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Your experiences of having contact with the police.
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Shimbleshanks
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I think things are a lot better than in the dark days of the late 1970s and early 1980s. When I was a student in Birmingham, I witnessed an assault. Three skinhead-types set upon a couple of other lads in Birmingham city centre, kicked seven shades of sh*t out of them and ran off, leaving them bleeding and groaning on the pavement, all in a matter of a few seconds. I rang for the police and ambulance from a nearby payphone; the ambulance got there within a few minutes, a police patrol car a minute of so later.
One of the coppers asked me: "So, who did it? Were they black?"
"No," I said. "It was three white guys - skinheads."
"Oh, OK then..." and they got back into their car and drove off...
One of the coppers asked me: "So, who did it? Were they black?"
"No," I said. "It was three white guys - skinheads."
"Oh, OK then..." and they got back into their car and drove off...
Springs Branch
Established Member
Generally my experiences have been positive. The odd speeding ticket, which I deserved, plus two separate incidents when I thought a burglary was in progress and a patrol car was there (lights flashing, no siren) within a couple of minutes (both were false alarms).
One good example of "discretion" I remember from my student days - One summer evening, a couple of us were transporting a keg of beer from one side of Cambridge to another in a shopping trolley. Halfway through the trip (which was hard work and guaranteed to generate a thirst) a couple of bobbies pulled up in a panda car.
"Oi! Where do you think you're going with that?"
"West Road, officer"
"Well just make sure you take that shopping trolley back where you got it."
"OK, we will". And off they drove.
More recently, while living in Australia, our house was burgled during the daytime when no-one was home.
A cop arrived to take a report for insurance (British, as it happened - there's a lot of them in the local police over here).
He asked if I'd noticed anything unusual that day ("looking for clues" I supposed at the time).
I said not really, except we'd had two new wheelie bins delivered that morning whilst everyone was out. Maybe that had some bearing.
He replied "well I'm not going to write that down".
I wasn't expecting they'd go rushing round to the wheelie bin depot, break down the door and shout "You're Nicked!", but with all the stuff about "intelligence based policing" these days, I'd have thought it was a detail worth recording in case there was some pattern (i.e. delivery blokes drop off a bin, house is unoccupied and looks an easy target, one of them makes mobile call to mates with the address. . . .)
One good example of "discretion" I remember from my student days - One summer evening, a couple of us were transporting a keg of beer from one side of Cambridge to another in a shopping trolley. Halfway through the trip (which was hard work and guaranteed to generate a thirst) a couple of bobbies pulled up in a panda car.
"Oi! Where do you think you're going with that?"
"West Road, officer"
"Well just make sure you take that shopping trolley back where you got it."
"OK, we will". And off they drove.
More recently, while living in Australia, our house was burgled during the daytime when no-one was home.
A cop arrived to take a report for insurance (British, as it happened - there's a lot of them in the local police over here).
He asked if I'd noticed anything unusual that day ("looking for clues" I supposed at the time).
I said not really, except we'd had two new wheelie bins delivered that morning whilst everyone was out. Maybe that had some bearing.
He replied "well I'm not going to write that down".
I wasn't expecting they'd go rushing round to the wheelie bin depot, break down the door and shout "You're Nicked!", but with all the stuff about "intelligence based policing" these days, I'd have thought it was a detail worth recording in case there was some pattern (i.e. delivery blokes drop off a bin, house is unoccupied and looks an easy target, one of them makes mobile call to mates with the address. . . .)
DelayRepay
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I've not had much involvement with the police, but the times I have, have been positive. Like any profession, some officers will be better than others, but on the whole when I've needed their help I've found them very good.
I think the problem is that there aren't enough of them, but that's a political problem. My friend who works in a police control room tells me they are often under-staffed, especially at night. In fact some of what she tells me is frightening - she covers an area with a population of about 500,000 people and she says it's not uncommon for there to only be a handful of officers to respond to emergencies. And she says this has got worse in recent years as the police are now expected to deal with all kinds of mental health and social issues.
I think the problem is that there aren't enough of them, but that's a political problem. My friend who works in a police control room tells me they are often under-staffed, especially at night. In fact some of what she tells me is frightening - she covers an area with a population of about 500,000 people and she says it's not uncommon for there to only be a handful of officers to respond to emergencies. And she says this has got worse in recent years as the police are now expected to deal with all kinds of mental health and social issues.
Springs Branch
Established Member
One other recollection from my school days was that two of the most notorious bullies in my year and the year above were the ones (at least the only ones I know of) who went on to join the police force.
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