Our Glorious Boys in Blue Again.

[BARRYBLOKE]

We have been on our narrowboat for the last 4 or 5 days or so with me popping home now and again to sort the animals out etc.
We have had a big boater get together barby ,music, food and beer etc and its been great.
Last night they had all gone home to different parts of Wales barring the resident boaters on our mooring and so we decided to stay one more night.
To cut a long winded story short, I built up the woodburner we have onboard far to much and the boat was way to hot despite having the windows and roof hatch open and I couldnt sleep and so 4.30 this morning saw me saying goodbye to Linda for a few hours to shoot home and do a few jobs. I took her mobile with me to charge it up.
When I got back at 9.30 this morning she tells me that at 5.30 4 peices of human excrement had tried to get on the boat. I guess they thought that nobody was on there and it had been left insecure. She screamed and they legged it off a distance and stood back to see what happened. She said they were carring bars or something. When she continued to watch them from the galley they turned tail and went down to the car park were they had a go at the cars. By this time Linda had woken our neighbouring boaters and the police had now been called. She was asked over the phone if the scum were still there and she said no. That was at 5.30 this morning. Its now 22.26. I have asked my mate on the phone and they still havent turned up.
She could have been killed, both Linda and Saffron were terrified.
However they did turn up around 11.00 this morning on the moorings for an entirely different matter.
Sometime last week Steve (the mooring owner) found a small fibreglass tender sunk and drifting down the middle of the canal. He towed it in ,drained it off and tied it up waiting for someone to claim it.
Its worth a maximum of 20 quid. We found out today that someone had nicked it and sunk it.
There is no way he wanted it and even if he did he wouldnt have nicked it. He could buy 50 new of them out of his back pocket and he just isnt that sort of bloke anyway.
The owner was walking down the towpath, saw her sons boat tied up and stood there and phoning the police reported Steve for stealing the boat.
Enter Robocop and his Mrs. 5 minutes later up the bank they come with him sporting obligatory borg startrecky style bald head, body armour and full Rambo attitude and proceeds to do all he can to nick Steve for the theft of this boat.
Nothing could have been further from the truth.
I dont suppose that the poor distressed mother had long blonde hair and big knockers had anything to do with Rambo,s attitude, my arse it didnt.
Anyway as this was all going off by the side of my boat I said to Steve. "Let him nick you and then sue him off the planet".
The conversation had a brief pause.
I said "Steve, that boat now belongs to you. You legally salvaged it and its your boat if you wish to keep it or she can be charged by you for the rescue, storage and return of the boat.
I dont know if I was accurate or not but more to the point neither did Rambo and 2 or 3 minutes later he was back in his noddy car all dirty looks and daggers. He was genuinely a complete arse.
Linda tried to talk to the WPC about the events of earlier in the morning but once she had registered that Linda had reported it she didnt give her the time of day.
We pulled the boat in put it on the path and told the mother she wa being charged mooring fees after midnight tonight as its on private moorings.
What a complete and utter waste of time and space.

 

[RedNeckAngling]

Yes Barry, you are correct in thinking that Steve can now lay claim to the boat and/or charge for salvage and storage if he so wishes.

 

[hookit]

Barry
If what you tell us is right and I have no reason to disbelieve you.
I feel you have grounds for a complaint. I would report the fact no one attended when called to a crime in progress, but then you go on to say they had left the scene there is then no need for an immediate response as no one was then in danger. However I do understand your feelings and I do think you have a genuine reason to complain.

As for Robo cop what if he had made an arrest you would not have got a penny he was acting on the evidence at the time which he had been informed your mate had nicked the boat the value does not come into it, you are on a sticky wicket telling someone to get arrested I know some officers that would have locked the pair of you up for public order offences.

It is sad to say all police forces in this country and around the globe have this kind of officer in their ranks just makes the job much more difficult. I wonder what your attitude would have been if he had approached you and your mate in a different attitude polite and friendly got the facts from all concerned then made up his mind from the evidence of all parties. Maybe you would not have put this topic on here. We have a saying you can get far more with a smile then a heavy hand.

 

[BARRYBLOKE]

Had he approached with a courteous and proffesional or even fair minded attitude Hookit then he would have recieved courtesy and a cuppa and respect in return.
But he didnt mate.
He had absolutely nothing as regards evidence of theft. The woman came up the bank with him in a low cut top and flaunting it and he was going to be Mr Big whatever happened. It was all over him and everyone who saw this going off said the same thing about him.
The bloke was nothing short of a yob in uniform.

 

[hookit]

Barry
Had he approached with a courteous and professional or even fair minded attitude Hookit then he would have recieved courtesy and a cuppa and respect in return.
But he didnt mate.

As I would have expected from you Barry that is why I asked the question.

He had absolutely nothing as regards evidence of theft. The woman came up the bank with him in a low cut top and flaunting it and he was going to be Mr Big whatever happened. It was all over him and everyone who saw this going off said the same thing about him.

But we have all been swayed by a ladies charms. But that's when professionalism should kick in.

The bloke was nothing short of a yob in uniform.

We can well do without their kind it makes the job so much harder. The police need the backing of the public and he has failed and disgraced his uniform and his force plus all the other forces. This is a result on not enough supervision on the beats sergeants and inspectors used to be out there giving what was know as a chalk in other words signed their pocket books and just supervision to ensure the job was done right. Now instead of being out there they are bogged down with red tape.

 

[nico12]

Hookit

With reference to below statement:

" would report the fact no one attended when called to a crime in progress, but then you go on to say they had left the scene there is then no need for an immediate response as no one was then in danger"


In Barrys & 'Mr Publics' defence i think we call expecting your chaps to call and try and catch someone...hence the haste.

Reading above it feels like no danger = no priority on response - I guess manpower plays a part but its a sad state of affairs.

 

[hookit]

nico12
I hear what you are saying however as there was no longer a danger someone else may have been in immediate danger and needed help.
Of course I agree it is important to catch these people but with the limited resources we have to put the cart before the horse.
I am sorry this sounds terrible but it is a fact.

 

[Quisler]

Barry bit of a rant in reply this but it also infuriates me.

I have a very close friend who works with Gwent police and to put it in a nutshell they don't have enough officers to effectively police the law as it stands.

I was speaking to him just recently, and Easter Friday for example was a nightmare for the Police due to the number of calls they received regarding unruly kids who were out in the warm weather drinking, smoking pot etc, and partaking in general bouts of vandalism. Some as young as 12 were off their heads at 2.00 in the morning.

Where the f*&ck are the parents, don't they worry where the kids are and what they are up to.

One extreme example outside where he lives kids were vandalising traffic bollards, breaking fences etc and he actually filmed them doing it. He called the station asking for officers to attend as the crime was still taking place and they refused to take any action or even come out, and instead asked him an off duty police officer to deal with it. If he can't get a reaction what chance does Joe public.

For me in some cases letting them get away with petty crimes knowing nothing will happen to them encourages them to become bolder and possibly develops to even worse crimes being committed later.

I'll be honest I'm one step away from supporting the formation of vigilanti groups who take positive action as the country seems to have a one way ticket to lawlessness.

 

[nomorelongwalks]

Barry
If you had followed these 4 people in a car with a defective rear light,a bald tyre and driving at 32mph in a 30mph zone you would have guarenteed a few police officers would be following you.

So whilst ticking you off for being the worst criminal in the world they may actually have caught these people.

Sarcastic = maybe
The Truth = bet your life on it.

 

[nico12]

Fair play hookit - I cant imagine its easy at all mate. Clearly doesnt help our case when incidents like the ones Barry describes arent high on a list though.

For some people an incident like Barrys are the closest they get to needing the police, and on the one occasion they need you, you dont give them confidence, then support will surely dwindle.

 

[vwt4]

They are all to busy with their radar traps geting speeding money, I might be right or wrong on this but I'm afraid thats what the vast magority of people think these days,more interested in raising money from speed traps, example sunday morning,7 oclock on a duel carrigeway going to an industrial estate i.e no traffic, yet there was a van two police officers with the camera in the van time and resources for this though..

 

[hookit]

Originally posted by vwt4

They are all to busy with their radar traps geting speeding money, I might be right or wrong on this but I'm afraid thats what the vast magority of people think these days,more interested in raising money from speed traps, example sunday morning,7 oclock on a duel carrigeway going to an industrial estate i.e no traffic, yet there was a van two police officers with the camera in the van time and resources for this though..

As it happens in a force of 10,000 officers the number of officers carrying out these duties is less then 20. Then there are traffic cars that have them fitted and thats less then 50 cars.
And lets not forget you can put the speeding business out of bussiness just do not speed. If we did not break the speed limit there would be no need for speed cameras ect.

A letter I sent to my local paper: I read all the candidate leaflets that get pushed through the door. One being the BNP on behalf of their candidate Joanna Beverley. Part of a section I thought they had not really thought out and I thought the comments immature. ' More Police on our Streets ' They say the only way to get tough on crime is to get police back where they belong - on the beat not persecuting motorist or filling in paperwork. 3,201 people were killed on Britain's roads in 2005 and Total casualties in 2005 were 271,017, as yet the 2006 figures have not been released. And BNP feel the motorist is being persecuted I feel these figures are disgrace and if the BNP check just how many officers are active traffic officers they will find it is a small percentage of police officers are involved in this very important roll. I have been on the roads since 1966 in that time I have been stopped no more then half a dozen times, I do not feel I have been persecuted. But with these disgraceful figures I think the motorist could do with a little persecution.