My car was broken into last night. The alarm started blaring and I hurried out in time to see a group of morons driving off without their car lights on. They had destroyed the lock on the passenger side and got the door open, but did not have time to do anything more as the car is parked outside my home and I am very wary when the alarm goes off.

So I phoned the police and made a report. Was told someone would be out to see me.

A hour and a half later still no-one had arrived - not that I was bothered as I know there is probably little that they can do other than file a report. I would sooner they were out catching criminals than having to fill out paperwork.

So I received a phone call from them and the femlae appologised profusely for the delay, saying they were very busy and such. It was one of the most pleasant conversations I have ever had concerning the police. It may not be that this caught those responsible or speeded up a visit by the police to my home, but it made me feel better because it actually sounded as if they cared.

Not just another crime number but actually caring. Amazing. Thankyou South Yorkshire Police.

By the way - nothing was taken, and aside from the lock and a scratch in the paintwork no damage done.

Dragon

they do do us justice sometimes.
an old pal had his car done on our front one night, when we checked the car the culprit had cut himself when removing the stuff from the boot.
SOCO came took f/prints & blood samples, low & behold 34 weeks later one nicked crook. well done police men.

sloppy liberal magistrates let 'em off paying £1 per week, which they never received.

In a way, it's a sad indictment that we're somehow happy simply because the woman on the phone was friendly.

20 years ago, someone would have come round to your house to fingerprint the car and try to match it to other crimes.

Not much chance of that these days. The police don't even bother to come out unless someone is hurt.

yeah, we shouldnt have to be happy about people doing what they should do anyway! lol.. but most people are incompitant nowadays so you feel a great relief when someone is nice or something goes right.

:rolleyes: funny world

Originally posted by willman
sloppy liberal magistrates let 'em off paying £1 per week, which they never received.

It makes you sick doesn't when all that police work and effort by countless people to get a conviction is in effect undermined by this kind of judgement! I hear the police as much bemused by this kind of thing as we are!

Just to conclude the saga - bright and early this morning a police car pulled up and a pc came to visit. He was friendly and helpful - even though I knew they could not do much.

He even phoned me back with a crime report number ten minutes later and told me they had checked out the information I had given them - which was pretty sketchy - to no avail.

Makes me feel good about them for a while - the police that is.

Dragon

Just how many car break-in's a week happen in Sheffield ?

And how many houses get robbed a week ?

Originally posted by poppins
Just how many car break-in's a week happen in Sheffield ?

And how many houses get robbed a week ?


Well above the English average apparently.

General crime figures for Sheffield (http://www.upmystreet.com/local/police-crime/figures/l/Sheffield-4610.html)

Click below for 100 years of recorded crime. (Use this as evidence for your crime related assertions.)

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/100years.xls

Where's t020? He's usually around when crime figures are about.. :rolleyes:

Especially when it's those of the Manor..

Originally posted by spartacus
Well above the English average apparently.

General crime figures for Sheffield (http://www.upmystreet.com/local/police-crime/figures/l/Sheffield-4610.html)

Compare the results of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London to Sheffield and you will find that Sheffield comes out quite well for a big city. You would expect crime figures in cities to be higher anyway but I reckon Sheffield is one of the safest.

Yes, Ally. I do believe that you're right about Sheffield being one of the safer cities. However, we who live here should not be complacent as violence and disorder is on the increase here as it is everywhere else. The statistics bear that out. Sadly, today there are areas of Sheffield where I would not feel safe to walk alone or with a companion, even in daylight hours - and I'm no mug. Back in the sixties and seventies, I would not have believed that I would ever say that, but city societies have changed.

Firth Park mugging (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/4188184.stm)

The difference between then and now is in the levels of violence that people are prepared to inflict, the growth of American-style street gangs, and the leniency of the courts towards violent offenders. It ain't one-to-one no more and proving who threw the fatal punch or stuck the blade in when there were ten or twelve scuffling at the scene is difficult for the police.

Comparing statistics might identify Britain's safest cities but it's like comparing Baghdad with Tikrit or Kabul with Kandahar. Are any of them safe? And why do we, as a society, put up with it if they are not?

Perhaps that is the key to the problem. Are we city dwellers a society today? Or are we simply a bunch of individuals with no sense of belonging to a community who are forced by circumstance to live in close proximity to each other - like battery chickens pecking each other's eyes out.

Originally posted by serapis
It makes you sick doesn't when all that police work and effort by countless people to get a conviction is in effect undermined by this kind of judgement! I hear the police as much bemused by this kind of thing as we are!

Yes indeed. My car was broken into and TWOCed a few weeks ago, but they caught the culprits (at least, 2 of them) red handed. After fingerprinting, statements, investigation and charges being pressed, they decided it was aggravated TWOC (i.e. taking the car, dangerous driving, and damage to property - a wall!) and they sentenced him to ... a verbal caution.

The investigating officer, who was the one who had to chase the guy at 80mph up Deerlands Avenue and toward Shire Green, through red lights and stop signs, phoned me this morning to apologise for the sentence, but explained that he had done as much as he could. I appreciate the honesty and the communication, especially as the guy took the time to come to my office to get a statement just to make sure that they could press charges ASAP, and it really annoys me that hard work 'on the ground' is thrown away by the higher-ups on a whim.

It's no wonder the police sometimes can't see the point investigating; what does it get them except more work to be thrown away?

I too think it's very disappointing (not sure that's the word I am really looking for) when the police on the ground do a lot of hard and often dirty and dangerous work, and what for at the end of it all? Silly sentencing.

I was the victim of an assault only a few months ago, on my own doorstep! Phoned the police and someone was with me really quickly. The person I spoke to on the phone was brilliant, reassuring etc.

At the end of the day though, I didn't get a really good look at the person, I didn't see very much, and apart from having a black-eye and bruised cheeck bone, nothing was stolen. I think I was really lucky because I was able to slam the door shut in this persons face, don't even want to think what would have happened otherwise. But as the police said, they don't have much to go on, I don't expect them to catch this person unless he does the same thing again and gets caught red-handed. But I still really appreciate the fact that they were here quickly.

Originally posted by mojoworking
In a way, it's a sad indictment that we're somehow happy simply because the woman on the phone was friendly.

20 years ago, someone would have come round to your house to fingerprint the car and try to match it to other crimes.

Not much chance of that these days. The police don't even bother to come out unless someone is hurt.

Sadly this is a reflection of the rise in what police term 'Volume crime' (i.e. burglaries, car break-ins etc.). There simply aren't enough SOCOs or enough hours in the day for them to go out to every case. They have to assess each situation and determine the likelihood of actually obtaining enough evidence at the scene to identify and/or convict an offender.

my beef is that the civvie staff (phone operators, receptionists etc) are often friendly and helpful in my business and personal dealings with them actual police officers are often arrogant, rude, unhelpful and generally couldn't care less.

I suppose if you've been given stick for a long shift your humour tends to go but still.....

A few months ago I saw some kids removing the ariel from my car. I opened my window to tell them to leave it alone only for one of them to smash the farside passanger window. I got dressed and gave chase. As the culprits were now well away I made my way to the Manor. Near to the bridge that crosses the Parkway I asked a young lad and lass if they had seen them to which the guy pointed me off towards the Parkway Markets. Ignoring what he had said I decided to continue with my original assumption and continue towards my original destination. I was not surprised when I again saw them near the Manor Park however they were very surprised when they saw me. By this time I was very tired so didn't give chase again when they split and ran off.

On my way back home however, I was stopped by a couple of police officers who were more bothered asking me questions about who I was than driving back up the street and catching them.

Spot on!