A bit of a rant today,
I'm afraid. But it does lead on from yesterday's witterings...
Yesterday I whinged that
no one was at all interested in dealing with the feral horse that
savagely attacked me the other day. There are those who mock my being
savagely attacked by a feral horse; but what do they know? It's
something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.... I've spent forty
years mocking the
equinophobic but now I'm conceding that they might possibly have
a point, but I digress. Again.
Amongst those who
couldn't give a stuff about feral horses are Kent Police. I shall
rant about them (again) today...
Being able to say "I
told you so" might be satisfying to the person saying it;
but it is always something of a pyrrhic victory. Regular readers of
this drivel may have worked out that I am not a fan of the local
police force. Over the years they have made all sorts of blunders to
which I can personally testify. They have wrongly arrested people
dear to me; and then (having released them with no apology) made it
clear that that wronged individual is not to make a complaint. They
have refused to charge security staff at Ashford International
Station who were recorded on closed circuit TV assaulting a member of
my family. They have refused to investigate a break-in to a family
friend's car, saying that CSI-style investigations is something they
only do when they aren't busy elsewhere. They have cautioned people
for trivial offences despite those people having plenty of witnesses
to testify that they were miles away at the time of the alleged
incident. They refuse to go take a look at a dangerous horse in a
field near Biggin Hill (!)
When I have sent written
complaints to the Chief Constable about these and other incidents I
have had phone calls from the police telling me that they are the
police, and I should learn my place and not complain.
For years I've publically
run down the Boys in Blue, and now it seems I was right all along.
They *are* rubbish. I heard on the radio this morning that finally
their
failings have been recognised publically.
H.M. Inspectorate of
Constabulary has found that Kent Police wrongly classified a quarter
of the crimes recorded on their books; among these mis-classified
crimes being rapes and robberies.
This is terrible, but in
Kent Police's defence (and it pains me to defend the 'bules)
it would seem that they have been running an "institutional bias
towards chasing numerical targets for solving crime". The media
reported this as though it was some sort of revelation. This is the
cause of the sorry state of our police force; needless paperwork.
It is far easier for a
copper to nick a tramp for vagrancy or to nick some dopey students
smoking kippers in the park than it is for them to catch burglars
hours after the event. Because an easy nick is a quick nick and it
looks better when counting the nicks. And in this age of league
tables of course the police are going to go for the easy option to
get to the top of the pile.
As a society we should
realise that it is time to abandon scoring policing on crimes solved
in this way. That way the police can stop fannying about on trivial
incidents that don't warrant investigating (like formally
investigating an allegation that I murdered someone's wife ten years
before I ever met that person). The police might then be able to
concentrate on the important stuff.
However I doubt this will
happen. League tables are politically correct at the moment. Schools
have been playing silly beggars to score well in league tables for
years; even though everyone thinks they are a bad idea.
Meanwhile in more trivial
circles my neck still hurts. Too much rounders I expect. Mind you the
aching leg is getting better.
Not that I will be
shutting up about that horse any time soon...
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