To think this is unbelievably shit from the police?

[TheLostDiadem]

Six weeks ago my elderly mum had her house burgled while she was asleep upstairs. Not a lot of valuable things were taken as she doesn’t really have much but my (deceased) dad’s medals were taken, her laptop, a box of jewellery belonging to my grandma was taken and her cat was found downstairs with a broken rib where we assume he was kicked (but obviously can’t be certain it was the burglar).

She phoned the local police number and was told to report it online. I came round to do it and help her tidy up and make sure she was ok etc. 48hrs later and still heard nothing from the police so I called them to be told they were incredibly busy and responses can take up to a week. Finally, 8 days after being robbed my mum gets an answer phone message from the police saying they’ve received her report and given her a crime reference number so she can claim on insurance. If she has any further queries she can email them and they’ll get back to her. No enquiry, not welfare check, nothing. Just a crime reference number over a week later.

I live with my dc in the same town. In the garden of my house is an outhouse that is currently being renovated so that when my dm becomes less independent she can live there. It’s nearly finished and has been separated off from my house and has a separate entrance and drive. The electricity had finally been connected last week so last night I decided to do a sleep over there with dc, just for something to do. At 12.15 I was woken up by police hammering on the door. They immediately asked me my address and what I was doing there. I said I lived next door, was sleeping over with dc, had something happened, was dm ok as I assumed something bad had happened. They wouldn’t tell me anything just asked for proof of address. I said it was all next door and they demanded I go and get it. I wasn’t happy leaving dc alone with the police so had to wake them up and drag them over and back again while I got my driving license. It was only then that I realised they thought that I was breaking lockdown rules (very touristy area). I gave them driving license and got a lecture on how we weren’t supposed to leave home unless absolutely necessary, fancying a sleep over wasn’t necessary and I wasn’t to do it again. I asked if it was any different to camping in the garden and was that allowed, what possible harm am I doing sleeping in what is basically a garage and was asked “are you sure you want to do this? You have your children with you and I’m sure you don’t want a scene”. I found this genuinely quite frightening as it was two big, male police officers and I was alone with two young dc. They then left after telling me to make sure I stay at home from now on and that they wouldn’t take further action this time.

TLDR - my mum was burgled and police responded a week later with a crime reference number and nothing else

I slept in the converted garage in the garden with 2dc and was woken in the night by 2 police men to be lectured firmly about lockdown rules.

If I’m not being unreasonable do you think a complaint would be warranted? I’m one of those people who have never really had any dealings with the police and sort of assumed they’d be on my side. Really shocked at what I’ve experienced the 2 times I’ve actually dealt with them though.

It’s all gone to shit hasn’t it?
How do they have time to visit you but claim to have ‘no resources’ when an actual crime has taken place? I don’t understand.
Their priorities are wrong and YANBU!

There’s no wall up as yet, it’s just an open drive so I guess people saw the lights on, decided I was a grockle and got straight onto the police.
Yes, they are more interested in catching people out breaking Covid rules. It’s just wrong.
(Don’t call people ‘Grockles’ though OP. That’s just horrible.)

I have absolutely zero faith in the police. I’ve already told my kids they can’t be relied upon in an emergency and to try and think about how not to get themselves in tricky situations.

I know it’s a bit like victim blaming, but what else can we do when the police won’t investigate burglary or be relied upon when being assaulted.

I once had the police bang on my door at 11pm because my car was untaxed. Fortunately, I was asleep and DH answered the door. DH pointed out that the car was parked on out allocated parking spaces which were part of our property and the car had been declared as SORN.

We’ve lived in several countries, some developing, most not. All have increasingly heavy handed local police responses to bullshit. Gang war? Sitting it out. Cat kidnap? Send in SWAT. DH made an astute observation recently (I thought!), police have become more and more militarised and seem to think they’re soldiers rather than law enforcement. The whole fucking lot need to give their heads a wobble.

Suburban Chester is not fucking Fallujah mate. Calm your tits

Yadnbu.
Our car got vandalised in December.
Reported online.
Insurance will not pay out without the crime report and 3 months later the police have still not sent it to our insurance.
They've now asked twice and we are waiting to be paid.
I'm thinking of contacting my mp now.

In general I wouldn't rely on the police to assist me with anything - remember they are just ordinary people who have attended a course and wear a uniform. There is always the possibility in a situation like that ie 1 adult and children that they might decide to use their "powers of protection" and take the children to a place of safety. That implied threat alone is enough to make you toe the line...

I think you need to look at it another way. The odds of them being able to catch the people who burgled your mothers are low to non existent.

The odds of them being able to catch someone committing a crime when someone reports it are way way higher.

Do I agree with it, no, not remotely. But that’s likely how they are thinking, what’s the best use of resources to actually catch someone.

YANBU at all. I'd definitely complain.

I'm appalled, although not surprised, that the police did nothing other than supply a crime reference one week later. I hope that your DM is okay It's distressing being burgled and the feeling of vulnerability can be long lasting.

Complain, we need to complain when the police are crap.

My experience, someone trying to break my door down shouting that they were 'going to fucking twat you' - police call back the following morning

Driving home setting off early from my dad's, pulled over, told they could smell alcohol on me and had I been drinking 'today' - nope it's 5.30 AM, I didn't get up and have a glass of wine.

So they called for backup who had the breathalyser, they arrived in riot gear and then a third car stopped. So 5 police to breathalise a 5ft nothing disabled woman. The reading was zero, the two in the riot gear seemed pissed of with the one who stopped me, he was really pissed off with me for not being drunk.

I have a few other incidents including being arrested because someone said I sent two emails on a particular laptop, I was in South America, the lap top was initially in the USA and then Australia at the time the emails were sent, apparently I was a 'credible suspect' so I couldn't get my DNA of the database for 5 years.

That's a crap response from the police but I'm surprised you don't seem bothered by the curtain twitching neighbours who must have reported you.

@HeathIns

It’s all gone to shit hasn’t it? How do they have time to visit you but claim to have ‘no resources’ when an actual crime has taken place? I don’t understand. Their priorities are wrong and YANBU!

There’s no wall up as yet, it’s just an open drive so I guess people saw the lights on, decided I was a grockle and got straight onto the police.
Yes, they are more interested in catching people out breaking Covid rules. It’s just wrong.
(Don’t call people ‘Grockles’ though OP. That’s just horrible.)

Grockle means ‘holiday maker’. It’s used in loads of different parts of the UK. Where I lived there was no derogatory attachment to it at all, just a word like ‘tourist’.

Those two women were not "just out walking". There was considerable backlash in their local area about what they did. They drove several miles to walk in a beauty spot in a small village that they don't live in. .

Which they were perfectly entitled to do, and that's why the fines were withdrawn.

I think the take away from this is, if you wake up in the night and hear burglars, phone the police and tell them you're having an illegal rave

This. This.this.

Our area has a high crime rate and not enough police to attend a lot of crimes
They have enough police to walk about supermarkets handing out covid fines though

They are honestly idiots. Won’t investigate a burglary but carry out a midnight raid on an innocent family doing what anyone sensible would do. My respect for the police dwindles day by day.

(Don’t call people ‘Grockles’ though OP. That’s just horrible.)
Yes Emmet is so much nicer.

I’m Irish, becoming a Garda (Police officer) is no fucking joke. You have to have a heap of recommendations from teachers, local councillors, parish priest, TD(MP) if you’re lucky. Then - if you got through interviews - you’d have to do a 3 year BA in Applied Policing in their own college in Templemore.

And yet, they’re still a bunch of power drunk dickheads

op take a look at you tube alex belfield..have a quick look on his video about policing in lockdown .Only lasts about 5 mins well worth a watch.

means ‘holiday maker’. It’s used in loads of different parts of the UK. Where I lived there was no derogatory attachment to it at all, just a word like ‘tourist’.

I think some people have tried to redefine the word and make it a ‘term of endearment’ but in my experience it is never said in a nice way, always derogatory.

Grockle isn’t derogatory, certainly not where I live anyway. It’s just another word for tourist or holiday maker. Is tourist a derogatory word now too?

If all the police do is dish out crime numbers for burglary doesn't that rather encourage people to make dodgy insurance claims? You don't get a visit so have to prove nothing? 🤔

[quote Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]@islockdownoveryet don't judge me by your own standards[/quote]
To be fair I judged you on what you passed comment .
I mean if you explain further why you think the op is in the wrong . But you can’t because you probably didn’t read it properly so I can only assume you are one of those people that like to jump to the wrong conclusion without actually taking a second.

I shared a flat with someone from Cornwall for 2 years. I never heard her use the word grockle in a non-derogatory way, it was always an insult.

The reading was zero, the two in the riot gear seemed pissed of with the one who stopped me, he was really pissed off with me for not being drunk.

I can believe this!
I was stopped late at night (routine pre-Christmas drink driver roadblock) and breathalysed. Where had I been? The pub. They seemed almost annoyed when I said that I didn’t drink. Ever.

I usually defend the police but some of the stories here are worrying. You think they’ll be there for you. It’s frightening to think maybe they won’t be.

People policing the term grockle on a thread about heavy handed policing is peak Mumsnet