A warning to David Cameron

The other day Iain Dale was complaining that the police took seven hours to investigate a burglary of his house.

I know what they were doing, Iain.  They were fining cyclists like me for running a red light.

Last Thursday I went through a red light after the pedestrians had passed.  Within seconds a police motorcyclist was alongside me and I'm now £30 poorer.  David Cameron (who has run a red light or two himself) - you've been warned!

I know I did wrong but my experience of the Met is slowly turning a great supporter of the police into a cynic.

A few years ago I was assaulted by someone trying to steal my mobile phone.  I gave a statement to the police and was promised that someone would update me within a week or two.  I still haven't received that update.

At about the same time I was a witness to a car theft and was called to court to give evidence.  I took a day off work to go to court only to find the case had been cancelled but noone had bothered to tell me.

My bike was stolen last year (two have been stolen in total).  I rang the local police station.  I never got a call back.

I could go on with many worse stories told to me by friends...

One of the best speeches given by any Tory politician during our time in Opposition was Oliver Letwin's Easy Cases lecture.  The targets-driven police go for the easy-to-reach offenders, leaving the worst offenders to carry on offending.  The same is true across society...

Here is a section of Oliver's speech:

"A month ago, millions of us received a self-assessment form from the Inland Revenue. This gives you the privilege of collaborating in the taxation of your income, patience and honesty. Meanwhile the cash-in-hand brigade enjoy the public services your taxes have paid for, without contributing anything themselves.

Even if your builder declares his income down to the last penny, you may still fall foul of our planning system, which regulates the placement of each and every garden shed, while whole townscapes are defaced by tower blocks.

And if you should find an intruder breaking into your garden shed, do not let him tread on a garden fork as it may be you and not the criminal that gets sued.

I have seen much the same attitude displayed by the ticket inspectors of more than one train operator, who while happy to fine the commuter who misplaced his or her ticket, are unlikely to challenge the carriage full of louts who didn't have tickets to lose in the first place.

All too often, when some of life's freeloaders see the inside of a courtroom, they will leave it laughing. Whereas, for those that respect the law, the courtroom is a near infallible means of enforcement, the mere threat of which ensures that fines for overdue parking tickets, misplaced train tickets, overdue tax returns and misplaced garden sheds are paid without protest.

The same threat ensures that responsible fathers who disclose both paternity and income provide easy work for the Child Support Agency, while deadbeat dads are allowed to disappear into a genetic and financial fog."

Full speech here.

Moan over.

Comments

[James Sproule]

When my bicycle was stolen a couple of years ago, I rang the police only to be told “Oh, that must be those two brothers in the estate around the corner from you, they have been stealing a lot recently”. I was flabbergasted, but not surprised.

[Lifelong Tory]

Not to make this thread nothing but similar stories of police inaction but....Three years ago, someone used my credit card to buy a computer online (despite the computer company's website stating that it would only deliver the computer to the address of the cardholder). My bank thankfully sorted this out very quickly, refunding me the full amount the next day. The computer company gave my bank the name and the address of the person that fraudulently used my credit card, so I went to the police to notify them that my bank had the details of this fraudster. Their impressive reply was that since I had been refunded, the crime had been solved, so there was nothing for them to do!

[greg]

If nobody jumped red-lights then there wouldn't be reason to spend time trying to catch people.

[Jules]

I've a varied experience here in Nottingham.

My house was broken into, with us all in it, and I had my laptop etc nicked. Rang the police and they came around in 20 minutes (on a Friday night at about 10.30). The forensic investigator came the next morning, and it was all very efficient. I even got two follow up calls, one which was to let me know that they were just about to raid a known theifs place, and to be ready if needed to be called to identify my property.

I've also had a bike stolen up here, went to report it myself, but when I did I was told "thanks, and we'll keep it on file, but wwe'll not do anything else".

[Alex Deane]

People convicted of motoring offenses like speeding are now fined a victim surcharge in our courts.

People convicted of assaults and the like, who actually HAVE victims, are not.

Why? Because motorists pay their fines.

[Sam R]

Then there was this farmer who 'phoned the police to tell them that someone was breaking in to his machinery enclosure, only to be told that there were no units available to respond at the present time.
When the farmer advised the station that there was no hurry as he had the burglar covered with his shotgun, the response was immediate.

[Teesbridge]

The Met Vs. Cyclists is rather like Hamilton Vs. Fayed... unfortunately they can't both lose.

[The Tory Troll]

The police are always doing a good job when they catch someone elese, but are time-wasting bast**** when you get caught yourself.

[Jonathan Sheppard]

A bit like my wife getting pulled over at 5:30 am for doing a few miles an hour over the speed limit. Unfortunately in both instances the law was being broken.

Red lights apply to cyclists. Speed limits apply to all.

Now if the police also followed up the more serious crimes, and antisocial issues people wouldn't have cause to moan.

[Matt Wright]

Yep this is a common problem in society today. What is happening is that organisations are focusing on things that they can measure easily rather than the things that actually matter more but are hard to measure. Hence the growth in speed cameras while mobs of youngsters continue to wreck communities pretty much without fear of any real penalty.

[christina speight]

Leaving aside all the many failings of the police can we get back to the origin of this posting. One can't be choosy about which crime / misdemeanor one hopes to get away with. People who jump traffic lights are a menace and some poor motorist will get 'done' for killing one some day soon because the cyclist swears black and blue that the lights were for him.

Sorry Tim but you deserved that £30. If I'd done it in the car I'd have had points on my licence too.

[Patsy Sergeant]

That is happening at the moment in Southampton Christina, only the motorist was texting at the moment of impact!!

[Simon Lamb]

There was a case last week of a young woman jailed for killing a cyclist. She was sending a text message - he had jumped a red light.
You should feel lucky there was a traffic policeman - under Labour they have become as common as snow in June with traffic regulation delegated to cameras.

[Hannibal]

For a good Christian, Tim, I am frankly shocked at your cavalier attitude to law breaking. You should be ashamed of yourself.

I was once out jogging and ran towards a pedestrian crossing which was telling me I could cross. I looked out for traffic as I approached but didn't break my step because I saw no cars approaching, just a slow moving bicycle and it was my right of way.

CRASH!

He fell, I didn't. I felt warm and smug inside.

He tried to blame me for bending his front wheel when he hit me and not being able to ride home, he said he hadn't seen me as he approached the crossing and I shouldn't have been on it.

It's people like you who injure pedestrians and cause car crashes with selfish cycling.

[powellite]

Tim, as a fellow London cyclist I'd like to thoroughly disagree with what you say. Whilst you can claim that police should be investigating all crimes, I don't think anyone can complain about getting caught if they deliberately break the law. We don't pick and choose which laws to keep and which not to keep.

There's no excuse for cyclists jumping red lights - would you do the same in a car, to which the same traffic laws apply?

[Tim Montgomerie]

I did say I did wrong.

[Prentiz]

Sorry Tim, but zero tolerance policing is exactly what we need to implement! That means more enforcement of red light jumping, of littering, of the small laws, because it helps to create a society where the big laws are followed. I would have hoped this, despite your momentary lapse, might be something which you supported.

There is a teensy risk that you sound ever so slightly like the drunk being arrested on a Friday night shouting at the police "haven't you got proper criminals to arrest"...

[Mr Hare]

The police are afraid of real offenders. That's why they go for the middle classes.

[Richard Jenkins]

Apparently none of your commentators is aware that in the land of the free you can turn right on a red light (that would be turn left here) if the way is clear, and unless specifically prohibited by a notice, even in a car.

[powellite]

Thanks Tim. I still don't think you can complain about getting caught though - unless you believe the law should be overturned...

[Tony Hannon]

I'm a Labour supporter with two points:

One - I applaud Letwin's speech - most of it is bang on (not the Tory sales bit at the end and the usual gripe about targets). The theme is appropriate, focussing on the easy case is wholly unfair and ultimately self-destructive - I wish more politicians talked about, and indeed act on, redressing the balance.

Two - The Government has a good deal of culpability as did the one before it but it's actually everyone's doing and everyone's problem (especially when law breakers always bemoan worse offenders than themselves).

I'd like to see the issue of redressing the balance in favour of the "easy case" but worry that partisan hackery always ruins every important discussion.

[adrian yalland]

The issue is not that Tim got nicked (as he should have been - naughty boy), but that the police are so selective on which crimes they will act against, and which ones they won't.

Given that the police are now judged according to targets, easy to solve 'qucik win' crimes are the ones they go for - traffic, kids with a few spliffs in their pockets, and apparently Tim Montgomery on his bike.

They avoid the time consuming ones.

The answer is scrap targets, cut down on paperwork, increase the right of citizens to defend themselves and their property, seriously target 'yoofs' and the rest of the ASBO generation responsible for the majority of low-level crime, and start protecting the interests of the law abiding majority, and not the criminal underclass.

By the way - thought Nick Herbert's announcement today was brillinat. Cannot see anything at all that wouldn't work really well.

[Alan Douglas]

I'm emigrating to the Philippines. Yes, they have crime there, probably about the same as here.

What they do NOT have is law-enforcers targetting all the easy cases, so in my view I will have only half the problem there as here.

Alan Douglas

[Steven Harris]

I sympathise with you and could tell you about dozens of similar circumstances.

The state of the Police is an extremely serious matter and Ronnie Flanagan's review simply does not go far enough in what it has set out to do.

The culture of targets, political correctness, and arse-covering has completely wrecked the police service and done incredible damage to their relationship with the public.

I don't blame the police however, I'm sure that most police officers would like to be able to be out on the streets arresting criminals and making sure they're locked up for a very long time but unfortunately the police have no discretion as to how they operate and what they do simply reflects the will of the incompetents who lead them from behind a desk in Whitehall.

Reforming the police needs to be one of Cameron's biggest priorities - and I don't just mean remove a form here or cut a target there - it needs to be wholesale, and should start with making Chief Constables and Police Authorities directly elected by the people they police so that the Old Bill has to worry about keeping their local public happy and not about keeping Jacqui Smith in a job.

The police also need to be better supported by the CPS and the courts. We do not need harsher sentences (generally speaking) but more certainty about sentencing.

That is to say you need to know that if you are a burglar, it is probable that you will get caught and a certainty that you will receive a long custodial sentence when brought before a judge, not that you'll get a slap on the wrists and not have to worry about prison until the third or fourth time you've been caught burgling someone's home.

As far as not solving the crimes you mentioned, I do have some sympathy with the police. There are only 3 ways to gather enough evidence to prosecute someone and they are:

1. Witnesses (preferably sober and reliable)
2. Forensic evidence
3. A confession

It doesn't matter whether it's a murder or if someone just slashed your tyres. If there isn't at least one of these three things present (and very often there is not), the case won't ever be solved, period.

After the economy and education, massive Police reform should be the Tories' top priority.