On Crime and the British Bobby

There could be so much to write about this week - the shenanigans over the New Labour leadership and deputy leadership struggle, Will Hutton and Mark Leonard debating China at the ICA or a fascinating account of Islamic Magic [ruqia] and the djinn from the Jordanian-British academic Liana Siaf at Treadwells.

But it is the experience of being a victim of theft at our local smart hotel and consequent new insights into British policing that have to take priority as a suitable follow-up to our experience of being 'intelligence-policed' earlier in May [see posting of April 27th].  The hotel is opposite the local police station so it should have been an easy matter to drop over, call in a copper and report the crime - especially as this station had been announced only a few months ago as the centre of a fully manned police presence in the town (wholly coincidentally before the local elections).  Less than three weeks after those elections, we found three or four empty police cars in a row outside a shut door with a piece of paper saying that the station was shut 'due to unforeseen circumstances' - no doubt all our local constabulary had been called out on emergency 'intelligence-based' policing.

It got funnier - and you have to larf, don't you - when my wife (whose bag was snatched) rang to report the crime and was offered 'victim support' ("no, I want you to catch the criminal") and support for any media contact she might want ("no, I don't need to talk to a journalist, I want you to catch the criminal").  

What was particularly galling was that she was carrying full identity only because the police had stopped us a few weeks before and whined about her not carrying a driving licence.  The subsequent 'good citizen' attempt to comply with police demands now meant that both car and house keys were now linked to addresses and car number plates, so that, in addition to unravelling credit cards and cheque books, there was the expense of new car, house and office keys.  Oh, and improved opportunities for identity theft.  In other words, carrying identity for 'intelligence-based policing' purposes had made life infinitely easier for the criminal, placed us at more risk and cost us more money in the form of a stealth tax in favour of locksmiths.

It gets better. The probable perpetrator was identifiable and almost certainly part of a gang  of petty criminals who dress smartly (we are told that they are usually women rather than men) and go into smarter bars and lobbies to grab bags for both identity and cash purposes.  If I saw a certain person again, I would recognise a suspect but there was no quick police action to check local CCTV. One credit card was used quickly on an ATM presumably covered by a CCTV.  Has anyone asked me to view a CCTV picture or been in touch on identification?  No, of course not , there are no resources for this.  The probable thief (or person who should be eliminated from enquiries) sat in full view of me for a long time, observing us with care, because they knew they had nothing to fear once they got out of the room.

This is not a rant from a 'liberal who has been mugged'.  It was irritating and a night's sleep and a bit of money was lost as we sorted locksmiths, but it was not much more damaging than that.  Selfish low lifes who party until late with the windows wide open are a greater problem.  We've been meaning to change the locks for some time and now we are as safe as Fort Knox so, on balance, the thief may have done us a favour of sorts. 

No, not a rant, just a laugh - we have a Potemkin police presence in Middle England with a criminal fraternity who are now so confident that we should perhaps just regard them as a natural phenomenon and a budgeted cost, a sort of additional tax.  It might even be that we will be introduced to someone at a dinner party as the local burglar and snobbishly hope he or she (we must remain correct about this) is a classy jewel thief with the style of Cary Grant rather than a drug-fueled bagsnatcher.

I won't name the Hotel because they were responsive and helpful and should not be labelled as a risk but, if you are British or coming to the UK, be suspicious of lone persons hovering in smart bars who look uncomfortable in a suit or smart dress.  But I will name the police force as that of our decaying little town - Tunbridge Wells - and I will say that the ordinary copper is not the problem. 

These poor buggers are snowed under with Home Office theory and paper work, political correctness, victim support and media friendliness.  Private conversations with coppers have made it clear that they are as frustrated as the rest of us - but, be cheered, forms are being filled in more meticulously than ever.  No, the problem lies with a Department of State, the Home Office, already characterised as 'not fit for purpose' by its latest incumbent, John Reid (currently scuttling to the backbenches), and with Chief Constables who are under-resourced, who are under constant political pressure from the centre and from the media and who are driven by theory instead of basic practice.  What we need are Chief Constables who stand up for the community and for their own bobbies against the centre!

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For an amusing picture of the traditional British bobby, the Will Hay comedy Ask a Policeman of 1939 is a must-see alongside Carry On Constable of 1960.  The affectionately regarded classic of old-style policing is, of course, The Blue Lamp of 1949 - http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/447704/index.html  Unlike in most other countries, we Brits rather love our police and it is so sad to see what has been done to them by theoreticians and bureaucrats.

For a view from the frontline of British policing, the blog of PC David Copperfield (a pseudonym) is serious fun - http://coppersblog.blogspot.com/ - but the linked blogs are also worth reading.  The tension between the police and the underclass is on the edge of war and you 'smell' a sort of reactive angry proto-fascism in the air of some blogs.  A good Guardian view on the Copperfield blog is at:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/futureforpublicservices/story/0,,2053823,00.html

At the end of the day, I am still a liberal (in US terms).  The violent underclass is the direct result of market-driven changes over the last thirty years that can only be cured by investment, redistribution, a degree of labour market preference for the indigenous working class and community trust (not 'intelligence-based' policing which is just 'after the fact' sticking plaster stuff).  'Banging 'em up' is not sufficient, though probably necessary.  In this context, some of the best ideas on rebuilding community and relational (also referred to as restorative) justice come from the Christian-based think tank, the Relationships Foundation - http://www.relationshipsfoundation.org/index.php