Lawless towns

[worlybear]

WTF is happening in our towns?
I live in a small seaside town in the S.E. of England.
Over the last 2 years the police presence has diminished to practically nil.
From 6 pm in the evening it is unwise and unsafe to walk through the town centre or along the harbour due to a burgeoning and aggressive underclass of "homeless " people/drunks.
They pester for money and are very intimidating.
One person I know when approached said "sorry I've no money on me"-so the guy offered to walk him to a cash point!
Unbelievable!
Every night and I mean EVERY night the drunken brawls screaming and fighting carries on through drinking time until the early hours of the morning.
It's not safe to be out.
People are bedded down in shop fronts, both vacant and in business .
The police seem to shrug their shoulders and turn away ,probably because they have no resources or stomach to keep addressing these issues.
I understand that there is a local,homeless shelter but some people prefer to beg.
I'm sick to death of it and want to see some action to prevent this significant minority of morons from terrorising the town.
Personally I think that an active police presence with permission to use tasers would improve the quality of life for many law-abiding people.
AIBU?

A lot of your poster seems to be about the number homeless people and you think you can improve this by increasing the of police and giving them tasers. I think you need to look deeper at the root causes of the problems.

I don't think tasering homeless people will reduce the number of homeless people. It will probably increase your local A&E waiting times though.

You are looking at this problem from the wrong angle.

Why are there suddenly more homeless people?

My local city centre is the same.

Ok so using a taser is a step too far but surely the police could be more proactive?
Also over Christmas locals were warned not to give any money to the beggars as they had been offered accommodation and were begging for drug/drink money.
It would be nice to not feel threatened when walking through town although tbh it's become a no go zone for me.

Not enough housing, not enough social support, not enough police. Not enough. Not enough. Not enough.

Everything's cut to the bone, and it's showing now.

God knows I'd drink if I were on the streets over Christmas.

Milk of human kindness right here. If I was homeless, I’d probably try and drink away my issues as well. As others have said, maybe getting to the root of the problems is the solution, rather than trying to hide those who have fallen on hard times or have addiction or severe mental health problems away.

Homelessness isn't a police issue to solve. It's social care, housing, substance use and health services that need increased funding to support these vulnerable individuals.

It should all get better now we have another conservative government.

Sounds like Bexhill-on-sea

I know OP

In your town, what’s the cause of the increase?

Round my way, the church opens on cold nights. I do some co ordination re blankets and making hot drinks.

However, when I walk to the church from my home, I pass homeless guys (usually) who ask for money. I literally say, I’m heading to the shelter, there’s room for you.

They say no for a range of reasons. While I would rather drink my life away in that situation, I do feel I cant offer more.

We also have a group of guys who sleep in full view of the church as I think it makes them feel a bit safer, but they won’t come in.

Agree with pp, this is not a police issue.

This why you should think hard when you vote.

@worlybear "due to a burgeoning and aggressive underclass of "homeless " people"

You do realise that most people are only 2 paychecks away from homelessness?
Or that woman and children fleeing domestic violence (and sometimes worse) who are living in a woman's aid refuge are technically homeless?

You probably don't care about these facts though, because it doesn't suit your abhorrent rhetoric! They're all underclass to you.

I'm not even getting into the rest of your nonsense, because police using teasers on vulnerable people is not the way the world should work!

You are a vile creature! And you are being VERY unreasonable!

How do you think police can solve a social problem like homelessness? All they can do , really , is move them onand make them someone else’s problem . If they arrest for vagrancy offences ( and just laying in a doorway isn’t one ) then there wouldn’t be any custody space for anything else . Quite apart from the fact that arresting anyone these days is done less and less as the Home Office has decreed . This is a SOCIAL issue. More hostels , more accommodation. More access to healthcare , detox programmes , mental health spaces . Not tasering them till they fuck off .

It’s a bit ghastly everyone having a go at op. She is not being unreasonable to want to feel safe in her home town. What she is describing is ongoing public criminal behaviour that is not being addressed. I totally agree op that the police should be doing something.

We might only all be two paycheques away from homelessness but that’s totally irrelevant and doesn’t excuse public drunkenness and criminal behavior.

"Vulnerable " people who threaten and scream at passersby?
FYI I have been technically homeless so please don't project your uninformed ideology at me.
You know nothing about me or my life and circumstances.
I do think that people should be able to go into their local towns without being intimidated.
If that offends you so be it.

I think referring to them as the "underclass" and advocating for the use of teasers on them is abhorrent! You have absolutely no idea what these people have been through in their lives! Alcoholism is an illness, not a lifestyle choice!

*tasers

Yeah OP, have the police taser the homeless, that will help the situation maybe engage your brain a bit

There is an increase in homeless people because there is a reduction in services that support people who are close to or have lost their home.

The police cannot police it because there has been a reduction in funds for police and because they have no where to put the homeless people because of my first point.

Many homeless people opt not to use shelters because despite the hard work of the volunteers and saints who run these services, the lack of mental health and drug rehabilitation services mean that the shelters are not always safe. Some people feel safer in shop doors where they are in contestant sight of other people and have the opportunity to move if things seem unsafe.

My username explains my political stance. Anyone who voted conservative did so on the full and clear understanding that the Tories give not a single fig for poor people and have cut every public service to the bone.

We have at least 5 more years of this, so get used to being home by dark if your town at night scares you.

This is the direct, up-close result of a Tory government for the last few years. It will get worse.

Anyone who voted conservative did so on the full and clear understanding that the Tories give not a single fig for poor people and have cut every public service to the bone

I agree. Given the Tory party's policies over recent years, and their clear intentions going forward, I think anyone who votes Tory has a swinging rock for a heart.

It's shorthand for not giving a shit about the poor and vulnerable. I've previously thought a Tory vote could possibly be more nuanced than that. Now? Swinging rock.

Blimey. I go on about inequality and the need for public services to everyone I know too, and the effect of these, in a supposedly rich country, will obviously be to make the unlucky resentful. But let's not forget that unprovoked violence and intimidation on someone who is just passing is unprovoked violence, whatever the reason / excuse. You can guarantee women will get more verbal abuse than men too, and are more affected by intimidation tactics. "Vile creature" is uncalled for, imo.

I've found a great pdf online... The police foundation/Amnesty's concerns regarding tasers...

YABU to describe anybody as the underclass.