I have been watching with a slight grin on my face. Firstly this thread has gone way off topic, calls to police have nothing to do with the crime levels, why? Because you can't crime a crime that doesnt exsist. Therefore if it is not a crime being reported it is not a crime!!! Make sense.

Secondly yes the police deal with a lot of things that should be dealt with by other agency's who work 9-5 mon-fri!!

As for call levels, i used to answer 999 calls yes there are alot that are not emergency's... example:
Me: Police emergency.
Caller: there is a fire in the field nearby.
Me: have you called the fire brigade.
Caller: no i didnt want to disturb them!!!!!!

But you must remember that whilst the police deal with a lot that should be the responsibility of other agencys, when something bad happens then the police are the first people to be blamed!!!!!!!!

And yes all the resources that used to be in Newbury have been sucked into Reading that's why you see less in Newbury. So to that extent it does not take a genius to work out why the perceived crime levels have risen. That said I have been in Newbury for sometime and although there are less officers I do not feel crime has risen!!

Lastly when I originally posted I made mention of that fact that if police officers post they generally get a bashing, I was surprised when most said they had respect for the police. Surprised because having read other threads it seemed to be the people who bashed the police that this was coming from.
So I'm not surprised that a police bashing is exactly what this thread has turned into.

If you want the police to engage and discuss with you then talk like grown ups and be sensible about it. Rather than turning every thread into a rantathon.


P.S last time I called work on the 0845 number it showed as local rate on my phone bill.

GMR I don't need to give you those names it's all widely available in the public domain.

Bloggo lack of respect by "low life" and their verbal abuse is nothing new it is why they are low life. No amount of improvement in policing will ever change that.

As for community engagement, it works both ways. I have lost count of the times I have stopped to buy some lunch (contrary to popular believe were human and do need some fuel occasionally)! and been verbally abused by someone who think's they don't pay my wages for me to stop and eat! Or for not being busy because I have time to eat.... you get the picture!
I get dirty looks from people for filling up my police car at the petrol station! I always try to be polite to people but very rarely get it back. Im sure if you spent all day trying to be nice to people and only got grief back you'd sometimes wonder why you bothered and stop bothering. That's a basic standard of the human race.
Yes there are some officers who are damm right arrogant, lazy and rude but, the majority are not!

The overall workings of the police are decided way higher up than the PC on the street, but he/she is always the one that gets the grief. Give them a break and direct your anger and frustration to the people that do have the power to change things.

JeffG, your powers of detection can't be that great. Police employees have been posting on NWN for years. The problem is they are few and far between because:

1) Generally MOP's have made up their minds and are not interested in the otherside.
2) Someone usually see's it as an oppurtunity to have a go hidden behind the security of their computer screen. Why would one want to be verbally abused on a computer at home when they can spend 12hours a day at work getting it face to face.
3) Fear of detection by management.

A & B are observations of posters comments on this forum.

General concensus is that local police are useless, lazy and spend most of their time dealing with pointless things (just opinion formed from posters comments). Thats like me coming to your office with no idea what it is you do and accusing you of being rubbish at your job. But, they deal with the things that are reported, what's pointless to one is not so pointless to the person if effects!!

The best way to get the opinion of your local police is to go to the station and ask them. If you want to know about policing in your town, ask? Go to a Neighbourhood meeting, speak to the station boss.

I won't be entering into a full blown discussion about this issue and don't expect me to be posting my opinion on many police related topics. I like my job

Your opening post was spot on noobree. those that are left at Newbury are over worked, under manned and dispite what most might think, Work damm hard to look after the area and do the best job they can.

That said, I wouldnt live anywhere else, I love the town!