COMMUNITY POLICING

If you are a regular reader of my ramblings,you may remember my blog on April 5^th entitled “A long day for Moth”,which contained an account of our late night call from the I.P.O mob.

On the night in question of course called the police and most certainly did not open the door to the bogus policemen.

My first contact took down lots of details and said that he would pass me on the the Community Police. This next bit is important,he did not give me a crime number.

After a considerable pause,during which time we could have been murdered in our beds several times over a pleasant voiced young man took down all my details...again.

“We were not to worry .” he said “The next knock at the door would be a real policeman.” These were his exact words. Once again, no crime number!

Pa and I sat up for hours, no one came.

This was the day when all the trouble with our little cats pregnancy began and for many days afterwards we were either tied up of too worn out to do more about the I.P.O. Mob.

Yesterday I was returning from a brief trip to town and by happy chance I met two Community police officers strolling up the lane. I hailed them and enquired weather there had been any progress with our case. Firstly he claimed to know noting about it, secondly he asked for the crime number I had not been give and thirdly denied all knowledge of our ongoing problems with vandals and petty thieving.

The fact that we are disabled seems to have made us the target for some nasty individuals would think it is great fun to steal out out door disables aids, throw rotten eggs and fruit at our windows and generally behave in a menacing manor.

I have observed on the news that it is the intention of the Government to cut the number of police officer on the street and instead have more of these semi trained special constables.

Speaking personally I think it will take a lot more than a couple of police look alikes in each area to stem the rising tide of vandalism and criminal behaviour we are seeing here.

I had always thought that impersonating a police officer was a criminal offence, especially when it is done to gain unauthorised entry, apparently this is not the case.

Today I tried again and rang the Metropolitan Police and asked them what it was going to take to get someone out to see us. In fact the officer I spoke to sounded thoroughly nice and I was for once disarmed....he he!

He agreed with me that we were being targeted because of our disabilities which made it a hate crime and so to cut a long story short an officer is coming to see us tomorrow afternoon at one.

I am more relieved than I can say, to have someone hammering on your door in the middle of the night is bad enough,but when you are disabled you are so much more vulnerable. My son,who since finishing night work is spending time with friends all over the country has been talking about staying home or at least not staying out overnight..well I won't have it!

For once the police can do the job they are paid to do, after all if my son had given the rotters a good hiding he would probably be charged with assault.

For myself I have no scruples, I have a razor sharp machete by my bed, a gun at the top of the stairs and if anyone tried to hurt Pa I would not hesitate to use either,or both, disabled or not!