Chicken or Egg? Which one came first?

[jrandom]

One of the apparent policy thingos that came out of the recent election was a commitment to hire a thousand new frontline police officers, as far as I understood it. A 33% or so increase over the current number.

That, and (obviously) allocation of the concomitant funding, is the only real solution. And these thousand new officers will take time to find and train.

What, apart from this, are you suggesting that the Government does about it? And let me guess... when you're not being burgled, you probably moan about high tax rates.

Now, I feel your pain about the burglary. I know what it feels like to sleep with a weapon under the bed because it's the best risk-management option you can think of. Don't think that I'm being insensitive and froth at the mouth in response to this.

But, seriously, if all you can do in response to this situation is rant at the Gubmint for failing to Do Something About It, perhaps you should move to France and go on strike.

[ManDownUnder]

Yeah it's a beautiful catch 22

Don't take the law into your own hands - you'll get done for it

Don't rely on the police responding in time because they're doing their best with a woeful lack of resources.

If the country was being run like my business I'd boost the number of cops through the roof, nail the theiving raping malingering little bastards for about 5 years till the message got through, at which time the cop numbers could drop back to a more appropriate level.

Setting the expectations of society (and the bad guys within society) is what's needed. Right now those expectations are being set, but in entirely the wrong way.

They simply don't expect to get caught, and if they do, it doesn't hurt them.

MDU

[Coyote]

It sucks to have stuff stolen. Its PC gone mad! My daughtr's phone was nicked out of her bag during PE a few weeks back. She knew who stole it so I went down to the school to see if they would ask for it back. Didnt see any point in going to the cops as they wouldnt do anything anyway(they were all too busy with the double murder under the bridge). Well the next day I rang my girls phone and this woman answered it. I had quite a conversation with her & found out her name and address and that she'd bought the phone the night before. Decided to go to the cops and lodge a complaint....told them all the details and how good it would look for their statisics to have one solved theft. Only the address she gave me is in the heart of black power turf. Went back to the school and asked if they'd spoken to the girl but was told they cant just accuse anyone without proof. PC bullshit! Back in the day, if anything was stolen out of a bag, the whole school would have been lined up in the hall and searched while teachers went through lockers. The theif would then get the cane...six of the best!!
That's whats wrong with the society these days...bring back corpral punnishment I say!
So the thieving little bitch gets away with it and there's no conciquences.

My Dad being a teacher, I hear a lot about this crap. Teachers now have to obide to the kids rules and have to put up with their shit with a smile. A good example is when my Dad sent this girl outside. He goes outside and does the usual 'don't do that agin, be quiet' routine and sends her back in. Then his principle gives him greif the next day because he received a complaint that he had called this girl a bitch and there were several witnesses to this, and who did the principle believe when my Dad said he didn't call her a bitch? The kid. Fortunately the 'witnesses' were discredited as there were a few good kids who said there was no one to hear both of them, and the girl was discredited too as she was a bitch anyway. The world has gone completely mad


The cops were probably busy waiting at the side of the road for bikers to go past them so they could start following them so they're there when they make a 'mistake'. Sorry to hear about the break in Marmoot

[The Stranger:Me]

The best deterrent for crime is the certainty of getting caught.

As Marmoot quite rightly points out there is a certainty of not getting caught as things stand now. Thus crimes of this type need solving or will continue to escalate in number. As they do so, i.e. now, the ability of the police force to address them decreases even more.

Failure to address these "insignificant" crimes cost us a lot of money in insurances and may yet reach the point where many can not afford insurance.

The issue therefore should be to address "small" crimes early before they get out of hand. These cost society a lot more in the long run, both in dollars and quality of life.

As for additional taxes, well I wouldn't object if I knew the money was not going to be robbed for something else as in the long run it should net a saving, however, why not divert some resources from the really "big" problem of catching speeders to real law enforcement. As it stands now, the only chance of a burglar getting caught is if they speed from the scene of the crime.

[ManDownUnder]

As it stands now, the only chance of a burglar getting caught is if they speed from the scene of the crime.

That's so true it's both sad and funny...

[Beemer]

I'm not saying burglary isn't a crime, I'm saying that the 111 line is for EMERGENCIES or life threatening occurrences. I would be really brassed off if someone broke into my house (it has happened in the past but thankfully not where we live now) and stole my property because it IS a crime, but I would not call 111 unless the burglars were still at the scene. It's all a matter of timing and severity. If you have an accident and someone is hurt, yes, ring 111 and ask for an ambulance. If you open your car door and accidently whack someone on the leg with it, you don't call 111. The same goes for a burglary. My reference to calling the fire brigade for a scorch mark on the carpet was to illustrate that they are there to fight fires, not turn up AFTER the event.

I had my raincoat stolen when at school many years ago and pointed out the kid who was actually wearing it at the time to a teacher. Nothing was done because they couldn't accuse the kid - despite the fact my name was in the back of the coat and it could have been checked quickly. A week later the principal had something stolen and the school was turned upside down - we all had our bags, desks and lockers inspected.

Burlary is NOT a victimless or minor crime, but my whole reason for responding was to point out why the cops are getting fed up with people using 111 to report non-emergencies. I think they need a dedicated burglary squad just as they have a highway patrol squad. Instead of being diverted to other duties, they could solely concentrate on solving burglaries and putting the offenders away for it. I remember them targeting that family and finding burglary rates dropped significantly. But they need resources and manpower to do this and I doubt they have it right now.

Yes, rant and rave about burglary, it is a nasty and cruel crime (especially those who steal personal belongings like jewellery, videos, photo albums, etc), but don't ring 111, that's NOT what it's there for!