Lack of police presence

They are no longer a police force, they are a police service which suggests a changed outlook caused by political correctness.

If you ever watch any of the British police programmes, mostly traffic orientated ones, when they sum up the punishments given it’s laughable. Even when the evidence is filmed and irrefutable the criminals get off with almost no punishment.

The police must feel that there is very little point in putting their lives at risk when there is very little support from the judiciary.

You only have to look at Katy Price’s long list of traffic offences and substantial lack of meaningful punishments to see how things are.

Pay less tax, get poorer services. Prioritize trivia, lose focus on serious matters. Make people poorer, risk economic crime.

Our public services may be dire, but isn’t it comforting to know there are plenty of managers, diversity champions, service coordinators and committee members etc employed to oversee the troops on the ground. Glad to see they are well remunerated too so of course it’s understandable that funding has to be low for any actual ‘services’!

If you’re concerned write to your MP. The Police have, like many State institutions been pared back and pared back till there is no resilience - unnecessary austerity measures for a decade. The officers on the front line are losing numbers due to stress of overwork and the public’s disgusting attitude, plus the latest wheeze for all officers to have a degree is attracting people who cannot actually do the job. Some cannot cope with shifts and even to meeting the public face to face. Policing needs practical people with excellent people skills who accept that being punched and spat at is all part and parcel. And who will be criticised and blamed at every turn. Some forces are better than others, some officers are better than others. We are let down by government yet again.

Anniebach

Stop and search was usual, now it causes uproar

The uproar was because stop and search was almost entirely used against black people who had done nothing wrong. Justified uproar, I think.

^If people vote for a low tax small state government, this is part of it, the police service is part of the state. Small state means smaller police service. This reduction in the police service was mainly carried out when Mrs May was home secretary.
Any time people like Jacob Reese Mogg talk about people keeping more of their own money, they mean a reduction in services provided by the state.^

Absolutely! The sooner people get their heads round this, the better. Anyone who votes Conservative is voting for a small state - that is Conservative ideology (regardless of who is PM). Less of the country’s infrastructure run by the state. This includes health, education, police etc. People need to really understand what they’re voting for. All the reductions in police, NHS dentists etc we’re now experiencing haven’t just happened by chance - they are a direct result of 13 years of Conservative planned small state. They don’t implement these changes overnight, they are ‘drip fed’ over a period of time. We are now seeing the outcomes of this play out in the everyday lives of ordinary people. No-one who votes Conservative at the next GE can claim they don’t know - it’s now bl** obvious!

The public have been sniping at the police for years.
They are now getting the police force they deserve'

When my DH was a young constable the public supported the police against criminals. He and his colleagues got to know who the troublemakers were and could suppress problems before they arose. They were beat bobbies and knew their areas well.
Sadly that style of policing is long gone due to lack of officers and the media who have worked hard to give the police a bad name.

Our town is going to wreck and ruin with drugs and antisocial behaviour, but you never see the police around at all. I've a friend who's in a community group that go around at weekends talking to teenagers who hang about drinking and taking drugs. One young lad pulled a knife out on my friend last month, now these guys are volunteers and paid nothing, doing the job of the police and taking that from scum.
The innocent people that are getting caught up in gun and knife crime is terrible, a poor child getting shot in their own home where they should feel safe. I don't know where it will all end. There is no respect for the police anymore, some kids just shout abuse at them and a lot who do get arrested get off very lightly now anyway.

I occasionally watch a police programme for light relief and am amazed at the way people who are stopped speak to the police and treat them generally. There is no respect, just a string of expletives and even spitting. Who would put themselves forward to be treated like that?

What is saddest, is that prison doesn’t help the inmates. It is violent, bullying and often a huge crime school. There is little chance of released prisoners going on the straight and narrow. So, regrettably, we need a better prison service too.

He won't "get away with it." If mental illness is involved then he will be sent to a secure hospital. It's not a holiday resort.

I was quite surprised to read this yesterday. Just shows how bad it’s become.
www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news/thames-valley/news/2022/august/22-08-2022/new-joint-patrolling-partnership-between-thames-valley-police-and-the-civil-nuclear-constabulary/

Well, what did we all expect after 'austerity' and many years of Conservatives in power? All public services are vastly underfunded and close to breaking down. Now even some police are going to food banks - it is certainly not the fault of the police that this is happening. There just are not enough of them and they are tied up in red tape, anyway. And they will be on the front line quelling any riots that arise through a cold and starving population. I'm fed up with saying - and even thinking - adjectives like 'outrageous'. If the people of this country do not vote the Conservatives out at the next election, then maybe they will finally realise what's happening when we return to Nineteenth Century conditions, when the rich had all the power and many places were unsafe and unhealthy. I am so glad I'm not one of the younger generation! (which is very sad to say!)

Anyone who doesn’t value human life should forfeit their own…

Regarding Olivia - just so awful for her Mum. If she felt she lived in a dangerous area, she'd never have opened the door to see what the racket was mid-evening. As for the shot man on release who 'phoned a friend' (the black Audi) to take him to hospital and left the child to die - words fail me. Please don't make wild generalisations about types of people or life in Liverpool. That road is a slightly down market area of semis and terraces such as millions live in. Interesting that electric scooters, mobile phones and guns all feature - and of course men. Sorry I have nothing useful to say.

It's a vicious circle, the police are too busy helping those who are mentally ill because there is a lack of help for them elsewhere, hospitals have huge waiting lists exacerbated by bed blockers who are suffering from a lack of social care/care home places and on it goes. I think that unless we all pay higher taxes to fund so many aspects of unsatisfactory daily life nowadays then this will only get worse - but what do I know?!

knspol you have it in a nutshell.
But people are still swayed apparently by a political party leader who promises tax cuts ?

What has made matters worse over the past 20 years is the massive rise in cybercrime and online abuse etc. This is a whole other world which the Police never had to deal with before the rise of the internet. That has probably doubled the amount of crime they have to deal with, and therefore the number of Police should have also doubled. Instead they have been reduced, which has always made me despair.

Care in the community was only ever a money saving idea. It's very difficult to get psychiatric help for anyone now so horrific crimes being committed. We do need more police though but government cut recruitment and now there is a shortage

Britain follows America,
a lawless society; drugs, booze, crime etc etc.

what areas are you referring to? violent? poor? cesspit of crime? that's London surely? or do you mean "the North"? i sincerely hope not! crime is everywhere why did you jump[ on to the bandwagon of this week's crimes in the news? don't forget the terrible riots were started in.....Brixton....shock horreur

When my bike was taken from my house (so classed as Burglary) the police were fantastic. They put a lot of legwork in, they knew who'd dunnit and eventually, having recovered my bike, they put the evidence to the CPS. Hours and hours were wasted when the CPS said they weren't going to proceed. If I were the policeman involved, I'd have been terribly disheartened.. As it was, they seemed more worried that I would be upset.

Anniebach

Knife carriers do not walk the streets with knife in hand

Probably not Anniebach, but if they had no intention of using the knife "at need" they would have left it at home!

In Denmark it is illegal to carry a knife in your hand, pocket, glove compartment of your car or in a bag if its blade is longer than that of a Swiss Army pocket knife, unless it is a tool of your trade and you can prove that you are on the way to or from your work.

This law was brought in in an attempt to lessen stabbings and the like. It seems, though, that the increasing use of security cameras is proving more effective than laws about what lenght of knife you may legally be found with in public.

Grandetante its pretty much the same law as Scotland and knife crime has dropped considerably .ALL crime is at its lowest rate in 40 years.Police Scotland has been very successful in recent years by tackling the roots of crime not just when it happens .