police stations, cctv in towns

[s_mac]

I recently moved, and when i viewed my new place, i said to my partner, thats good a police station at the end of the street.

great, i will feel safe on a night, popping down to the local shop to buy a couple of beers, and grab me sweetcorn for fishing.

 

Just down the road is the main town centre about a mile away with all the usual high street shops, cctv covers the town.

 

I thought this is the place for me, some great fishing around, shops for the wife.

 

since i moved in, i have found that the local police station closes at 5pm, when ive finished work and want to go to the local shopl. to find the youth of today, drinking, smoking, asking every passer by to go by there fags because they are under age.

 

The town centre cctv, while seems to be very good on a night i guess, as i dont venture down there. but most of these cameras are trainned on bus lanes trying to catch motorists.

 

I could be getting mugged, and all they would see is someone in a bus lane.

 

or when the police are about, is when every one is at work, or the kids at school, when your likely to have a problem, the police station closes.

 

why is this

 

sean

[Guest long-trotter]

Here we go Sean, ask them direct click Comments and compliments

 

 

http://www.mpa.gov.uk/yourviews/comment/default.htm

[Huge_Vitae]

I could be getting mugged, and all they would see is someone in a bus lane.

 

or when the police are about, is when every one is at work, or the kids at school, when your likely to have a problem, the police station closes.

 

why is this

 

sean

 

Quite simply Sean because there is more revenue (tax) to be made from the average motorist than there ever can be from youths

 

AND, the situation is only going to get worse. The Police, I should say OUR Police are now controlled quite well by central Govt. This was never the case 12 years ago.

 

Now the Police rely on targets they are set to 'Prove' their efficiency by Central Govt, and as long as they are meeting those targets on speeding offences, excise duty offences and the like then the Police get paid and Central Govt. can publish their doctored figures on how well they are doing, without bothering, or indeed giving a damn about local opinion.

 

And it aint going to get no better..........

[Guest long-trotter]

This is why I think public confidence with the police is low:

 

They're At The Sharp End.

 

The police are at the sharp end of the entire justice system. They're the ones in contact with the public and - wrong though it is - they're the ones that often face the backlash for any problems with the entire justice system. The Justice System Itself.

 

The justice system has a lot of holes in it at the moment and there's a public perception of it failing the victims and allowing the criminals to get away too lightly. Furthermore, there's sometimes a contradiction between the government's 'Have A Go Society' wishes and the way in which those that 'have a go' are then hauled up in front of courts for doing so.

 

Is this the police's fault? No, but as representatives of the law they are part of that system and, as stated in point 1, at the sharp end.

 

The Dreaded Motorist Situation.

 

A lot of people will only ever have contact with the police when they're pulled for a motoring offence. This is rarely a pleasing situation for the public.

 

The second most likely time they'll have contact is when they are a victim of theft or burglary. This also rarely results in any pleasing news for the public.

 

The combination of these two events does nothing for the public's confidence in - and indeed respect for - the police.

[Huge_Vitae]

This is why I think public confidence with the police is low:

 

They're At The Sharp End.

Yes, you are right in some ways, the Police are at the sharp end because they are paid to BE at the sharp end. Not giving to much away but I remember a saying that goes "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."

 

Strangely that is now turned around, Police Officers cannot get a grasp of young offenders, cannot tackle street crime, etc etc and etc. Why is that? some say they lack powers some say they have other things to do, I say in this present climate that our Police Officers are always waiting for "something important to happen" and concentrating on that "important thing" that they miss all the silly little things which are occuring right there and right now, and which, they do sod all about so that the yob behaviour gets worse and worse

 

And we (the public) should blame who? ourselves? In some ways yes but in the main I would say NO! I DO NOT WANT my local Police Officers to be stood at the side of a road with a speed camera in areas which do not require it, and I am fed up with listening about "facts and figures" which show what a marvelous job our Police are doing as speeding offences are down in that area when, some six hours later I would not allow my Son/Daughter to walk through those areas due to the behaviour of others in the area.

 

Perhaps some HiTech firm will produce a YOBCAM which can measure the "YOB" limit of some youth as he walks down a road, identify him and immediately issue him with a fixed penalty ticket and people like me and others will be slightly appeased

[Leon Roskilly]

My lad went out for a drink with friends in Maidstone, found himself alone and worse for wear at the train station where a couple of lads started talking to him, then for no reason at all set about him.

 

He was on the floor with his head being kicked when the police arrived.

 

The attack had been spotted on CCTV and help sent in.

 

The woman pc in charge of the case told him it had been the most horrific that they had seen.

 

The lads themselves were horrified when shown the footage and sent their apologies, unable to explain why they had done it.

 

Fortunately for my son, he was so far out of it himself, he'd rolled with the kicks, but even then if the police and ambulance hadn't turned up when they had, things could have been a lot worse.

 

We got a call at 3am to pick him up, and his face wasn't pretty, but now he's fully recovered apart from a broken fron tooth.

 

The lads got 6 months each, thanks to the CCTV evidence which probably saved my son's life.

[chesters1]

police???????...oh i remember them

farnham has its share of cams ,last year a person was beaten up and the whole episode recorded on film ,the beating the arrival of the ambulance 10 mins later and the police 5 minutes after that (pretty poor as farnhams police station used to be the main one for the area and now is shut after 5 ,had a few boiled eggs on toast in the morning at that hostelry myself years ago) .

the next day a large yellow sign appeared appealing for whitnesses

errr if the camera evidence cant be used why have them ?

if the images arent clear enough update them.

to date no-one has been caught.

strangely as has been stated their pretty efficiant at getting illegal parkers nicked but in real crime useless.

its not the laws of the land people are afraid of its being caught ,if the chance of being caught is low its pointless having laws.

3000 new offences have been introduced by labour in its power hungry drive for submission of the voter ,not one is any good if their flouted by lack of enforcement

rather than introduce new laws perhaps enforcing existing laws that cover most things first could help

put cams in areas crime moves to another one its not hard to figure that a police presence would work as well.

30 years ago a trip to farnham usually resulted in a 7 day wonder for a scooter rider such as i was then now months of visits and scores of trips may result in a fleeting glimpse of a police car (not seen a copper on foot for a year or more) blair says we have more coppers their certainly not around here

phoning farnham police station using the number in the club permit book results in a phone in devon ringing those lot dont know where surrey is nevermind farnham

its getting bad in tilford nowadays i heard of talk of a crisp bag being left by an outsider ,he escaped without the usual tattooing of a cross on the forehead and his horse being beaten with a cane from the sacred tree

Edited October 2, 2006 by chesters1

[Puzzled]

 

3000 new offences have been introduced by labour in its power hungry drive for submission of the voter ,not one is any good if their flouted by lack of enforcement

 

Yes, let's just take a little time to remind ourselves on exactly how Tone the Magnificent got himself elected.

"We'll be tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" were the words used to blag their way into power (I shan't mention the famous "Education, Education, Education" mantra at this stage)

 

They've been there 9 years now and we're all reaping the benefits of the customary social mismanagement of a Labour government. "New" Labour - don't make me laugh.

[chesters1]

read the other day about on the spot fines for more offenses if they dont include guns ,hmmmmm rob a granny of £200 as she comes out of the post office with her pention ,hand over £80 to the nearest policeman (probably will have to be honest and post it in) its better than working ,pay the fine your a free man.

[Guest long-trotter]

Huge

 

I am a Traffic Officer, I have been in the job for 24 yrs, so I have seen the decline in society.

 

We the Police are as frustrated as Joe Public, people forget we live in the same society as them, we want safe streets for our familys .

 

Let me tell you about an incident I was involved in earlier in the year. Myself and several other traffic units +helicopter pursued a 14 year old youth in stolen Astra GTE for 45 mins in that time he rammed two pursuit vehicles damaged several Innocent peoples cars, the speeds reached in residential areas were 84mph.

 

It has since come to court and he was handed a ban and 120hrs community service, we know all about frustration with the law. This is one of many stories I could tell you about, we try but we also get let down by the system.

Edited October 2, 2006 by long-trotter