Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

For all those who think every single member of the Police spend all day doing nothing more than hiding behind bushes with a speed gun Greater Manchester Police are tweeting every single incident they deal with for a 24 hour period.

http://www.gmp.police.uk/

Some complete waste of time calls already and some of the more 'sensitive' jobs won't be published but I reckon it's a good idea and should create a debate about what the police deal with (the general rule right now is if it's on fire call with fire brigade, if it's bleeding call an ambulance. For everything else call the police) and if they should be concentrating on the core stuff.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

What if its an arsonist who falls and cuts his hand?

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I think it's a good idea too. It's a great pity that some of those who make such silly claims don't get out there and try the job as a special - I bet most wouldn't last long but it probably wouldn't stop them spouting nonsense.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I wish all forces could do this every day... then we might see if they are reacting to calls made to them by us!

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Call the no win, no fee personal accident claims line??? :D

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

From what I've read on this so far, it does seem we'll only hear of the more interesting call outs, but I hope they also include the "33.6 in a 30, gotcha !! Only two left today to meet my target" tweets.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Its actually Police PR Staff tweeting incidents, not actual officers, because that would take officers off of the beat, which isn't good (especially in Manchester :))

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Gotta love the fake accounts...

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Yeah, there were some amusing ones, however, I was keeping up with the official feed on the GMP website :)

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Well Derek do you think it was a good decision overall?

Personally if it does make TPTB rethink about how to view and measure crime stats and what the police do on a day to day basis it can only be a good thing especially for the public's perceptions.

However I think that this government will just impose cuts willynilly because the alternative is way too expensive to set up.:(

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I think it's a good idea and there should be far more transparency in the justice system overall with all court results published online.

From the tweets ive seen GMP have the same issues as most other forces with harassment via facebook and SMS being favourites and the same people calling 15-20 times a day.

It also showed the police work that can't be measured. How do you league table the amount of checks on welfare? Give awards to the force with the least dead people behind doors?

---------- Post added at 08:50 ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 ----------

Two people who deserve a slap.

In what way are either of these Police issues?

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I saw one yesterday that was a parent calling up to find out where their 16 yr old daughter could stay while the caller went on holiday!

Honestly that is not a Police issue!

It was a good idea and really interesting reading some of the things they deal with. I would love Strathclyde Police to do that!

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Here's a more direct link to the tweets:

http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/24hourtweets.htm

---------- Post added at 14:38 ---------- Previous post was at 14:36 ----------

Whilst I agree it would have been better if her call had been aimed at social services, or the local children's services, at least she bothered to check. Some mothers wouldn't have given a hoot.

---------- Post added at 14:43 ---------- Previous post was at 14:38 ----------

Well, of course they are not but some people with mental health issues (whether diagnosed or not) should be flagged to someone.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I wasnt aware stupidity was a mental health issue :dozey:

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Some people who call 999, for what seems frivolous reasons, are generally those who have a mental illness. Yes, many of them are certainly because they are just stupid, or think they are being funny, but for some it is an extension of a diminished mental state.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

OK I'll bite.

And what exactly do you think the social services do for people who phone 999 repeatedly whether its because they genuinely think people are out to get them, they want attention or are just wired to the moon.

Your choices are:

• Give them the attention, care and help they need
• Ask the Police if they are likely to harm themselves or others in the next 10 minutes. If the answer is yes mutter furiously and make grudging arrangments to get them seen by a doctor
• Ask the Police if they are likely to harm themselves or others in the next 10 minutes. If the answer is no then ignore the problem
• Don't answer the phone until its after 4:00PM on Friday afternoon then turn on the answer machine and creep out the office. On Monday morning at 09:30AM ignore the messages left on the answer machine.

I'll give you a clue. The answer is far, far more likely to be in the bottom half of the list than the top half.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I rang 999 a few months back after someone was trying to gain access to a flat through a window by trying to force the window open with a screwdriver and a crowbar...

I was asked one of the most stupid questions ever which was...
"Does the person trying to gain access live there?"

It should have been obvious if the person lived there and i had known that i wouldnt be ringing to reported an attempted break in and entry, i really wanted to say "Would u like me to go and ask for u?"

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Tweets or Facebook, Bebo bollox. I would rather have them attempting to solve a crime instead of faffing with the Internet while on my pay roll.

Just do what you are paid for and leave the rest to your sad social life. FFS!

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

My god, i didn't know so many crimes where committed each day!

How nice!

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

just about covered all your bases with that one haven't you ...;)

---------- Post added at 21:14 ---------- Previous post was at 21:10 ----------


i would hazzard a guess that it's not actually the police officers doing the tweeting but a maybe a civillian

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

I don't doubt any of that happens in a great many cases. The point was, that when some people call 999 for those sorts of reasons, it should raise a matter of concern, rather than one of assuming deliberate criminal behaviour. I am sure that there many (in fact probably most) of the bogus, or frivolous, calls are made by the stupid, ignorant and downright twisted, but some sympathy should be afforded to those who do it, because the voices in their heads compel them to.

Personally, I find the ones who do it for the other reasons are nothing more than lowlife gits, who have no thoughts, or regard, for their fellow citizens and should be dealt with as severely as possible.

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

Its not that much of a stupid question, its possible that the person lives there, locked their keys in the house so got a ladder/crowbar from the garden shed to force his way back in.

Reading between the lines of the question it can bee broken down into...
"did you get a good look at the person?"
"if not goto your window and take a look"
"did you reconaise? him, if not we'll send someone round"

In fact when i breafly looked at the feed there was a report similar to yours in it (it was around 5-6pm)

it read something on the lines of "neighbor reported people forcing a window to gain entrance, officer dispatched, no offense committed" (ie looked out home owner trying to gain entry).

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

It sounds like a stupid question to me. If Chris had known the identity of the person attempting gain entry, why on Earth would he be calling the police. If the interpretation was as you have described, the call handler should have asked those questions. Last year I called 999 to report teenagers wandering around the street carrying rifles. I was asked what make of gun they were carrying. As if I would be able to see, from where I was, the name of the manufacturer on the weapon. I had told them that I was about fifty yards away, if I had been as close as two feet away, I would be having a very different conversation. It took six calls (from other people as well) to 999 to ask why no officer had been to call after three hours and we were told that it was not a priority. I then got a call, forty-eight hours later, to ask if they were still there. :eek:

Earlier this year I called 999 again regarding children, as young as ten, riding around the street on motor cycles. They were flying out of the alley ways into traffic, on a road with the national maximum sped limit. It appeared they were playing dare with the traffic. The call handler told me that I should not be calling 999, as it wasn't a life and death situation. :eek:

Re: Should be out catching rapists and murderers?
 

You'd be surprised the amount of people who call to report a burglary in progress only to take a second look and see its actually the person who lives there or a close relative.

If the control room can confirm it is actually a house breaking it saves several cars screaming there with blue lights on. Despite what the Daily Mail tries to portray if there is any chance of catching a housebreaker 99.999999% of cops will try their hardest to get there.