Have the police lost the city streets?

[bobthebandit]

With 3 more fatal stabbings in London in as many days have the police finally given up?. Gang culture is now endemic, but the police seem to do nothng.

[ELVIS68]

I doff my "silly" hat off to you birdie lol, I know it`s not the fault of whoever turns up, but somethings got to be done about how many police are available, all well and good lots of police walking the beat during the day and community police pounding the streets but whenever something serious happens late at night , there`s no-one about

Saying that..the Bagel shop in Brick Lane is always full of police...eating not arresting

[vulcan]

I accept and agree with a lot of what birdie is saying but one thing puzzles me.Now this is only what I've seen on the police programmes on TV so he can tell me how accurate they are, but if there is a stolen car and a chase, by the time the driver is caught, there are usually five or six cars [ten or twelve policemen] surrounding him. That never seems to happen with other crimes.

[birdie1971]

ELVIS68 - “...but something got to be done about how many police are available...”

I agree that something should be done but I suspect that whatever Government we get next it'll be cut, cuts, and more cuts.

One thing they could do is create a 'charging' division in the Police, staffed by civilians. This would free up the Constables. The biggest bottleneck in the whole system is the 'arrest-detain-questioning' procedure. Once you've arrested someone, that's you stuck in the station for the next three.... plus hours. You'll either be completing paperwork, liaising with the CPS or waiting for the accused's legal representative to turn up, or waiting for a doctor... and waiting... and waiting. And you can't leave in case they turn up the second you're gone....

Farce.

If the Constables could drop the miscreants off, explain the charges to whomever was dealing with the case and then get back out onto the street, you would see an tangible difference.

[ELVIS68]

birdie..the voice of reason

[birdie1971]

Vulcan42 – It's because jobs are prioritised. For example, you're a cop and you're on your way to a burglary – it's not happening right now – it's already happened and you've got to go and investigate. On the way to the job, you hear over the radio that one of your colleagues is in pursuit of a car with multiple occupants that's failing to stop. You have to make a choice. Shall I go to the burglary incident or shall I divert and assist my colleague?

As a cop, your whole shift is like this. You set off with the intention to do one thing and before you know it, circumstances have overtaken you and end up achieving nothing that you initially intend.

It's the nature of the job (at Constable level) to be almost exclusively reactive.

[Zeuhl]

Synergy between Threads!!

Get some of the 14 year olds who are doing such a good job with Trading Standards and put them on the Beat!

[vulcan]

birdie,thanks for your reply.