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Original poster

Apparently stealing is no longer of concern to the police

97 replies

ElektraLOL · 29/04/2019 09:06

Thanks, no doubt to the massive cuts this government have forced on councils.

So yesterday, I was waiting in the pharmacy to get my medicine. On duty was a young, female pharmacist and a technician who was also young and female.

Whilst they were busy, a man walked into the shop and walked behind the pharmacy counter. His behaviour was strange enough to draw my attention. Usually I don't take any notice of others in the pharmacy. He then went around picking up stuff on shelves, some of which he put into his back pocket, and one thing he took to the counter to buy.

As he was leaving I told the pharmacist that I had seen him stealing items and she called the police, whilst trying to keep him on site. The emergency services wouldn't send anyone, were rude to her and suggested she was making it up!

After all this happened the poor woman was nearly in tears, said she was sick of this happening and that it was not the first time and that people were trying to steal prescription only meds too.

So apparently theft is not important enough to deal with now?!!

OP posts:
SoManyCoats · 29/04/2019 11:05

brizzle read the OP - it was a non-violent, non-confrontational petty/stealth theft that even the shop assistant didn't notice, only the OP, from the retail side of the shop ie not the pharmacy counter. How on earth can you assume he's most likely a drug user and may be known to the police?!

brizzlemint · 29/04/2019 11:07

SoManyCoats

Whilst they were busy, a man walked into the shop and walked behind the pharmacy counter.

Do you know what was behind the pharmacy counter? No, neither do I. At our pharmacy you go behind the counter and you are straight into where the drugs are stored.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 29/04/2019 11:28

The thing is though, Rainbow. The Tories have been power for almost 10 years now. How long Is the "We're sorting out the mess Labour left us with" chestnut going last. Its Waring now.

FannyWork · 29/04/2019 12:08

SoManyCoats, the OP specifically said he went behind the counter and took secure drugs. I assume with that level of observation you’re a police officer?

Cattenberg · 29/04/2019 12:28

I wish people would stop blaming Labour for the Global Financial Crisis. It started in the USA.

SoManyCoats · 29/04/2019 12:48

Fanny where does it say he took secure drugs?! I missed that.

SoManyCoats · 29/04/2019 12:49

And you can't mean secure drugs can you. You mean unsecured (if any drugs were taken as opposed to something behind the counter non-drug based such as dressings.

freetone · 29/04/2019 12:50

Had my pin and card stolen by a ‘close friend’. They went and took cash straight from my account using a cash machine of a well monitored supermarket. The police weren’t bothered and told me to speak to my bank. It’s theft whether it’s from my bank or house imo

Original poster
ElektraLOL · 29/04/2019 12:51

How did they have your PIN @freetone? 😯

OP posts:
Buster72 · 29/04/2019 12:52

Wow starts out as Not Bashing Police, thread soon disintegrates into anecdote about rubbish. Like the under age youth who started a business with stolen tools.
Or the pp told her report was racially motivated .....because she described perpetrators as Asian....I double dare anyone to provide actual proof that happened

Retail theft happens....if retail employees don't want to get confrontational their employer needs to hire security...but a cost benefit analysis probably rules that out. Without clear CCTV the chances of an arrest and prosecution are limited, unless you want to pay for a cop in each shop....

Original poster
ElektraLOL · 29/04/2019 12:56

Behind the pharmacy counter directly are the drugs that you can only buy with pharmacist supervision. And the prescription stuff is behind that in a room that is directly adjacent. Just to clear up any confusion.

This pharmacy also has like a storage machine for some of these meds which are prescription only. With a kind of clear glass case. Which is apparently where meds were also stolen from before the episode yesterday where the guy took other stuff as well including pregnancy tests 🤔

OP posts:
chemenger · 29/04/2019 12:59

On the other hand we were burgled in the U.K. whilst we were abroad. Saw the thieves on cctv about half an hour later (over the internet). The police were there within 20 minutes of calling, they waited for dd to get there from university an hour away. They were really nice to her, obviously she was pretty upset, and helped her organise emergency repairs. Burglars were instantly recognised from the cctv footage, caught within a week and are both now (back) in prison. We were kept up to date at every stage of the process by visits, phone call, emails and letters. I could not fault the police.

RHTawneyonabus · 29/04/2019 13:05

They wouldn’t even follow up when my DH was pulled off his bike, punched and spat at, shoved against a wall and drew blood. He had the guys reg so it wouldn’t have been hard. Possibly if you are murdered they actually do something but anything less and I wouldn’t bother

DeadBod · 29/04/2019 13:21

I suspect that the average officer would love to attend each and every reported crime but are tied up dealing with shortfalls in other areas, such as mental health patients and missing care home kids.

PanBasher · 29/04/2019 13:22

I once called the police late one friday night as some youths had got a pallet from somewhere and were hiding behind a neighbour's garden wall. Each time a car passed they were throwing the pallet across the road into the car's path, forcing the drivers to swerve. I was worried that a car would actually lose control and collide with a wall.
The call handler put me through to the police, who promptly told me off as apparently the police were busy with drunken reveller's in town etc and put the phone down on me.
Some 15 minutes after that call, a motorcyclist hit the pallet that the youths threw out. The motorcyclist was thrown from his machine and collided with the wall, breaking his back!! He was lucky that he wasn't killed.
They soon found 4 spare coppers to attend with the paramedics!!

leckford · 29/04/2019 13:30

The shop should set up a door to stop customers gettin behind the counter, one of the pharmacists could be assaulted if they challenge one of the people

DGRossetti · 29/04/2019 14:21

I think the police are getting a raw deal here. It's hard enough to go about your job dealing with things that aren't crimes. Where on earth is the time to deal with real crimes expected to come from ?

twitter.com/HarryTheOwl/status/1110503943245688832

(not a spoof ...)

Original poster
ElektraLOL · 29/04/2019 14:56

@DGRossetti RTT properly. At no time have I blamed the police. It's the f* Tories

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 29/04/2019 14:58

RTT properly. At no time have I blamed the police. It's the f* Tories

Did you read my link ?

Nicknacky · 29/04/2019 15:45

Op, your title certainly seems to blame the police

DGRossetti · 29/04/2019 15:53

Admittedly, we can't keep making up new laws (far outnumbering any laws that get removed from the books) and expect things to carry on with no deterioration ?

And while it's the government that foot the bill (or not) for policing, the actual police forces have a great amount of discretion in what they do - and do not - spend their time on. So in the example I cited, it was a police decision to invest time in a "non crime". No tories were needed.

HelenaDove · 29/04/2019 16:18

"Around here apparently the police policy is that a theft of items worth less than £200 gets a stiff ignoring."

So if you are a poorer person who gets burgled you can get to fuck then.

Original poster
ElektraLOL · 29/04/2019 16:44

What I meant was, it's no longer a concern to the police because they don't have the man power to prioritise it.

OP posts:
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