseless in my front garden, we spotted them but the copper wouldn't get out of the car because there was two of them. (I offered to assist)

(B) A copper would not climb over the fence into next door to catch an intruder, he said it was dark! I offered but he expected me to leave my cricket bat behind, when I said 'NO you go then' he let me carry on.

The list goes on, perhaps I live in an area with poor policing.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Hmmm, I suppose that'll teach me to actually read the posts after they are made.

Anyway what was meant to be posted was.

WHO are they?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Forgive me if my bovine-excrement radar goes doolaly with that post.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Like some other members of this forum you are very fond of hiding behind your keyboard making offensive comments at others who have differing opinions to yourself.

In the instance involving the person in my front garden, they suffered serious injury. I was alerted to the incident because he was frantically hitting my front door for help as two burly attackers were beating him senseless.

Unlike spineless people who hide behind their keyboards, I picked up a weapon and went out. I may just possibly have saved the persons life, but then again I guess that would be alien actions to some on this forum.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Seriously - get over yourself. On just about every emotive subject on here you seem to have had some kind of extreme experience. Do you honestly expect us to believe that you were able to positively identify a criminal whereas South Wales Police, with all their skills and resources, can't?

Pull the other one.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

On Youtube I posted 2 lots of CCTV footage, they can be found by searching 'Pontypool CCTV' The one has since been removed by Youtube. (Actually still there but fuzzed out the picture)

The other clearly shows the person involved and I understand they are well known to the police.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I'm not interested in what you've put on youtube. What I suspect is more likely the case is the person you believe to be responsible is in fact responsible - but not enough evidence is there for the police to be able to do anything about it.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Almost all reported crimes will end up with the Police knowing who did it. Proving it is another matter entirely.

I know that a certain person has a unique way of stealing from houses, I know when he get released early from another stretch inside and when a day or two after he gets released houses get screwed using his unique way its going to be him doing the thieving.

Can I prove it unless he is caught red-handed within the house?

Probably not.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

You may be not interested, and there are many people here who are not interested in some of your posts. These posters do not have a higher than almighty attitude though, they simply choose not to comment if they have nothing to add rather than hide behind anonymity and use a position to their advantage.

The lack of interest by the police has nothing to do with lack of evidence, it has much to do with the lack of action if they manage to get the case to court.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Seriously? So you'd have a fairly good idea of who's responsible for a burglary just from reading the crime report?

ad hominem

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I would suggest that you do the same as I do.

I don't like you, so I don't comment on you posts. You clearly don't like me, so don't comment on mine.

In guess a small element of this forum will be happy when all the posters disagree with them are either banned or driven away. Then I guess there will be a small amount of members with similar opinions who can debate to their hearts content and hear the answers they want.

I guess that day is getting closer.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

I suppose it is a 2 part question. it is the governments fault mostly, but it was the police that didn't put the 2 cases shown on Panorama to the CPS. to me and others that will be the deciding factor on why crime and justice are a joke now.

it's becoming to be like they (the government) have given up and said we might as well make some money out of it.

---------- Post added at 18:43 ---------- Previous post was at 18:38 ----------

http://bnp.org.uk/files/2009/09/tax-money-to-labour.jpg

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Wouldn't it be nice if personal debates that have sod all to do with the thread weren't constantly derailing threads on here. As many will know i rarely agree with Gary and his views on the police but for once he has raised a good issue and thread lets discuss the topic and not the individuals commenting on it :).

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Yes,I am reasonably happy with the police,HOWEVER:

1. I would like to see the cops toughen up a lot more.I'm not sure non-confrontational policing is still appropriate.

2. Arm the police!

3.Allow citizens with no criminal convictions to carry guns for their own protection,or have a gun at home.Safety is the citizens responsibility as well as the polices'.

4. Get rid of a good 70% of all offences.

5.The police isn't there to protect us from ourselves..... ergo:Legalize,regulate and tax ALL vices,incl. drugs,prostitution etc.

6.Abolish unnecessary paperwork!

7.Re-introduce local,elected sheriffs that have their own law enforcement contigent.
You don't like the way your area is policed?Vote for a new sheriff!

I could go on but that's it for now.... ;)

Your thoughts?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

My thoughts? I don't want to live in Hazzard County, which is what your idea is a recipe for. ;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Ok..... whatever you say Jack! ;)

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Just call me Roscoe. :D

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/11/66.jpg

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Most of the time depending on the area or MO. Some criminals stick to what they know best and despite being on almost permanent early release or numerous bails continue to offend whenever they are released.

Surgically attaching a cowbell to their necks would do wonders for reducing crime.

---------- Post added at 22:35 ---------- Previous post was at 22:29 ----------

Nooooooooooooooooooo. Tasers yes, Full on arming no.

I'm pretty sure Thomas Hamilton had a completely clean record. Not the kind of person you would want wandering about packing heat.

Which ones would you suggest?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Smacking Chavs.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

There is a law allowing you to smack chavs? :confused:

When did that come into force?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Not your own chav. somebody elses chav.

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

What if someone thought you were a chav, and decided to smack you?

Would that be ok, as you propose it being legal?

Re: Do you feel well served by your local police force?
 

Ok forget that one. let's do away with the offence of killing chavs. :rolleyes: