Do you think the police are doing enough?

[Hagar]

I'll take your word on that Will. I can only go by the general opinion around these parts (ask my neighbours what they think) including what I've been told by police officers. Many of the old stagers are fed up with the whole system & can't wait to get out. This doesn't fill me with confidence.

[quote]Nothing changes, more police won't make any difference.

[Deputy]

Bet we hear from the Deputy on this topic.....

Bet you're right. Sorry this is so late... Just have been busy with work.

But, I do think there are too many traffic cops.  

Got a question - do you think the only reason Traffic is out there to write tickets? Wrong - we do a NUMBER of things - respond to accidents, assist other officers just to name a few.

My city has serious drug issues (big meth problem here) and there just aren't enough police to handle it.

Oregon has a baaaaaaaaaaaaad methamphetamine problem -  Not only is it EXTREMELY volatile, dangerous, its a pain in the ass to clean up because of all the enviromental problems it causes.

To sum up my, humble, opinion:  Nothing changes, more police won't make any difference.  The theives will still steal, the murderers will still murder and the perverts will still be perverted.

First off - statistics show that police presence is a great tool - it in itself lowers crime rates. In theory, if we could have police officers of every corner in a city, crime rates could drop as much as half. We just don't have the funding to do that.

Secondly - we do our best. If it't not good enough, try stepping in our shoes for about a day or so.

[WebbPA]

I live in a relatively small but affluent town in South Florida.

We spend a sh@@load of money on taxes for a good police force and they do a good job - but a lot of Palm Beach County, Florida communities have private security so that's an extra layer.  Not that a real criminal is afraid of a rent-a-cop but they just go to a less secure environment.

The only thing I slightly disagree about with Deputy is police presence.  Like rent-a-cops the message to the bad guys is "go somewhere else".  My community and city is pretty much crime free but the drug dealers know they can just go 10 miles up the road.  They're not really preventing crime, they are just moving it out of their jurisdiction.

[Scottler]

I don't think they're doing enough.





But that's not the end of the story.

Truth is, they really CAN'T do enough.  There is a certain element of society which is very enthusiastic about filing complaints against everyone that they encounter, putting the police (and the rest of us) in a very dangerous situation.

If you're breaking the law, you're breaking the law...end of story.  Sadly, it is the criminal population which endangers the rest of us.

Seems the inmates are running the asulyum...quite literally.

[Scorpiоn]

I don't regaurd the police 'round my parts too highly.  Perhaps not the cops themselves, but at least the cops as a whole.  Cops in Houston seem to be targeting all the wrong things, and this is where the problem lies.  Not so much in the cops themselves, but in the pressure they're under.  It's a well known, unofficial fact that you have to drive much more carefully at the end of the month as cops are filling out their traffic ticket quotas.
Corruption is a bit of a problem here, as is abuse, but it's not fair to judge the entire police force on a few stuck up cops.  I'm sure most rank and file cops are great people, but still, you'd expect justice against the bad ones.  They usually get suspension with pay or something for shooting people who didn't need it.  I'd pin the root of the problem as funding, from the looks of it, it's a problem most elsewhere too, but I still have an inclination to believe it's a bit worse in Houston.  Then again, the city of Houston couldn't finance a hedgetrimming.

[Smoke2much]

Secondly - we do our best. If it't not good enough, try stepping in our shoes for about a day or so.

I wouldn't do your job for all the tea in China mate.  Just because I don't think that increasing police numbers will reduce crime doesn't mean I don't respect the job you guys do.  I know it's a difficult and dangerous job what I don't believe is that 50 years ago the world was a better place because there were "Bobbies on bikes" in British villages.  In real terms there probably are more Police in the UK now than ever before but crime rates remain the same.  That was my point.

I can understand you getting pi**ed off though, everyone has an opinion and none of us have to do it.  The number of times I've been told by well meaning friends what the NHS is doing wrong :-/  It makes you sick.

Will

[Hagar]

My feeling is that this is a localised thing. What works in one country, state, county or even town is not necessarily the best answer for the whole world. I feel that the biggest mistake they made in my country was to centralise the police force & other emergency services. No matter how good they might be, police officers based 20 miles away cannot possibly know the local situation like our old local copper who once lived just around the corner from me. I used to chat to him over my garden fence. He knew everyone in the the village I lived in & everyone knew him. There was very little trouble as being on the spot & living in the community he could take preventative action without issuing spot fines or filling out countless forms.

[Fozzer]

Just a quick pop-in....

You may find this interesting, it certainly surprised me, living in a quiet, peaceful town like Hereford...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4344595.stm

Cheers all...!

Paul... ...!

[Hagar]

Just a quick pop-in....

You may find this interesting, it certainly surprised me, living in a quiet, peaceful town like Hereford...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4344595.stm

Cheers all...!

Paul... ...!

Hi Paul. I heard about this on the radio this morning. This is what immediately struck me about it.

Nottingham had the fifth highest level of gun crime per head of population in England and Wales last year.

......................

He said a succession of high profile murders and a big rise in gun and violent crime had lead Mr Green to "warn his force is struggling to cope".

.............................

The Sunday Telegraph report says since 2001, officers have had to investigate 21 Category A murders - high profile cases with no immediate suspect. Before 2000, the average was one every 12 to 18 months.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out why.

The BBC's Bob Sinkinson said part of Mr Green's staffing problem was the removal of officers from front line duties to carry out clerical duties.

I rest my case.

[Fozzer]

Do you know what....

Every time I read the papers and look at the photographs; look at the Tele' and see the faces, I have visions of Los Angeles, .....and similar places... ....!
...I wonder why... ...?

Cheers all...!

Paul.

[Deputy]

[quote]

The only thing I slightly disagree about with Deputy is police presence.

[jknight8907]

I voted 'Kinda'. Here in my very small town, we just got a new sheriff, and he has made some major changes. We got new equipment and new paint on the cars. The first bit of his 'sheriffhood' was a focus on traffic. With the 'old' sheriff, my normal speed was 59 in a 55. One night about 7pm, I was going through the local straight stretch (the roads are reeeeallly curvy here) and a new deputy was sitting way off in the ditch about 15 feet off the road. Now I drive 55 in the 55.

We have a Judicial Drug Task Force for this area, and they have been observed making more busts than before. The new paint on the Deputy's cars say 'Zero Drug Tolerance' on the front quarterpanels, and so far it appears he means it.

So, around here, I'd say it's getting better. Sure more could be done, but at least we're moving in the right direction.

[beaky]

In all fairness, I should point out that there's more to the picture of police effectiveness and efficiency than the actions of the cops themselves.  Like soldiers, they get orders from on high, and politics figures into things. They patrol where they're told, and when, and are given guidelines for dealing with what they come across.
So my vote of "kinda" should be taken with that particular grain of salt.
I've lived in Newark a total of about seven years, and I've found the cops here to be a good bunch (they were very curious and attentive when we first moved into this long semi-abandoned building, and for a while there, would swing by a couple times a night to make sure all was well), but let's just say the machine itself seems pretty soft, if you know what I mean- notwithstanding the best efforts of rank and file police officers.
 

[RichieB16]

[quote]Oregon has a baaaaaaaaaaaaad methamphetamine problem -

[Deputy]

[quote]
It has always suprised me that there is that problem here since the state doesn't have that big of population.