Apparently stealing is no longer of concern to the police

[ElektraLOL]

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?!!

And that is evident in the first line of the OP

I had a very similar situation Friday - went to a mini Tesco store. A guy in a large black coat walked in, simply picked up a pack or sandwiches, bag of crisps and a can of coke, put them in his pocket and walked out. As cool as you like. When i got to the till I told the shop assistant she just shrugged and said "yeah the security guard is off sick". I could see her point - nothing she could do on her own and he could be carrying a weapon. Pretty shocking though.

Buster72 you may think my ‘anecdote’ is rubbish but I posted it as an example of the police being great to us but having their hands tied by the thieves being underage. Are you one of the Great Train Robbers perchance?

I feel so sorry for our police. They are pulled left from right investigating bullshit claims ( trans woman called sir) or local man buys neighbours child an icecream (screams peado) yet their are kids stabbing eachother. Terrorists plotting to bomb churches/synagogues/mosques ect. The world now is a fucked up place. Shoplifters are nothing compared to the scum out their. Maybe we need an alternative justice?

Burglaries and thefts round us do not get anything apart a crime reference number. Our streets are patrolled by police insured residents. Crime has gone through the roof.

We need lots more money for the police, we need zero tolerance for anti social behaviour

The reason that they have had to cut services is because the last Labour government bankrupted us as usual. The "nasty" Tories have had to clear up Labour's mess again just as they have had to do for decades previously.

This reads like the load of 'dog-ate-my-homework' excuses it is.

I feel so sorry for our police. They are pulled left from right investigating bullshit claims ( trans woman called sir) or local man buys neighbours child an icecream (screams peado) yet their are kids stabbing eachother. Terrorists plotting to bomb churches/synagogues/mosques ect.

More people have died in the UK after contact with the police than terrorist attacks since 2000, if you want some statistics to worry over ...

DGRossetti do you have any links for that statistic?

For what it’s worth, I’ve had people die shortly after contact with myself or colleagues.

More people have died in the UK after contact with the police than terrorist attacks since 2000, if you want some statistics to worry over ...

I wouldn’t find that at all surprising and don’t think it needs to indicate anything sinister. People who come into contact with police are likely to be vulnerable people involved in risky behaviour so not exactly the type you’d expect to live into their dotage.

This reads like the load of 'dog-ate-my-homework' excuses it is.

Then can you explain why people who’ve spent their entire lives paying tax are being told there is nothing in the pot to pay for care in their old age then? Where’s it gone?

Then can you explain why people who’ve spent their entire lives paying tax are being told there is nothing in the pot to pay for care in their old age then? Where’s it gone?

That one is easy. Most people don't pay enough in "the pot" to cover their education and health / social care, council services and anything else provided through taxation. You basically have to average as a higher rate tax payer your entire life to be a net contributer to the state. Most people are net beneficiaries, but that doesn't fit well with the "scroungers" rhetoric so it's not something that is widely discussed. I wish it was. Fed up of hearing arguments like this.

Burglaries and thefts round us do not get anything apart a crime reference number. Our streets are patrolled by police insured residents. Crime has gone through the roof.

We need lots more money for the police, we need zero tolerance for anti social behaviour

I don’t know where you live but I live in a working class northern city and anti-social behaviour has gone through the floor in the last 9 years purely because most people are now in work and have regular routines which also mean they need to know where their offspring are, have them in for regular meal and bed times and want to see them when they’re not working rather than wanting them out of the house and from under their feet.

It’s made a social difference that billions in spending couldn’t have done.

The crime we have now is a hardcore of serious criminals for whom it’s a lifestyle choice and involves expensive thefts or drug production. Petty crime seems to be a hardcore of addicts who are mainly in the city centre.

I know other areas like London are complaining they’ve seen the opposite, but it’s certainly not the case here

The police class shoplifting as low level crime. In fact, unless violence is involved, they class most things as low level crime. They don't come out to a house break-in/burglary unless the perpetrator is still on the premises.

In Asda a few months ago I watched a guy bend down and transfer something out of his basket into his rucksack and fiddle about for a bit. I went and reported him and, after he went through the checkouts and paid for a bottle of water, one security guard stopped him. Another security guard, who'd rewound CCTV footage in the aisle I'd reported thief was in, then appeared and asked what was in his bag. The guy said the bag was empty but they made him open it. He had 3 bottles of spirits with foil wrapped around the security devices on them. Security retrieved the alcohol and just told him never to come in the store again. They told me, from experience, it would take the police at least 3 hours to arrive and they probably wouldn't do anything with the thief anyway.

Recently a guy on the corner of my road was burgled. The police made an appointment to come to the house 3 days later and didn't turn up or even phone to say they wouldn't be coming. Disgraceful. When they did just turn up a few days later, without having made an appointment, another neighbour was able to give them photos from his CCTV footage with the thief and stolen goods. Police recognised him and then get the credit for solving that crime.

A resident in a nearby cul-de-sac saw somebody ringing doorbells and, when they weren't answered, trying the door handles. He decided to follow him to find his address and report it to the police. It was the burglar who'd been caught on the CCTV.

Ignoring break ins/burglaries is total stupidity.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-48066573

@TheClaifeCrier I couldn't agree more with your post.

The fact is that most people who work, even those who earn a reasonable amount of money take out far more from the state than they put in. But, as you say it's much easier to blame 'scroungers' if you ignore that fact.

Healthcare is very costly and most of us receive a lot of that which is free at the point of service. The cost of having a baby in SCBU is potentially upwards of £800,000 for example.

That one is easy. Most people don't pay enough in "the pot" to cover their education and health / social care, council services and anything else provided through taxation. You basically have to average as a higher rate tax payer your entire life to be a net contributer to the state. Most people are net beneficiaries, but that doesn't fit well with the "scroungers" rhetoric so it's not something that is widely discussed. I wish it was. Fed up of hearing arguments like this.

Yes, I can imagine you’re fed up with your views being challenged when you can only defend them so feebly.

All you’re saying is that governments have overspent. That’s it.

We have never had a society where people put an amount in equal to what they expect to get back. We’ve always had a tax system where some people put more in than others and some took out less than others. We’ve always received more tax from the wealthy and companies than ordinary individuals, that hasn’t always meant we’ve had to spend above our means. The economy is not a credit and debit bank account system. Most people taking out more than they put in doesn’t mean a deficit is inevitable and it doesn’t necessarily follow that means the government is obliged to spend every single penny it takes in tax, run up debts and leave nothing aside for the future. Other countries manage not to run a deficit even though most people take out more than they put in, Germany for example.

And no, the answer is not putting up taxes. Go and have a read about how successful that was for Francois Hollande.

That’s an incredibly weak response, when you’re being hugely arrogant, rude and patronising it’s generally advisable to have something a bit more robust than a few skim reads of ‘The Canary’ and a vague recollection of a Labour Party manifesto circa 1982 to go on. HTH.

*That’s an incredibly weak response, when you’re being hugely arrogant, rude and patronising it’s generally advisable to have something a bit more robust than a few skim reads of ‘The Canary’ and a vague recollection of a Labour Party manifesto circa 1982 to go on. HTH."

Not a labour voter, never heard of The Canary. I made no comment about government overspend. I was simply commenting on the idea that just because we pay money in doesn't mean that we should expect money to be there to pay for things in our old age. Because that's not how it works.

Not sure where I was rude, or arrogant, or patronising. You seem very angry. Maybe step away and get a cup of tea or something. It's lovely weather outside.

Yes the police numbers have been decimated, and no it does not need to be like this. I remember when the police used to routinely have a van in town to pick up the shoplifters as they were arrested and then transport them altogether to the station. Then if you were a shoplifter you had a real chance of being arrested.
You think professional shoplifters don't know they have little chance of being caught? And it makes life harder for the poorest people, as few want to open a pharmacy or shop in the most disadvantaged areas.

I was involved in an incident last year, was injured and reported it on 101. Took nearly a month for them to contact me, another month to take a statement, and action only got taken because I refused to let it drop and involved another authority. I got the distinct feeling that I was seen as a nuisance, but this event really shook me and made me physically unwell with the stress of it all.

The offender did eventually get taken to court, but got off on a technicality and the whole event has left me feeling shaken and scared that the Police just don't have the resources to deal with minor crimes anymore. It's terrifying.

My son had a laptop stolen from a major airport recently. The police saw the man do it on CCTV . They identified him and went round to his house . No answer. Went round another day and his wife answered. They spoke to him on the phone. He said he’s got it mowed up with his daughters nd couldn’t remember what he’d done with it. They didn’t take it further😒. They did this much work in the case because my son was on the phone to them virtually every day about it. He’s not well off and his laptop was a huge loss to him with a lot of very important stuff. The Police do nothing in this country.
We lived in a rural area for a while where teenagers went around smashing the windows of cars in the evening night after night. Always in the same area, the centre of town. Nothing was done. I know police cuts are to blame but what sort of country are we living in now?

And Governments can always find money for things they prioritise like the garden bridge in London, or the absolute fortune spent in negotiating and preparing for Brexit.

Mixed up not mowed. They only did this much work because my son never let up on chasing it up.