Grow Your Own Magazine

With the police!!

A while ago you may remember me complaining about a neighbour who parks his campervan across the path, completely blocking it.

Well, the police visited him and told him to move it - which he did back in February. It has been bliss for a few months.

Anyway, a few weeks ago it re-appeared and has sat there ever since.

I decided to contact the police again (the dude in question is not exactly approachable) and was quite polite, stated that I didn't want to waste police time etc etc and asked nicely if they would have a word.

Well, just got back from the plot and as I got out of the car heard "excuse me, have you got a problem with my campervan?!"

Denied all knowledge for fear of a mid-day altercation - but the dude in question talked about details that I had sent in the email to the police that I was assured would "not be disclosed to any resident". There is no way he would have known these things unless having been told them by the PC in question!

I'm dropping the matter now because if the police now contact him again, he'll know it was me and relations in the street could get ugly, and he's likely to take it out on LW too.

Sometimes it's a wonder people don't want to help the ****ing police!!! And they wonder why they don't get the help they want/need!!

I've just lost a lot of respect for the police tonight.

Sorry to rant here, but it seems that making any complaint to the police will not help matters!


RRRRRAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

__________________
A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated with more pleas for money

Yep, I've signed up for the London to Brighton Bike Ride
http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

thats bang out of order and i would be fuming as well!!!! not great at times is it! why cant people just have respect in the first place, or perhaps they werent taught it and yep its not worth the aggro you or LW would receive .

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

I'm sure there's a breach of the Data Protection Act in there, if he had sufficient information to suspect you specifically.

I had a similar thing happen with a complaint about a neighbours constantly barking dog when we lived in Derbyshire. The idiots from the Council sent my details of the complaint to the person i was complaining about!!! Neat huh!?

My deepest commiserations.

__________________
Manda.

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower

Given the the PC in question allegedly considered me a "busybody with nothing better to do" and that he had to "waste his time coming out here to deal with this" - I'm not confident that anything constructive would come of it.

I can't categorically say that he said those things, but it seems likely.

__________________
A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated with more pleas for money

Yep, I've signed up for the London to Brighton Bike Ride
http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

totally carp isn't it. You could lodge an official complaint as this could have potentially put you and famile in danger. What a twonk! I lost respect for police years ago unfortunately. I was being 'hassled' by someone in my local town. I complained to the police in person. They looked at me (skinead, cutoff jeans and a tank-girl t-shirt and pierced nose) and told me it must have been 6 of one and half a dozen of the other!! She beat me up 3 days later.

I feel for you mate i lost all faith in the police last year when my partner got assaulted by her ex and there was nothing they could do about it as he said she attacked him!!!

She wouldn't of and he only thought that up after the police caught up with him 3 months later and they would not go any further because they said it was tit for tat!!!!!

When she called the police as soon as it happen and her friend did and i also did and they did nothing.

Even asked her to go the the station the next day to give a statement instead of coming to us

hope you don't get any bother over this

Blimey! No wonder you are cross!

__________________
Bernie aka DDL

Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

They are loosing respect of a lot of people of late.

__________________
My phone has more Processing power than the Computers NASA used to fake the Moon Landings

HW, sorry to hear of your troubles. I had an injunction against my ex husband after he had broke into my house in the early hours of the morning. He smashed the back door down, pretty scary, (amongst others things he had done.) He was quite rightly arrested and an injunction put on him not to approach me, the house, my son's school etc etc until the court hearing, which was in 3 weeks time. He constantly phoned my landline, mobile and appeared in the street on several occasions. Nothing happened despite me reporting this to the police on several occasions. They even came out to get statements. They said they couldn't locate him! What a joke! Let's put it into perspective, this was the same person who held a bread knife to my throat. I was pretty scared!

Puts my "issue" into perspective!! Crikey.

I'm going to go round in a while (maybe not tonight) and have a chat with the dude - clear the air. Can't be doing with aggro.

Just mad at the Police - well, this PC dude in particular.

__________________
A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated with more pleas for money

Yep, I've signed up for the London to Brighton Bike Ride
http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

Hw, I was having a little rant there (sorry!) I wasn't being patronising or anything re - your troubles with the neighbour. I mean't putting into perspective re - the fact that despite what ex husband had done (and previously) that the police didn't take on board my concerns. I was mad with the police also.

Good idea. Maybe blame the Police for 'stirring up trouble' between neighbours? Afterall you was just doing what they suggested and contacting them 1st, you'd rather have just spoke to the bloke? Well it might work, he'll know what a bunch of l0sers the Police are?!

__________________
Manda.

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower

Don't worry, didn't think you were patronising or owt like that.

Pretty much what I was going for to be honest. There are other people that use the path.

__________________
A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated with more pleas for money

Yep, I've signed up for the London to Brighton Bike Ride
http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

Has he moved it?

__________________
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Nope.

Allegedly PC Plank suggested he park it on the road to "really p*ss off the neighbours".

Of course, that could be friendly neighbour playing devils advocate.

__________________
A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated with more pleas for money

Yep, I've signed up for the London to Brighton Bike Ride
http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.

Neighbour disputes are a nightmare aren't they? Let's face it we've all been there to some extent, and there's an a*sehole living near every one of us, it's just luck of the draw as to how close you are and how much grief you get from them.

My present one - the clumber (sp?) spaniel barking it's head off at all hours - pales in comparison with some of the ones on here. Mind you, the ex-neighbour when we lived on a tiny Barratt estate who sat on his doorstep playing with himself and muttering obscenities at children playing on their front gardens took some beating.

Actually he didn't, but that was our preferred solution at the time!

Just to look at it from a different angle. We occasionally get asked to assist with boundary disputes, and if we can find an excuse to avoid doing those jobs, we do!
If neighbours are on bad terms (whether it is mutual, or all one way) anyone trying to do anything about it is only going to get grief. If your neighbour is determined to be a "trou de derriere" (as a friend of mine puts it) there is very little that ANYONE (including the police) can actually do about it.

__________________
Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

Hmmmm,

If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team!

Cue music!

HW I sympathise as well. Neighbour nightmares are just something that you dont really need, especially if you fear it may spill over into problems with LW.
I'm just wondering if perhaps your email was forwarded/read to him, but without your name being given out, and the guy has taken a punt that it was you?
Everyone has different ways of dealing with things I guess, and I wish you luck in finding a solution that doesnt cause anguish for you and your family.

__________________
Bob Leponge
Life's disappointments are so much harder to take if you don't know any swear words.

We have had occasional problems around here (with persistent tresspass including damage, dangerous dogs etc.) where the police have been contacted and have shown complete dissinterest. I feel they should be reminded that they are public servants and we pay their wages.

I notice the police have not defended themselves. There must be some on this board - what have you got to say for yourselves?

If you vote Conservative next time round in may next year- David has promised in his new manifesto to make sweeping changes to the police state Britain has become and do away with all this loss of personal privacy issues and snooping council officials etc,etc, and I believe him, he is a better man for the job than the current duffa.

The only thing I wish that David Cameron would do when he wins the next election- is do away with all these confounded road humps that either shake you to pieces or wreck your cars steering and suspension, and decrease you M PG as you can rarely get out of second or third gear for mile upon mile of shake rattle and roll- I reckon it is costing me an extra five hundred pounds per year in repairs and petrol consumption. than prior to the time they installed road humps all over england.

I think the most road humped area in the whole of england is the small town of Clifton which is a suburb of Nottingham,-(not the one in Bristol), and in Clifton there are 547 road humps in every single street and main road of Clifton covering about three square miles- it is an absolute nightmare to drive through it.

From experience and trials by others the best way to go over these horrendous road humps to lessen the bump each time is to maintain a speed of around 28 to 29 miles per hour and hit the road hump with the driving side tyre going through the gap in between the humps this cuts it down by about half the bump and maintains better petrol consumption, any lower speed than that and the bump is much more pronounced .

Sometimes I have the misfortune to be traveling behind some people in a car who are swerving all over the road trying to slowly hit the road hump dead centre with both wheels hitting the hump edges at around fifteen miles per hour or less, this is the worse possible speed and method to do it, as you get the highest amount of bump and shaking to your car as a result of this, and it uses pounds more fuel as a result.

The only way you can't do it like this is when you get those horrendous humps straight across the road from one side to the other with no break in-between , in the town of Clifton there are four of these across a half mile stretch of road, and several people have been injured traveling in one of the city buses when they were thrown from their seats going over these, and drivers are reporting all sorts of back and spine conditions from the constant daily jarring especially bus drivers and taxi drivers- in one case a woman who was seven months pregnant went into labour and started to give birth as a result of the jarring action in her car.

I am always bothering the police about dangerous drivers and vehicles parked in bike lanes and on double-yellows (I'm a cyclist ).
They aren't interested.
Mr Sheds got knocked off last year by a driver who "didn't see" him.
Same thing happened to me 3 weeks ago.

The police attended, but no action was taken against either driver.

They are really busy, sitting on roundabouts watching for drivers who may potentially cause an accident, rather than dealing with those that have caused an accident.

__________________
~ "I would rather do a good hours work weeding than write two pages of my best; nothing is so interesting as weeding" ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

I promise not to mention the rather excellent Search function again. Feel free to slap me if I do

HeyWayne, you be very careful! Don't go into his house and make sure you can scram easily if he gets nasty, LadyWayne and the Bean(and all of us) need you whole and un-battered!
I have no time at all for the police. I used to say that they were like public lavs. neccesary but you wouldn't like to live next door to one. Now I would prefer the lavs.

Where we used to live, we were bothered by late-night fights outside the kebab shop: noise, swearing, shouting, wing mirrors smashed, chips through the letterbox, eggs thrown at the house ...
The police?
Not interested.

Then, on the day we moved out, 3 coppers drove round with some traffic cones for us to borrow. Nice as pie they were, ever so helpful.

__________________
~ "I would rather do a good hours work weeding than write two pages of my best; nothing is so interesting as weeding" ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

I promise not to mention the rather excellent Search function again. Feel free to slap me if I do

I saw a patrol car after midnight with a mobile speedcam trained on a 'fast' and empty bit of dual carriageway last week. It seems we are now paying them nightshift rates to hassle and fine erring motorists.

The only time as a cyclist I came into contact with the police was when they warned me for speeding...............

Heywayne, I feel for you, what is this world coming to. There is NO respect......and for those that do give respect, well just seem to get trampled upon.
I hope things get much better for you all and please take care.

out of order!!

ETA: I have kept quiet on this one because Snowdrop was a Policeman prior to becoming a Royal Air Force Policeman - Wayne knows how much I love and respect him, so I can say this with a clear conscience - I don't like seeing (all) Police getting (yet another) bashing because of one (possible) prat.

I am sorry you are having this rotten situation Wayne, you really don't deserve it

ETA2: I meant love and respect Wayne not SD obv - although now even that sounds like I don't love and respect SD when I really mean....ooh me bacon's cooked ...BRB

__________________
aka
Suzie

All this said, I have to agree with Piskie. While this is an annoying situation for Wayne, I'm sure it's an unusual case. The British Police are respected as being one of, if not THE, best police force in the world.
You've only got to watch one episode of Police Camera Action to see the difference in the by-the-book method of our PCs compared with the gung-ho attitude of some US officers.

I'd like to think that a complaint to the relevant constabulary wouldn't be ignored either.

Hi
Is it because
a) there is no legislation to deal with these minor but hugely important local issues
b) they're not exciting to deal with so get put to the bottom of the pile
c) the police have decided to not bother with minor crimes
d) the police are seriously understaffed
e) the current set up of targets set by government means there's no "win" in tackling difficult to deal with crimes like harrassment, disputes and burglaries.

And surely if we are to have a safe and sane society these petty matters (which are not petty at all to those who suffer from them) should be dealt with firmly.

Sue

There is also the point that neighbour disputes are actually only the business of the police if there is a crime committed. In a lot of instances they 'aren't interested' because it isn't their business!
I agree they can sometimes 'brush off' legitimate issues, and that is not good enough (eg Two Sheds, cycling accident), but at least half the complaints I read about police 'not doing anything' there was nothing they COULD do in that instance!
If you meet a copper who really is going the wrong way about things, report that incident to his superiors (and perhaps your MP). otherwise, try to consider that maybe they have done all they really can.
The cops with the camera at night may well have been using ANPR, which is not a 'speed camera', but vehicle identification device. They catch a fair few 'real criminals' that way!

__________________
Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

I think it's all of the above Sue

After having our garden vandalised in the middle of the night last year (trees sawn down etc), the police were powerless to do anything and just didn't have the time.

There is only 1 full-time officer at our local police station. All other actual officers are drawn from neighbouring towns on a rota system. There are more PSCO's on the street than actual police officers.

This means that the chances of actually speaking to the 'real' police are slim; and the chances of seeing the same officer about a case are even slimmer.

__________________
Running the BUPA Great Manchester 10K Run in aid of the Lymphoma Association
http://www.justgiving.com/ShelleyWatsonRuns

Blog: Mistress of Meals

Wayne, I think the officer involved was wrong to divulge that he had received another complaint (he could have said 'we happened to be driving past and noticed...'), however, if the campervan is only obtructing your access, then the neighbour probably would have put two and two together anyway.

I would certainly write a complaint to the chief officer at that particular station, this situation could escalate very quickly and this particular officer has exacerbated it with his comments to the other party...I don't suppose its possible the officer knows your neighbour personally is it? But that would be highly unprofessional.

__________________
The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

a) (which may well apply pretty often) means that it really is not a police matter!
b) is not acceptable, but IMO almost never applies alone (it may be a 'second reason' along with one of the others)
c) is a matter for senior officers, who have largely taken this approach (again, not acceptable, but almost inevitable in the light of d and e) then there is
f) so much paperwork involved in every incident dealt with that the problems of d are doubled and redoubled!

Give the ordinary cops (most of them) a break, and place the blame where it belongs, GOVERNMENT!
Of course the government created issues mean that the best cops are taking early retirement, and potential 'good cops' are declining to join in the first place, because they do not believe they will be allowed to do the job properly......

__________________
Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

Ok, on reflection I may have over reacted by saying "police" instead of "a certain policeman", but allow me to explain myself.

I grew up in an area that was - shall we say, not exactly sympathetic towards police in general, but my parents raised me to have respect for the law despite the fact that my parents (and me) were subject to criminal behaviour on more than one occasion and we were let down by the police (use "system" if you will) every single time, I have mainained this respect and shall continue to install the same belief in Hayden as he grows up.

However, I am not a fan of having my trust misused or being lied to.

I quote (names omitted to protect the "innocent":

Dear Mr. *******,

All points noted, and firstly details of your Email will not be disclosed to any other residents as the basis for any approach to a problem.

Parking issues for us are so often the unsolvable problem from police attention alone. The only time a long term parking issue in a location seems to change is when something like a traffic restriction order goes in (Yellow lines or parking permit schemes) but that's something the parish council would have to look into.

The recording of the parking issue in *location omitted* is down to reflect what has generated complaints or a high number of concerns for the area, but the truth is that the most the neighbourhood team can do is make a chack when we are that way and address any serious obstruction.

We also have the added confusion with people who may believe there is a serious obstruction or an illegal act, but we find is it more inconvenient parking that we cannot penalise for.

I assure you these are not excuses to say we can do nothing but clearly you have highlighted one issue with one location so perhaps it best if we have a look at this one issue and make an assessment on what we can do.

I gather that this vehicle will be fairly easy to spot in *location omitted*, so when one of us is free to pop down there we will take a look. If we need to speak to people we may have to mention that we have received a complaint, particularly if the path is blocked, but as said, we will not disclose any details.

By all means keep us updated with any changes or other such issues.

Regards

Pc *** *****

Given the fact that my neighbour quoted things that I had said in this email to the PC in question only illustrates that details were indeed disclosed, and an issue has been made of something that could have been dealt with entirely differently.

On that note, yes I have approached my neighbour directly regarding the issue, but nothing came of it (over a year ago).

Since then a number of complaints (not by me) have been received by the Police on the same issue (not just this dude), in the same area - which in turn generated action by the Police to issue letters to all residents in the area requesting that we report any cases of inconsiderate or dangerous parking.

Given the fact that pedestrians are completely unable to use the footpath and are forced to use the road - I, and a number of other neighbours did what we were asked to do and reported those cars that were causing obstructions.

A good friend of mine is a Policeman and I know exactly what they have to deal with on a daily basis, and as said maybe my wording was wrong, but I hope you can understand my frustrations.

This Policeman friend of mine did however say that it's a common known theory amongst the Police community that those who apply to work in the force in village locations are looking for the easy life and don't like to do much in the way of "active policing". His words, not mine.

I have requested that the issue is closed by the Police, and that I will deal with it myself. Pains me to say it, but I've lost faith in our local constabulary and shan't contact them about the matter again for fear of more apathy and inaction. Needless to say, I shall remain a good boy and stay within the law.

Case closed as they say.

__________________
A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/
Updated with more pleas for money

Yep, I've signed up for the London to Brighton Bike Ride
http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.