Blame it on the educational system and the way the Police recruitment team work.
No wonder innocent people get locked up.
A plastic plod was left red faced after issuing a call to other forces to find a Police Constable World. The mistake was made when the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) was skimming through evidence and found what she thought was the officer's name attached to a bundle of cash. In actuality, the money was seized at the …
Your point would be valid if people didn't have lots of experience of the police and know this is exactly the sort of thing they do. It is believed because it aligns with peoples own personal experiences.
Ignoring everything the Daily Mail prints has the same validity as any broadbrush decision based on a grouping. Yes, some of what they print is dubious, but the sames true of other papers as well. You need to look at each individual story rather than just saying 'Daily Mail - rubbish'. That's the sort of prejudiced approach that people like you attribute to Daily Mail readers and yet you show exactly the same!!
And people wonder why crime is such an issue and the police are incapable of catching anyone, even if it happens right in front of them. I'm glad the police and the civvies that work for them find this hilarious. Undoubtedly, they fine recent crime statistics equally so and find it very funny how they are allowed to keep drawing salaries for such a poor service.
Police in my area have been carrying out a zero tolerance towards riding bikes on the pavement for some time now. Having your house burgled will result in a crime number and a suggestion you contact your insurers, as all the plod are chasing major criminals riding on the pavement.
You couldn't make it up if you tried.
Too busy working on 'intelligence' I imagine. After all; it takes a long time to read the paper, a few lads mags and maybe (if were really lucky) some intelligence reports on criminals. You know somethings wrong when more money is being spent on behind the scenes than at the front.
When they eventually decide to do something, it normally involves their firearms teams running around like the 'Professionals'. That, of course, is when they're not accidently discharging weapons or shooting themselves/others as has happened a few times. I've watched quite a few programs on the 'crack' police firearms squads and never cease to be amazed by their inability. I've also met a load running around London being macho. If you ever come across them; get as far away as possible as quickly as possible.
You may be right. Given some armed police seem more than a little trigger happy, doing anything quickly might look like guilt to them.
Difference between the police and Tony Martin is that they shout at you before shooting. That ensures you turn around and get the round in the front. A round in the back never looks good.
Different areas, different issues. Bikes on pavements might be an issue in some places, but not really in mine. Most of the time, its kids riding them slowly alongside their mates (walking) on the way to school. You've got some kid going only just fast enough to stay upright to avoid leaving his mates behind and the oldies constantly bang on about them being an danger. 'Can't get past them on the pavement' etc. Well, if they were all walking, it wouldn't be any better!! The fact they're cycling is besides the point and doesn't add any danger.
Problem with listening to the populace (or a crime commissioner), is that they have a single biased view of what the issues area. If a crime commissioner gets burgled, they'll probably immediately call on the police to do more on this type of crime, but it may not be a general issue. In my area, there are so many old people around, they constantly moan about bikes. Should try driving behind one of them when they go for a cycle on the road. Terrible.
Isn't the bike on pavement thing normally being pushed by elderly Mail readers who have a desperate need to grind down who they hope are "uppity proles" but don't realise that some of us might be looking out for them later on their bikes when we are in our own overpowered tin boxes? ;)
I mean the type that gaze at the sky for minutes on end apparently in a daydream, you see them miles away and cruise carefully past them, then after they wake up, they eventually decide they must have been "in terrible danger". And then plod after you at maximum shuffle-velocity and try to give you a piece of their mind, on your ownproperty....unfortunate if you live nearby!
To be fair, I did live not far from a psychiatric hospital, hard to tell the daycare ones and the Mail readers apart However, the daycare ones were generally regarded by those in the know as being harmless and generally well-intentioned ;)
It's a bit of both. There are certainly a lot of old people in my area and what they regard as danger takes some believing. Anything they don't see/hear coming is immediately a cause for concern. There have been a few collisions and even a death or two. However, at least one was from someone walking into a cycle lane. It's a case of both parties taking care. Pedestrians keeping an eye out and not overreacting to every little thing. Also, cyclists being sensible and there are certainly a few who do speed around on the pavements at too high a speed, especially around corners.
However, no matter how you look at it; first priority on crime it is not. Yep, stop some of the silly cyclists who go too fast or without due care for others. Also, tell some of the pedestrians that just because they didn't hear the bike coming, that doesn't make it dangerous or the cyclists fault. Maybe they should turn the hearing aid up!!
I can't believe so much police time is spent on such a relatively trivial thing.
Some years ago, we had a badly damaged SUV dumped in our office car park one night, so the boss called the police and reported it.
Two PCSO turned up, wrote down the details, left a crime number, and went away again.
Two weeks later the boss rang up to see what was happening and was told the vehicle was of no interest to them, and we should make our own arrangements to dispose of it.
As the scrap man dragged the SUV onto his wagon, a small, soggy cardboard box was revealed. The box contained gold bracelets - lots of them.
The boss rang again. Blue lights. Car park, scrap lorry and SUV fenced off with tape. Dozens of cops and two very pissed off SOC officers on the scene. Hard disk from our CCTV recorder (72 hour loop) impounded. Employees interviewed...
It turned out the SUV had been used to ram-raid a wholesale jewellers and the police had been searching for the vehicle.
As one SOC officer put it: "They couldn't catch a fucking cold!"
I'm amazed they realised when then!!
That's the problem with CSI dramas from the states. It makes people believe the police can actually perform to that level. Maybe true in the US; I've no experience. if the UK, it's rare to even see SOC officers anywhere near anything other than major crime, let alone useful things like house breaking etc. After all, it's much easier to give the criminal a discounted term if they admit to loads more and help the crime cleanup rate.
Could be worse, I used to work in a place where the office got burgled before I atarted with them, , they actually did find the guy (maybe by coincidence and traced owners of random gear) they nicked him and jailed him (woohoo!), they kept the IT gear as evidence for years, lead seals and everything, then returned it when it was obsolete! I had to check out the gear, seems the guy had a Prince Of Persia obsession, weird? plus also raced 3/4 scale cars that used the same motor as my m/cycle at the time. I made sure to lock it up well after that...
It's a plastic, cheapo copper thingy that looks like a copper, acts like a copper, but aren't trained like a copper...that can't and don't do very much, but they are cheaper (key word that). And remember, this was an "experienced" one. This is what you get when you try to increase police visibility without using police. PCSOs one rung up the evolutionary tree from "Traffic Officers" which are basically highway workmen in a tricked out truck that looks like a cop car. I think there's an old saying about payments, monkeys and peanuts...what was it?
I think xyz was referring to the civilian Traffic Officers that are employed by the Highways Agency to patrol the motorways in Range Rovers to put cones around accidents, protect broken down car passengers etc. Not the actual Traffic Police who chase stolen cars and all that cool stuff.
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It's a silly one, but honestly tell me you have never made a silly mistake expanding an acronym? I know some older people who use LOL as Lots of Love, for instance. IT types are particularly immersed in TLA's yet (shock horror) other industries also use TLA's for different things. Just because the PCSO happens to think of PC meaning one thing rather than the thing we all think of first is hardly cause for 'all plod are thickies'. It was a silly mistake, it was quite funny, that is it.
I might be inclined to agree, but hot on the heels of this:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-20316578
you might think otherwise. After all, known domestic bully, shotguns etc.etc. What could go wrong? Now, I'm sure this decision wasn't made by a PCSO.
"older people who use LOL as Lots of Love, for instance"
On FidoNet, which preceded the internet, LOL was "Lots Of Love." lol was "Laughed Out Loud."
Also you could capitalise one or two words to provide emphasis without some knob taking offence and complaining that you were 'shouting'
On a slightly unrelated note, I had a senior-ish bank dude phone up and ask if he could be given a different mainframe login, I believe they were meant to be based on surname, initials and so on. Took ages for me to twig why he might be offended by QUIA ;)
Unfortunately I had already gone down the road of "I don't see what''s wrong with that, looks standard to me....." .... and clearly he wasn't going to say why he didn't like it!
Then there was the other manager who obviously had a really cute lady assistant and both seemed positively chuffed that her mainframe login ID was verging on obscene! In fact I think they were requesting that all her future logins were based on this "special" first one!