Investigate crime? You need your eyes tested
ThIS column is occasionally accused of having an antipolice agenda. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve regularly praised the courage and dedication of front-line coppers, especially those engaged in the fight against terrorism.
Even my popular Mind how you Go series, which spotlights some of the more absurd aspects of modern policing, is done with affection and a wry smile.
I know from your letters and emails that plenty of retired and serving officers share my exasperation with the warped priorities of chief constables and the constant pandering to every passing political fad.
These days, when they’re not moaning about the ‘cuts’, the Old Bill seem to spend more time patrolling the world wide web, in search of perceived ‘ hate crimes’, than actually pounding the beat.
yes, budgets are tight and the police face new challenges, such as cyber fraud and keeping track of Islamist nutjobs who would do us harm. Only yesterday, home Secretary Sajid Javid was speaking about the growing threat to children from internet predators.
But that doesn’t excuse the accelerated closure of police stations and the withdrawal of officers from routine foot patrols. The number of coppers has fallen in recent years, but with an overall strength of around 122,000 there are still almost 50,000 more policemen and women than 60 years ago, when bobbies on the beat were a common sight.
It has just been revealed that 600 police stations have shut since 2010. Some cities such as St Albans and Bath no longer have a dedicated station. In Gloucestershire, only seven out of 28 are still open.
This process has been going on for the past two or three decades. Our nearest nick, in North London, closed to the public more than 20 years ago.
SHORTLY
after it shut, a man was stabbed to death on its doorstep, while a number of coppers busied themselves with vital paperwork behind its locked doors.
The so-called experts insist that maintaining police stations and sending out officers to walk the beat is an inefficient use of resources and does nothing to tackle rising crime.
But as John Apter, of the Police Federation, says: ‘Police stations in town centres provide a visible reassurance.’
Precisely. A police presence also deters opportunist crooks.
Around the country, residents report increased crime and breakins when police stations close and patrols are pared back. And how often must we read that some forces simply can’t be bothered to investigate burglaries and other allegedly ‘minor’ offences?
Thirty-odd years ago, I wrote a column for London’s Evening Standard about the Met introducing a points system to work out whether it was worth sending a detective to burglary scenes. This kind of screening has become common practice throughout Britain. A recent report said that police fail to attend two out of three burglaries.
Now Norfolk constabulary has gone a stage further and bought a computer programme which uses algorithms to determine which crimes should be investigated.
The problem is that what the Old Bill considers to be trivial crimes are properly traumatic for the victims.
As the Federation’s John Apter also observes: ‘I have been a police officer for 25 years and burglary is still one of the most intrusive, invasive and personal crimes anyone can face.’ Try telling that to the new breed of senior police chiefs, who all seem to be drawn from the ranks of sociology graduates, not seasoned thief takers.
They are so in thrall to the dogma of ‘diversity’ that they often side with the perpetrators of crime, especially when they hail from a ‘ vulnerable’ minority. y remember how in April, in hither Green, South-East London, they defended a shrine to a violent career criminal who had been killed while committing an armed burglary. The shrine was a deliberate attempt by friends and relatives of this thug to intimidate local householders.
But because the dead man was a member of the ‘travelling community’, the police decided that this outrageous affront to public decency should be allowed to go ahead. It’s their culcha, innit?
When travellers move into any area, area it is generally accompanied by an increase in petty crime, litter and nuisance. But the protests of local taxpayers often fall on deaf ears.
Surrey police recently tweeted sympathy and support for a group of travellers who illegally occupied public land at Long Ditton.
After the travellers arrived, locals reported a spate of thefts, and shops were forced to close early because of stealing.
yet instead of investigating these crimes, the police urged homeowners to consider how ‘upsetting’ it must be for travellers to have to uproot every few days. Cue violins.
Is it any wonder that so many law-abiding citizens have lost confidence in the police?
While Plod can’t be fussed to tackle crimes like burglary, they still find the time to devote their energies to minor traffic violations. Last week, we learned that drivers who stray just 1mph over the limit could soon face fines of £100 and incur penalty points on their licence.
AND
yesterday three forces announced plans for roadside eye tests. Any motorist failing to read a number plate from 65ft away will have his or her licence confiscated immediately and will have to find their own way home.
While no one is advocating a speeding free-for-all or allowing someone who is as blind as a bat to pilot a two-ton 4x4 down a public highway, these initiatives give a pretty reliable — and frankly, depressing — indication of the police’s sense of priorities.
Especially as go-faster boy racers and suicide jockeys in white vans seem to be able to terrorise other drivers with impunity.
Just a thought, but instead of pulling over middle-aged drivers for eyesight tests, surely those officers would be better deployed stopping and searching young hooligans for knives, acid and other weapons on the mean streets of Wild West Britain.
Maybe they should ask the computer.
Mind how you Go.