Though I stayed in the USA for a while (9 yrs), I live back in the UK now. We had problems on my street with the local druggies breaking in and trashing peoples properties. Not just taking money and valuables, but trashing the property bad, out of spite. It happened to us while we were on our own property about 2:00 am. I called the police, and mentioned the fact that if I still lived in the USA I could shoot these bastards and get the problem fixed, but since Britain banned gun ownership almost completely, I have been assured the police can look after people here now.
Needless to say, the cop on the other end of the line said it wasn't the police who took our guns away it was Tony Blair and the Labour government. The cops turned up about half an hour later but the burglar had hopped it, probably he didn't like the tone of my voice as I shouted down the telephone at the police. The police call recorded message would have certainly landed my butt in jail if I had harmed him in any way. I did make a lot of noise about the problem though, and got plenty of evidence of where the cops should look for the problem guys. A team of cops came down from Glasgow and about twenty problem guys got chucked in jail soon after. That was about four years ago, no problems since. Some of my neighbours went a bit wimpy when I decided to go after the druggy criminals, but now my neighbours realize if the are strong in dealing with a criminal problems, the problem guys go elsewhere for easier pickings. A lesson well learned.
It took a focused involved effort on the citizens part to get attention from the police with appropriate action though. The same thing needs to happen with the shooting of innocents by the police in London. They police are a bit thick and need plenty of mental pounding to receive the message and action appropriately. Lestrade does exist, in many forms amongst the UK police force. I ain't no Sherlock Holmes, but even a numpty like me can help solve some of the frequent crimes that happen today. Just like that USA TV show most criminals make really dumb mistakes and can be easily tracked down with a little effort and imagination.
In many cases, especially in the poorer areas, people give up on getting crimes solved. They just have no hope that justice will be done. A sad reflection. |
