Don't like to moan about the police but this is starting to wind me up! Hardly crime of the year I admit but had our digger pinched from site on either wed or thu night. Reported it Friday first thing. I'm still waiting to be seen by an officer, even arranged for a home visit last night which they didn't attend, not even a phone call! All I want is a pissing crime number! Really is Pis poor!
Just do 45 in a 40mph zone, you'll have their full attention in no time...
On the digger?
Tell them you've apprehended the thief and are about to shoot them.
45 in a 360 machine would have been interesting. She was sitting on bridgestone rubber tracks tho 🙂
You really can't expect the police to prioritise this when they've got [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/if-a-policeman-stops-me-on-my-bike-without-justification ]Real[/url] criminals to deal with.
OP make a formal complaint.
Hora I've not really had a lot of dealings with the police before, odd bit of vandalism on my sites etc, but this is a big deal for our smallish company. 15g digger vanished and no way of claiming yet for a new one, don't even know if we're covered to hire in a machine due to no crime number. Is this the norm time fre or is it time to put the big boots on?
Give them a call and express your concern, explain that you loosing money because of this and you'd like it sorted ASAP. Be nice about saying you understand that they are busy but that you've patiently waited a week mention the missed appointment. Of course they're busy but a week is a long time really.
Not quite what Hora said, but it may be worth visiting your local station (the big one in town, not the little one in the village / suburb) and asking to speak to the duty inspector. Don't get fobbed off, just explain your issue to him and you should have it resorted within a veryshort time
Phone them and ask them for a crime number.
Yeah, I thought you could get crime numbers over the phone on the non-999 number? Or even online now?
On the plus side, cycling into work this morning I saw some blue lights turn on in an unmarked green saloon exiting a roundabout and just had time to clock the women in the car ahead of it still on her mobile 🙂
told them my car had been stolen, by a guy who was 6'1, had long black hair and i had his thumb print, no interest. told them someone had stolen my number plates, had scenes of crime trying to take fingerprints off the car in torrential rain within 20 mins. funny how dofferent things seem to take priority!
15g digger
It must take ages to dig anything with a payload of 15g, that's about 3 teaspoons isn't it?
Won't issue a crime number over the phone due to it being theft of a vehicle. In other words I've got to wait!!!
Yeah you can get a crime number over the phone, I've done it twice now, once for damage to my vehicle - can't see why theft of it would be any different?
Plus you don't need a crime number to speak to your insurance and ask whether rental is covered, then get one hired and then call up when you have the number to claim it back.
Now Meehaja we are in no place to comment no how some things take different priority, let's face it our dispatch priority can be pretty ****ed up.
I had my car window smashed by some kids, saw them do it but they ran off - rang the police and they said they would send someone over - car pulled up outside and I saw them put a note through the broken window, then drive off.
The note said - 'we called but you were out' - couldn't even be arsed to get out of the car... 😡
Wrightyson can I ask which force this is? Phone up the local station and ask to speak to the duty officer or duty sergeant and say you want to make a formal complaint. They will probably arrange for someone to attend immediately. Sometimes the police run out of resources very quickly if there has been a major incident for example. At the very least they should have called you to apologise and rearrange a suitable time to attend.
I'm not hugely keen on slagging the police off either but I've recently become very frustrated with them locally. (I say recently but this has been over a significant period of time actually)
My son got attacked in a local park by a gang so when he came home I phoned the police and asked if they could send someone round to put the shits up them (they were all apparently under 16), they said they'd see what they could do but we didn't get a phone call till the next day, the guy asked if we still wanted him to come round. I got a bit cross and asked him what good he thought that would be, waste of time now isn't it? He agreed. He'd been given the wrong information by the operator too, my son had been punched in the head a few times, he'd been told he'd just been pushed, bit of a difference.
So then recently, I was in ASDA and as I came out, two massive ASDA employees were sat on a skinny bloke and a small LCD telly was on the floor, presumably he'd grabbed it and tried to run. Let me make this clear, the guy had already been apprehended. As I left the car park, I counted 8. 8! police cars arriving.
So that's why no-one is available when a gang starts beating someone up.
TO be Samuri 1 would be for the guy on the floor, another for the TV, another to gather statements and rest would be buying croissants for the station.
Go down to the police HQ or nearest station and ask to speak to the senior officer and complain. You have a right to have them follow this up.
A crime has been committed!
How's the boy Jon?
had scenes of crime trying to take fingerprints off the car in torrential rain within 20 mins. funny how dofferent things seem to take priority!
To be there that quickly, they must surely have been in the area anyway. So maybe the reason they didn't come the other time was just because they were not in the area? Not saying that's right - just maybe suggesting the difference wasn't the type of crime but the random luck of the draw. But either way something isn't rght.
This attack was a long time ago, he was shaken up at the time but obviously he's fine now.
More recently one of his friends banged on the door telling me he was in trouble. Realising calling the police would be a waste of time I just charged round there, found my son surrounded by a fairly large group of children aged between about 12 and 17 and waded in, had a bit of a standoff with a few of them dragged him and his friend out of the melee and left without having to fight anyone, which was good. I didn't really fancy my chances with at least 5 16-17 year olds (although only 2 of them were being aggressive at the time) who were all bigger than me, all of whom were drunk and some of whom were probably tooled up.
Didn't bother reporting it.
The police really don't seem to care about stolen plant in my experience. Had an excavator stolen from one of my sites a few months ago, police weren't interested in coming out.
Luckily we were able to recover it from the tracker about 4 days later, stashed just over a mile from where it was stolen. It's fairly common for theives to leave plant for a week or two hidden away to see if anyone shows an interest in it (most of the excavators I get in have trackers fitted for this very purpose) before taking it away.
too true Drac, friends in the police get as frustrated as we do with unusual prioritising of jobs, I suppose an item stolen like this will be stolen to order and packed well away by now, and as an insured item will be covered (at loss to the owner). Its not right, but I always felt that was how it was viewed when my car went.
To reiterate Derbyshire police will not give a crime number over the phone due to theft of a vehicle! I have rang 3 times questioning this!! Insurers have been informed but want a crime number, which I suppose is only fair. We'll see what happens when pc no show gets back on duty at 3 this arvo!
The police in this country are effing useless. Full stop. Its only because most people don't have to deal with them that middle England has this hopelessly romanticised ideal about them.
As soon as you have to actually deal with them, you get to see how utterly disinterested they are. Last year I had the misfortune to do so, when a robbery cleaned out our office of all our macs (and my bloody bike). They cleaned out every office on the floor. So it was organised, and not a small crime. The perpetrators must have been there for hours loading gear into vans
So they've a crime scene, CCTV (or not, as it turned out), and the posibility of witnesses, fingerprints etc. And as it was so well planned, I doubt this was the first time they'd done it. Did they bother to turn up? What do you think? They sent someone by a few days later
And every time any politician mentions 'reform', they whine like babies. While of course demanding more laws/powers. To deal with what exactly
They have become a self-justifying law unto themselves and utterly unfit for purpose
..... and breathe
binners, you are basing your entire rant on one really poor experience of the police. Suggesting that the every police officer in the UK is useless is going a little bit overboard. I'm guessing you weren't in London on 7/7? Or perhaps you've not had first hand experience of the resources and commitment that go into a murder enquiry? Or experienced what it's like to have people throw beer bottles at you whilst trying to resuscitate someone who's been stabbed? Or perhaps you are right, they are all useless whinging idiots.
They would go up a whole lot in most people's estimation if they didn't cherry-pick which crimes to pay attention to.
How many people get the luxury of just choosing to do f-all about the bits of their job they don't like?
They would go up a whole lot in most people's estimation if politicians didn't cherry-pick which crimes to pay attention to
Fixed 🙂
Just to clarify - if it's a non-residential burglary then at the very least an officer should attend to take the report and request the attendence of a SOCO. The only reason this wouldn't happen is if all the units were busy dealing with other calls. If you have a finite number of resources you have to prioritise. Unfortunately a person being robbed in the street, or someones house being broken in to, or someone being assaulted would all take priority over a business premises being burgled. I think that where the police really fall down is not explaining to people why it may take some time to see them. Unless of course everyone wants to pay loads more tax, or be charged for certain services like the NHS. Certain forces are much worse than others.
I doubt they cherry pick which jobs to go to.
There probably aren't as many Police in your area as you imagine (or any area, for that matter) and if they are tied up on other jobs when yours comes in they can't go just drop it and run to your aid.
The Policing Pledge doesn't help matters as they now have to attend nonsensical requests for assitance in the name of customer service.
I think politicians should do more, not less. Having the tools of your trade, hence your livelihood, taken away is a very serious situation. I know several people that have had this happen to them - universally the police decline to do a single thing.
The real reason is that they are frightened to pursue those that they know to be to blame.
lets all pay more taxes for better services rather than just slag them all off all the time.
All services have to prioritse and lets be honest what can you say to help them catch them?
digger pinched from site on either wed or thu night and it is a 15g
Not really going to help any but they should give you a crime number that is rubbish
The real reason is that they are frightened to pursue those that they know to be to blame
WTF does the mean? The police know who commits all crimes but they are scared of them do you really believe this 😯
I note with interest that the west midlands police managed to muster 25 officers and the resources to mount dawn raids to arrest 5 potential (?) football hooligans, who might (or might not) have been planning to go o Africa
Hooray! Hight profile and we get on telly
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gqmvUOhkrIoLkwOhY0SISMaWEM8g
It means that I, and many many other people, suspect that the police are not prepared (for whatever reason) to take on the scum that routinely break into people's property and nick their stuff.
What a rational and reasoned debate this is. STW wins again ...
Police are almost useless. Good individual bobbies but badly managed at almost every level by senior coppers. It's as if the fuzz are trying to fight crime with one hand while the other is checking whats PC this week. It's time that the rozzers on the front line got to control policy in their own area. There are some peelers but how they stay motivated is lost on me.
Did you get that from the Mail? Any details- i shall call this evidence- of this actually happening ?
lets all pay more taxes for better services rather than just slag them all off all the time.
Or maybe we could listen to the people who actually do the job, who say its nothing to do with money, nothing to do with lack of powers, and all to do with piss poor management and lack of leadership and direction:
http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/about-ruralshire/
Junky, I'll take inspector gadgets evidence (and David Copperfields for that matter) as word of there being a problem over your neue arbeit tractor stats anytime!
I do the job, and I do it very well thanks, as do a few others on here. But I think most people would rather quote the daily mail as scripture, than listen to anyone that knows what they are talking about. Typical reactionary nonsense being spouted in debate about the police shocker!
Why do I have to provide details to you?
OK, I'll give you one example. A friend of mine had a hire van full of stuff nicked. The police were not able to do anything, so he went looking for it. This was not in his home patch, so he had to explore. He found a big traveller's site. The police point blank refused to go in there and have a look around. Not even look. As it happens the van was found dumped a day or so later - no effort was made to find out who had taken it.
Another mate had all his landscaping tools nicked - they eventually attended one week later, made no enquiries around the area, took no fingerprints or made the slightest effort to gather any kind of information or evidence.
Off the top of my head I can think of half a dozen other serious theft crimes where the police haven't attended (either promptly or at all), haven't made even a cursory effort to ask neighbors if they saw anything, haven't collected any evidence of any kind.
No doubt they have good reasons, no doubt I just don't get it.
And. I do [b]not[/b] read the Mail.
Or maybe we could listen to the people who actually do the job, who say its nothing to do with money, nothing to do with lack of powers, and all to do with piss poor management and lack of leadership and direction
maybe not turns out he's a gun nut.
http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/cumbria-massacre-time-to-arm-the-police/
Policeman defends poor service shocker!
But then a good police person would recognise that the service they provide is not what it could be.
@ Nonsense. I'm guessing you're involved in the police in some way, as i stated at the start I'm not into slating the police, but last night was a piss take. Sat around at home waiting without even a quick call is unproffesional and somewhat dis heartening. That machine is now long gone, and to make it worse, it was ours and not hired in, done very few hours and was well looked after. The ****er only had a full service 2 weeks ago!! And the other thing a quick glance at the many CCTV cameras on the roads round here would have easily spotted it! It's baby blue in colour for ****s sake!!!
it's things like [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/beware-the-east-london-fixie-freaks-long-dull-post-warning ]this thread[/url] that put off the piblic. seems like you can sort your own out but try getting them to come out to a burglary, robbery and the like and they are nowhere to be found....
Why do I have to provide details to you?
Because unevidenced assertions are meaningless?
The police point blank refused to go in there and have a look around
It may have been the lack of evidence that prevented them having a look You seem to have gone theft + travellers = guilty I am glad the Police did not reach this conclusion.
With the second example how exactly does their lack of effort [ which is poor clearly] equate to them being too scared to act as you originally claimed?
Nice stories but does not support your conlusion that they are too scared to act.
wrightyson - Member
@ Nonsense. I'm guessing you're involved in the police in some way
nothing gets past you eh
Nonsense - Member
I do the job, and I do it very well thanks
I dont fwiw.
wrightyson - I can sympathise fully. Both ourselves and a number of other businesses were cleared out in one night. That's small businesses losing tens of thousands of pounds worth of kit. Its peoples livlihoods!!
The police only took the remotest interest when the ****ers who did it came back and successfully did the same thing again 5 weeks later.
I may be being cynical and unfair to our beloved constabulary, but I don't think its a coincidence that a total lack of interest in trying to catch the culprits by the police, led to them coming back for a (successful) second pop. These people know full well that they can continue to get away with it
I do the job, and I do it very well thanks, as do a few others on here. But I think most people would rather quote the daily mail as scripture, than listen to anyone that knows what they are talking about. Typical reactionary nonsense being spouted in debate about the police shocker!
Maybe from some people but some people are talking from personal experience.
Why do I have to provide details to you?
'cos you're the one making the outlandish claim that the Government and the Cops are somehow the servants of shoplifters, twoccers and burglars!
A friend of mine had a hire van full of stuff nicked. The police were not able to do anything, so he went looking for it. This was not in his home patch, so he had to explore. He found a big traveller's site. The police point blank refused to go in there and have a look around.
An unreasonable cop? Or a cop that knows the law and doesn't want to go poking around other people's property and land and to piss people off without a reason? Your friend apparently didn't have any specific reason to think his van was there. "They're all at it, officer" does not constitute reasonable suspicion in law!
OK, maybe I went too far in asserting that they aren't interested in going after certain people.
If not that reason then which one? It is a fact that they don't chase things up - not even a cursory ask around to see if anyone saw anything, not even establishing if there is a pattern, if it might be someone they already know - nothing.
If I'm wrong in my reason (fair enough) then what is going on?
If you re-read my original post I agreed that the service you got was well below what it should have been. I also think the police can do a much better job.
What annoys me is the kind of stuff I have to deal with on a daily basis, some of it really really nasty, and I deal with it well. Then you come on a MOUNTAIN BIKING FORUM and there are loads of posts slagging off the ENTIRE police service because of one or two incidents. I guess it's too much to ask to expect a bit of perspective from an internet forum.
thomthumb - I was off duty on my way to work and someone damaged my car. What exactly are you suggesting I should have done? Ignored it then cruised the streets waiting for billy burglar at 1 in the afternoon on my own time? By the way I have personally been involved in putting away numerous robbers, burglars, car theives, sex offenders, murderers etc etc etc. But I'm sure that's irrelevant?
Derbyshire police are supposed to respond within 24 hours. Ask to speak to the duty Sarge.
I think I've had pretty much only positive experiences of the police (if you accept that they can't fix everything and are restricted by the CPS etc). That said, not turning up for days is very poor form. When I found someone had vandalised my car for the first time the police were round in about 2 hours but pointed out that without prints or pics they were fairly powerless, but appreciated my contacting them and they'd step up patrols (which they did). On second occurence I flagged a passing (and it turns out, off-duty) police car, who took photos and called out an on-duty team within 10 mins, who followed up TWICE in the following week just to let me know what's going on. I have absolutely no problems with them at all.
Previous to this the police had caught someone who had been witnessed trying to break into my car (another city), but the CPS threw it out because their lawyer claimed that the person witnessing had lost sight of the criminal (for seconds as they moved from window to door) and as such the person they saw walking away from the car could have been someone completely unrelated to the identically dressed person with the same dog seen seconds earlier with a screwdriver in my lock. The police were furious and vowed to catch him another way, which they did about 8 months later.
Just for balance.
Can I just re-iterate my original point, where I was actually trying to help the OP. Call your nearest police station or the switch board and ask to speak to the duty officer or duty sgt for your area and explain the situation and that you feel you have had substandard service. They can and will make sure it gets sorted.
It is a fact that they don't chase things up - not even a cursory ask around to see if anyone saw anything, not even establishing if there is a pattern, if it might be someone they already know - nothing.
That is true, glenp, but I suspect that is a resource issue rather than disinterest. We have plods plodding the beat - apparently this makes us all feel safe but does not help us apprehend criminals or deal with crime scenes.
I understand there is a resource issue - but I can't fathom their priorities. Like I said earlier, plenty of people are being left with no way to make a living - that's a very serious crime in my book, but not in theirs it seems.
plods plodding the beat - apparently this makes us all feel safe but does not help us apprehend criminals or deal with crime scenes.
So, you think its more important for police to react to crime than prevent it in the first place? Its all in the basic principles, number nine in fact:
[i]The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.[/i]
thomthumb - I was off duty on my way to work and someone damaged my car. What exactly are you suggesting I should have done? Ignored it then cruised the streets waiting for billy burglar at 1 in the afternoon on my own time? By the way I have personally been involved in putting away numerous robbers, burglars, car theives, sex offenders, murderers etc etc etc. But I'm sure that's irrelevant?
entirely irrelevant. and thank you.
i don't think i ever suggested that you shouldn't have chased it up. i was trying to get across the exasperation when it seems like that you look after your own, whilst the public struggle with your systems.
in mine and others dealing with the police, it is always neccessary to have a word with someone, who knows someone on the force, so that they can have a word with the investigating officer so, and a i quote, 'it gets looked into properly'
I realise that it is a difficult job but you seem to be missing the point that peoples perception is real. it doesn't matter what the reality is it's what they
believe that's important. as a parallel immigrants do NOT take british jobs, however many of the electorate believe immigration is a big issue, so the politicians have to be seen to be dealing with it. You are after all public servants.
I'm not missing the point at all. Which is why I suggested that the police should become better at managing peoples expectations, in addition to working harder to meet peoples needs. As you rightly point out, this is an issue in all areas of public service.
The reason I reacted to your post in the way I did, is because you were clearly suggesting that I wouldn't have dealt with it in the same way if I was dealing with a member of the public. Which is wildy innacurate and personally insulting. I take great pride in the work I do and the help I have provided to many people on innumerable occassions. That's why I get a little wound up when you were referring to me as an individual and suggesting I was part of a corrupt system.
Glenp - police priorities are governed almost entirely by the Home Office and central Government. Although the shift back to a focus on neighbourhood style policing is an effort by senior officers to redress this.
Thanks nonesense, I'll get on with that course of action if I don't hear anything from anyone later. Oh and junkyard I type slow as I'm busy levelling shit out with a shovel rather than my digger, so nonesense's post wasn't up when I started! I always love the mocking element on this forum, it must make people feel better about their otherwise pointless lives! 🙂
Good luck Wrightyson. If I see a blue digger on my travels I'll be sure to check it out 😉
To the original poster. The best advice has already been said - go to the Police office and ask to speak to the duty sergeant or inspector explaining the situation that you are very disappointed in the service you haven't received. No need to go in aggressively and put their backs up ( cause its likely they had little to do with the original call and its lack of action ), but it should get things kicked off in the right direction.
There is no doubt that there are less Police resources on the street than what general members of the public would expect there to be ( which is seperate from the actual number of resources needed to deal with actual calls - expectation v reality )
As such, and its something I say to most folk, the reality is that its sometimes the case that he who shouts the loudest gets the attention. It may not seem like that should be the case, but it is.
if you accept that they can't fix everything and are restricted by the CPS etc)...the CPS threw it out because their lawyer claimed that the person witnessing had lost sight of the criminal (for seconds as they moved from window to door) and as such the person they saw walking away from the car could have been someone completely unrelated
It's easy to bash the CPS but they're also doing triage - no point in putting a ton of resources into preparing for trial of one vandalism case if you're going to risk it all over a witness statement that might or might not stand up in front of magistrate/jury, if it means you have to sacrifice prosecuting more serious crime or a number of other crimes of equal seriousness.
I'm not saying you/the witness were wrong - I'm just suggesting that (like the cops decisions discussed elsewhere) it's (sometimes) more about putting resources where they're going to have the greatest impact. And these are phrases we can expect to hear more often in the coming years - spending money on cops wins votes in good years but no-one cares about the CPS, and the Sun doesn't care when lawyers/social workers/hospital cleaners etc get fired in the bad years...
FWIW I've had reasonably good experiences from South Wales Police. They came out within the hour when someone broke into my garage, and even pre-emptively nicked some dodgy kids in the area on suspicion (it was 3am) which I thought was a little TOO keen in fact.
I've had four personal dealings with the police.
The first was when I was attacked and unsuccessfully mugged in Nottingham, and they were okay, a bit slow to turn up, but to be fair, by the time I called them, I was inside someone's house and safe, although they would have had a much better chance of catching the buggers if they'd been quicker.
The second was when I was mugged in a dodgy area of London, and ran to a phone box and hid, called 999, took them half an hour to turn up, and then they left me in the middle of the dodgy area of London with no way of getting home until the first tube. Nice one.
The last time was when one of them threatened to arrest me under anti-terrorist laws, for doing high-line walking on a railing. They said that "Kids could see you doing that". The buggers refused to give me their numbers either (in typical London police style, they didn't have visible numbers on - and it wasn't even a protest day*). In the end I did get an official letter from the Met saying that they were very sorry, the officers in question were yokels hired in from Essex, and that they had been told off.
Oh, I've also had the flashing blue lights turn up to stop us playing frisbee in an empty car park on a Sunday.
So in summary, the police are mainly okay, but perhaps if they could lower the priority of rogue frisbee players and tightrope walkers, and up the priority of people being chased through dodgy parts of Wembley / Nottingham by gangs of thugs, I would have had a better overall experience of them.
Joe
*when there are protests on, the police at the protest typically remove/hide their numbers so they can't be charged with brutality - bastards.
So, you think its more important for police to react to crime than prevent it in the first place? Its all in the basic principles, number nine in fact:
Well I think we all think it is best that they catch criminals/reduce crime and we are just discussing the best method of doing this. We all realis ethat catching criminals reduces crime surely and proving sbeat bobby reduces crime would be problomatic to say the least
Foot patrols are classic security theatre. Criminals, even the least bright, are generally smart enough to check both ways before committing a crime. This is a well-known dichotomy for police: the more they do to reassure, the less effective they are at preventing crime. The more they do to prevent and solve crime, the less reassurance (because visibility drops).
I don't have a source 'cos I'm remembering this from some guy down the pub (or whatever), but I sort of remember hearing that high-visibility stuff does work on reducing crime to some extent as well as fooling the public that something is being done precisely because criminals are members of the public too i.e. when they didn't see Plod walking around, they didn't think police were around and felt emboldened.
There's probably also a difference between the effect visibility has on junkies burgling houses and the effect it has on Madog-drinking teenagers setting fire to wheely bins, for that matter.
*when there are protests on, the police at the protest typically remove/hide their numbers so they can't be charged with brutality - bastards.
Tangentially, I had a prang on a bike once and a cop showed up and was remarkably helpful and left me thinking "see, there are some good cops". A couple of days later, 2 (uniformed) cops spent all afternoon walking 8 feet behind a (vague) acquaintance of mine (who had been involved in some Reclaim The Streets type stuff in the past) while he did some shopping. One of them was the same cop!
Which is wildy innacurate and personally insulting.
apologies, i meant you as in the police, not you personally.
My daughters mate got something slipped into her drink at a local nightclub, and then over the next few days started having recall of a gang slipping into her. On reporting it to the Police the response was along the lines of this happpens all the time, followed by we haven't got the resources to deal with it.... So precisely what else did they have to deal with that was so much more urgent than this I wonder?
sanctimonious asshat - that is perhaps the greatest username this forum has seen
i salute you
yes I though that and a few of us should have it to be fair
Your mileage will vary depending on who you deal with in the service. The best officers are great and go beyond the call of duty. They see everyone at their worst and put up with a lot of rubbish.
But there is incompetence - my mate's bike was stolen right in front of the security camera at Tesco. The security guard confirmed that the theft was recorded and the thief's face was fully in view. But the police cant read the format from the Tesco system and have lost interest
Note to all thieves: Tesco security cameras don't work, so you'll get away with it.
Nonsense,
Why on earth get involved in a thread like this? You seem experienced enough to me to know that trying to placate a mainly anonymous public forum populated with an inordinate number of immoderate EDIT (I do not include the OP in this) giving it the big-uns is an exercise in futility. Do that at work when you're getting paid for it mate.
Take it steady.
I originally got involved to try and help the OP. I shouldn't have got anymore involved, but I've just come off nights and my brain has been scrambled.
I've had a few encounters with them
1) Someone emptied my bank account. They did F-all. I did the work myself and found the guy's address and phone number, not difficult. Gave them that and they still did sod all.
2) Had a break-in. They turned up 4 days later and said 'it's too late to get any prints now.'
3)Got knocked off my bike by a fish and chip van, hardly a common vehicle. Again done sod all.
4)Arrested my friend for a non-arrestable offence. Made up something about him refusing to give his details.
Took them two days to send me a notice of intended prosecution for jumping a red light though.