To think the police are useless?

[RainbowsAndCrystals]

In my 20s I've been around many people that have had bad experiences with them and say how useless they are.

Something happened to me a month ago and it was caught on cctv.

Firstly the police said I had to get the evidence myself. So I had to ask around for cctv ... very difficult when people don't want to be involved and you're someone with zero authority.

Now a month later and they still haven't bothered to look at the footage.

It's so disheartening and almost like they have sided with the criminals.

exactly Kazzy. This thread is really frustrating as it should be a healthy debate but the main arguments pro police are cuts, cuts, cuts, do the job yourself, don't waste time calling the police for small issues.

How about an answer to the concerns of corruption, rascism, sexism etc. Or is that due to cuts also?

Well said Getout. This thread is very similar to the ones we often get re teachers and the NHS. And it's virtually the same regardless of which public service is being discussed.

The staff in the service go ultra defensive and seem to take it as a personal insult. Whereas, in reality, people are complaining about the service as a whole, not the vast majority of teachers, nurses, police officers who we know are doing a good job. It's the minority of bad apples that people complain about.

Yet those working in whatever service discussed always trot out the "cuts" argument as if pouring more money in would somehow remove the bad apples - it won't!! Without reform, additional spending won't achieve anything.

The police, like the NHS and schools, received massive increases in funding during the Labour years, but the core fundamental problems weren't addressed and most of the money was wasted with the general public seeing very little overall improvement.

I've started a reply to this thread a few times but stopped myself being reactionary. You see, my husband is a sergeant. He's an incredibly good, caring sergeant. He is thorough and knows the law well. He's very well respected. So it pains me when people "hate the police".

However I also know from his stories and accounts of his days at work that sadly a lot of police officers are not like him. Day in, day out he tells me how some of the officers do a really bad job. And how other sergeants also do a bad job and don't manage their officers effectively, how they sweep stuff under the carpet.

Sadly it does depend on the area. Not due to wealth or anything like that though. It depends on how well led the teams are. My husband has worked in the same town for over 5 years. His team were known to be proactive, responsive and effective. However he was moved to another town for months and the team there don't want to actually deal with anything. They do pretty much anything to get out of doing the job well. They are lazy. This is primarily because of the management they have there - that is how they are led so that is how they behave. It's incredibly depressing.

But of course the cuts etc have also had a massive impact on what even the best, most effective police officers can do. And across the entire police service morale is at an all time low. Most police officers do want to do a good job and they do want to help victims and get them justice. They absolutely do not have the resources to do this though.

I'll tell you one example of how horrendous things are as I truly do not think people realise how few police there are. One town in my husbands area has a maximum of 4 response officers on at any time. Most of the time, due to sickness/holiday/training/court days etc they only have 2 officers. The town/area they cover has a population of around 100,000. Their closest back up is 20 miles away. Please tell me how they are supposed to do half of what people expect.

Of course any one who has had an awful experience with the police should absolutely complain to them. It is not acceptable that claims of serious assaults etc should be dismissed out of hand by the first responding officer.

I'm sorry that some people have had bad experiences. The people I work with work bloody hard, sometimes officers can be rude, so can people we deal with. There isn't enough officers, other agencies pass the work onto us and we can't say no

When I contacted the police about my situation, there was a realistic threat of injury or death to at least 15 people.
When my oranges go soft earlier than expected or my mobile phone provider doesn't call me back when promised, the risk to life is much reduced!
I forgot to say earlier, you can look online to see how many police officers in your area have had disciplinary action against them. It's a real eye opener.
It's been the law since 2015 that this is public information.

My response was to the OP. She is saying that the pice sre useless as he incident hasn't been followed up in an acceptable timeframe. I was explaining how jobs are allocated and how stretched resources are. Op had not made any reference to corrupt police officers.
I fully accept that there will be corrupt staff in any organisation.

• police are

celticmissey I work in care. We are very understaffed like a lot of professions. It doesn't mean I don't treat each individual with respect and empathy whilst delivering a high standard of person centred care. There is just no excuse for speaking to people like dirt, ever.

A friend's brother is a policeman.
He loves his job because he's assigned to a station with several large estates and deals with a lot of domestic incidents, working there means he can get to know the locals & actually make a difference.
He finds police work to be exciting & interesting plus he's a caring bloke.

Sadly he was knocked unconscious for half an hour during one incident by a man he was arresting for DV.
But he soon recovered & got back to work.

Another friend was a police officer here in a different station & hated it as his fellow officers did not always follow the law etc plus he was town centre so dealt with rape cases where the police knew the men were guilty but there was no chance of convictions.
He has left now but says it's scary how many rapists are walking around out there free to reoffend....

@Deathraystare

ParkheadParadise Sorry to hear that. That is awful. Mind you too often the police build a case but still the fuckers go free. Must be really frustrating for them

Yes it was frustrating for them. For us as a family it was devastating.

Of course there's no excuse for speaking to someone whatever job your in without respect and I would like to think people would always complain about people who spoke in that way or that person would go on like that. Yes of course all public services are strained I see it every day a lot of the time the police also have to act as mental health workers, social workers and have many hats. There are bad apples in most professions and they need to get found out such as dr's carrying out needless operations and officers hurting people. Years ago police went to all victims of crime whatever it was and that is the right way. Sadly now it just can't happen there's not enough to send that's it in a nutshell . Although I always think you should always walk in another's shoes before you can fully appreciate what people do in their line of work

I don't think the response by the police the op has had is anything to do with not having enough funding from my experience I can't think of a time in the last at least 40 years when the op would have been treated any differently.

Having said that we had a bizarre incident when dp was visited by a police man because someone with dps name had gone into a&e. They had used apparently a different address. I had to point out that the guy could have the same relatively common name and actually live at the address he gave.

The cuts have taken a toll but there were always useless police officers. I've worked with some brilliant ones and some who were bone idle or racist or sexist or any ist you cant think of.

Committed, hardworking police officers really are devastated when someone gets away with it but unfortunately the system isn't perfect.

Money might not be the complete answer but it would help, you also have to think about the quality of recruits, if the money is rubbish you are limiting the pool you have to choose from.

I’m a police officer. I am actually ashamed to admit it these days. I am appalled at the service that we give. I cringe when I have to tell people that nothing else will happen with their crime. Everyone I work with feels the same way. It is not the reason we joined- I was a fresh graduate from a very good university with a good degree. I regret my decision to join so much. I wanted to make a difference, help people and have a satisfying and challenging career moving through the ranks. I feel I have failed on all fronts.

But the well is dry. There is neither even nearly enough police officers nor a remotely suitable budget to deliver the service required. I actually called police myself the other day to what I know would be classed as an emergency. They told me they had no units to deal. I was not surprised. Fortunately the fire service came to the rescue. I am not angry at the police I’m angry at the government.

Everyone I know in the police are leaving/looking to leave because (aside from the fact that there hasn’t been a pay rise in 7 odd years and we can’t afford to continue to remain the the service and the fact that we are treated like the bottom of the pile from within and outside) the police is basically a sinking ship and no one wants to be the one remaining on it.

The Tories have killed off our public services and the future of the police looks seriously bleak. All I know from personal experience as both a member of the public and as a police officer is that I wouldn’t want to be in a position where I needed police to help in an emergency.

This is someone I know and is why I have a low opinion of our local force. Very brave lady.

www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/gloucestershire-police-officer-criticised-handling-563112#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Just want to say there never were enough officers, my husband joined over 50 years ago, he worked in a city centre division and as a probationer (in first 2 years of service) it wasn't unusual for him to be the only officer on patrol on nights and that was before radios.

One town in my husbands area has a maximum of 4 response officers on at any time. Most of the time, due to sickness/holiday/training/court days etc they only have 2 officers. The town/area they cover has a population of around 100,000. Their closest back up is 20 miles away. Please tell me how they are supposed to do half of what people expect.

^
This situation is alarmingly common. People think the police should be superhuman but there’s a limit to what they can do with resources like this.

I understand why you feel jaded, I've had experience with the police on three occasions, ranging in severity, and found them to be useless too. I know they are not all useless, but it's hard not to feel that way.

We were burgled and they insinuated heavily that my partner had arranged it, because the thieves hadn't took his car keys.
A friend was attacked in my presence, in a place covered by CCTV, a man punched her, full force in the face, multiple witnesses. He wasn't even arrested despite his car reg being given. They 'had a word' instead .
I reported two men going down communal bins removing paperwork, clearly trying to obtain peoples details fraudulently, I took photos and gave them over so they had full face shots etc. Nothing, no follow up at all.

Very hard not to feel disheartened OP.

Committed, hardworking police officers really are devastated when someone gets away with it but unfortunately the system isn't perfect.

So why are so many serving officers - good ones I assume - in this thread dismissing everyone's experience of some of their crappier colleagues or screaming 'cuts' as an excuae. Cuts have not made individual officers, rude, racist, lazy, sexist or corrupt.

It rather depressingly confirms what I've always suspected, given the stark choice between protecting the public or covering for one of their own, most cops even so called good ones would prioritise the latter.

zippyswife I am so sorry to read your post, but it does absolutely mirror the tone of all police officers we encountered, entirely brow-beaten and dejected and and seriously bitter at the government and system. I don't doubt that the majority of folks joining the police do so hoping to make a difference, but this sadly just does not translate as a victim of crime in dire need of support.
The police due to these awful cuts are simply not fit for purpose right now and I do not see how or when it will ever get any better. It must be a soul-destroying thing to get up and do every day, to read this final part of your post is very accurate and sobering, but also grievously true from somebody serving as you do daily:

The Tories have killed off our public services and the future of the police looks seriously bleak. All I know from personal experience as both a member of the public and as a police officer is that I wouldn’t want to be in a position where I needed police to help in an emergency.

Oh and cakefairy glad to read you're ok. We did the same, moved away and funnily enough still unravelling but enjoying a normal peaceful life now thanks, amazing what a difference it makes to not wake up every morning shaking as I did for almost three years.

Our local police also find the time to update their ridiculous and utterly pointless twitter feed umpteen times a day, really so infuriating when they have no resources to attend when your family are actually at real risk from harm.

They're too busy hitting targets. If they catch and prosecute speeders, then that's many crimes solved. Great for those all important stats.

I don't think they're useless. I think they are strangled by red tape, regulations and political correctness.

But they don't hit their targets do they? Last years Peel report clearly demonstrates this....

And as for being politically correct, our experience is most contrary, their tone, conduct and lack of response belongs in the 80's/90's. Seriously lacking and offensive, I would love to know exactly what regulations they are actually bound to adhere to as they make no sense to me and are unbelievably inconsistent.

And also when I rang up the person in the control room (I think?) said the cctv was useless. The cctv that was never even looked at ...

I had to ask her if she was an officer and therefore allowed to say that? She quickly started trying to backtrack.

I'm sure some officers care. Somewhere. None of them give a shit what happened to me or the vast majority of people I know and on here.

It's worth pointing out that if they had the tiniest bit of respect for victims of crime in the past (nothing to do with cuts, just plain rudeness), then maybe the general public would be supporting them now!

When I hear the latest hard luck story within the police force, I just laugh as it seems like karma to me that they are being treated like crap.
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