Matty's Caddy Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 hi got back to my car at IVCP this afternoon to find my wing mirrors battered off!!! litte ****ers i thought, but, as a great believer in karma, didnt let it spoil my day i knew the place has a reputation for car crime but this is the first time in a couple of years that id ever been a victim of it when i got home, i had a general look round the car to check for other damage and noticed a big hand print on the roof where he'd leant on it to kick the mirrors off, so i thought i'd ring the fuzz to give them the opportunity to maybe dust for prints and maybe nail the basterds that keep doing it apparently, their record when it comes to car crime runs at about 1% so they werent interested in otherwords, unless its an easy nick, they aint bothered!! statistics blah blah just re affirms my view on them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnyboy Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 My van window got smashed in and my bag nicked just off the avenue about a year ago. Pigs werent interested. All the wing mirrors got smashed off about 6 cars in a row, once in Park road, Fremantle. Another time the same in Lipson, Plymouth. Pigs weren't interested. However, do 35 in a 30, and you can't move for all the snouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latter day saint Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 if that had been on a match day & you said it was possibly down by football fans,a whole task force would have been set up to nail the bastards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Super Saint Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 Sadly, even if they did have the prints on file, they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it! A hand print on the top - outside - of the car can be explained away quite easily by any half competent lawyer, and a conviction would never be handed out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu0x Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 Sadly, even if they did have the prints on file, they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it! A hand print on the top - outside - of the car can be explained away quite easily by any half competent lawyer, and a conviction would never be handed out Come on, let's not let the facts get in the way of a good whinge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnyboy Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 Come on, let's not let the facts get in the way of a good whinge! Lets not let decent evidence actually get used Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty's Caddy Posted 5 March, 2012 Author Share Posted 5 March, 2012 the older i get, the more cynical i get, the angrier i get with the whole ****in state of this sad country and the ******s around every corner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 When I was a kid we used to nick car badges for a laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latter day saint Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 When I was a kid we used to nick car badges for a laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 so i thought i'd ring the fuzz to give them the opportunity to maybe dust for prints and maybe nail the basterds that keep doing it apparently, their record when it comes to car crime runs at about 1% so they werent interested Reminds me of the story of a householder phoning the police as somebody was trying to break into their house. "Sorry, madam, nobody is available at the moment" Householder turns round and shouts "John, go and get your dad's old service revolver, it's in my bottom drawer"!. A few minutes later 3 squad cars scream up. As things get sorted out the police complain - "But you said you had a gun". "You said you had no cars available..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu0x Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 Lets not let decent evidence actually get used Forensic evidence on the *exterior* of a crime scene is not decent evidence. It is worthless. Reminds me of the story of a householder phoning the police as somebody was trying to break into their house. "Sorry, madam, nobody is available at the moment" Householder turns round and shouts "John, go and get your dad's old service revolver, it's in my bottom drawer"!. A few minutes later 3 squad cars scream up. As things get sorted out the police complain - "But you said you had a gun". "You said you had no cars available..." Reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk... that one was made up as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfc1971 Posted 5 March, 2012 Share Posted 5 March, 2012 About 3yrs ago I parked my car outside the Tesco Express in chartwell Green, returning about 15 mins later to find the rear end stoved in (hatchback & screen) I phoned the Law who told me unless I had a witness with details of offenders reg num they could do nothing. I asked the security Guy in tescos if he had seen anything he hadnt but took me into a control room to look at the cctv where we found the culprit. The Dray lorry from the Pub nxt door had reversed into me got out had a look and got back in and left. Security guy gave me said disc and i took it straight to Bitterne PS. The Police gave me a crime num for insurance and said i would hear in due course. Nothing for two years until i went back to Police station to be told "Sorry no injurys so not a criminal case it`s down to the Insurance companys". To this day I`m still wondering is leaving the scene of a accident a crime ? Considering the lorry driver knew he had bashed my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFrost Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 hi got back to my car at IVCP this afternoon to find my wing mirrors battered off!!! litte ****ers i thought, but, as a great believer in karma, didnt let it spoil my day i knew the place has a reputation for car crime but this is the first time in a couple of years that id ever been a victim of it when i got home, i had a general look round the car to check for other damage and noticed a big hand print on the roof where he'd leant on it to kick the mirrors off, so i thought i'd ring the fuzz to give them the opportunity to maybe dust for prints and maybe nail the basterds that keep doing it apparently, their record when it comes to car crime runs at about 1% so they werent interested in otherwords, unless its an easy nick, they aint bothered!! statistics blah blah just re affirms my view on them I do sympathize but in this case there's absolutely sod all the police can do. Even if they had the resources to forensically investigate every incident of criminal damage that happens on their patch (and in these times some regional divisions barely have the resources to investigate any crimes at all), and they got a fingerprint match (which is far from guaranteed) as pointed out earlier any half decent lawyer would shoot it down in flames. Just think, if you wanted to investigate this yourself and had the rare fortune of getting a fingerprint match where the hell would you start looking for the culprit? I'd put the chances of finding at his 'home address' at less than 10%. That's before even attempting to prove he did it which is impossible. Hence why the police won't give it any time After retiring from the force I witnessed a hit and run in which a woman was hospitalized. Unfortunately I was too far away to see anything other than the colour of the car (which was blue),let alone the reg or even the make. I was the only witness and there was no CCTC nearby. The coppers aren't going to put extra patrol cars round the local area pulling in every blue car and investigating it for damage. . About 3yrs ago I parked my car outside the Tesco Express in chartwell Green, returning about 15 mins later to find the rear end stoved in (hatchback & screen) I phoned the Law who told me unless I had a witness with details of offenders reg num they could do nothing. I asked the security Guy in tescos if he had seen anything he hadnt but took me into a control room to look at the cctv where we found the culprit. The Dray lorry from the Pub nxt door had reversed into me got out had a look and got back in and left. Security guy gave me said disc and i took it straight to Bitterne PS. The Police gave me a crime num for insurance and said i would hear in due course. Nothing for two years until i went back to Police station to be told "Sorry no injurys so not a criminal case it`s down to the Insurance companys". To this day I`m still wondering is leaving the scene of a accident a crime ? Considering the lorry driver knew he had bashed my car. In other words they either couldn't conclusively identify or find the driver after initial investigations, and as no physical injury was suffered they don't have an obligation to investigate it any further. I do sympathize with people having their cars or any other property damaged, but until you've walked a mile in a copper's shoes and have got a pile of several hundred of such incidents on a desk in front of you. . . Especially when with the majority you've got next to nothing to go on, further hindered by the heap of paperwork to be completed for each incident and a tight budget that's being used to investigate more serious crimes. . .etc. etc. The police simply don't have the money, manpower or resources to investigate every crime that everyone wants investigating. If the police had unlimited money they still wouldn't be able to solve all crimes, with hardly enough money to get by I'm afraid they have to be very picky about what they investigate in any detail, subject to evidence. I sympathize with anyone who is a victim of crime but I also have a lot of sympathy for the coppers doing the spade-work trying to do an impossible job in these times. Frankly I'm glad I got out the force when I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 the older i get' date=' the more cynical i get, the angrier i get with the whole ****in state of this sad country and the ******s around every corner[/quote'] I thought you believed in karma (original post) and didn't let it spoil your day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 What can you expect, the UK is a 3rd world country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 Exploding wing mirrors is the way forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Balls Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 if that had been on a match day & you said it was possibly down by football fans,a whole task force would have been set up to nail the bastards. Exactly what I was going to say. If football fans COULD have been responsible, they'll be all over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 Let's be honest here, in this day and age, a couple of thugs trashing a few cars is no longer a criminal offence - it's purely a case of high jinks. You shouldn't have parked it there in the first place, it's fair game - let the insurance company sort it out. To the man in the street, there is total confusion as to what the police are actually willing to 'investigate' - it's about time somebody drew a line under the whole fiasco that is the 'law' and stated what their remit actually covers. That way we could all stop wasteing the polices time with pointless telephone calls when we have been, mugged or burgled. For the record, had you caught the thugs that were trashing your car, and given them a hiding - I wonder if the police would have been interested then? I wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 Let's be honest here, in this day and age, a couple of thugs trashing a few cars is no longer a criminal offence - it's purely a case of high jinks. You shouldn't have parked it there in the first place, it's fair game - let the insurance company sort it out. but surely if you don't report it to the police and get the bit of paper then the insurance company won't pay? Happened to me when I was on a deplacement somewhere in the Midlands, hotel secure car park,the old C4 trashed a bit,window smashed for no reason etc etc. Reported it to the OB and claimed on the insurance. A good few months later got a court paper saying that XXX and YYY had been found guilty of smashing up my car(and a lot of others) and that they would be paying me about £1000 over time, never ever saw a penny of it now that I come to think on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimond Geezer Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 Let's be honest here, in this day and age, a couple of thugs trashing a few cars is no longer a criminal offence - it's purely a case of high jinks. You shouldn't have parked it there in the first place, it's fair game - let the insurance company sort it out. Yes it is a crime, it's called criminal damage, as I'm sure you're aware any claim made on an insurance policy will almost inevitably result in higher premiums for the claimant (the victim), why should he be out of pocket because some little thug decided he didn't like his wing mirrors. I assume you are joking when you said he shouldn't be parking his car in a car park, and IIRC paying for the pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 6 March, 2012 Share Posted 6 March, 2012 How did that zero tolerance idea work out in Middlesborough? Was there any improvement in reducing crime rates or did it not go ahead or last for long? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londonsaint1604 Posted 7 March, 2012 Share Posted 7 March, 2012 When I was a kid we used to nick car badges for a laugh. We used to do that after a mate showed us a badge he'd taken from a ford that had been nicked and abandoned somewhere. But it didn't last long because we did it in broad daylight down our narrow road with terraced houses on both sides. That was a bad day for all concerned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted 7 March, 2012 Share Posted 7 March, 2012 The problem isn't the police its the CPS. The police could investigate the criminal damage, get the fingerprints of the chav that did it and arrest him. Chances are he did it, police know that, but the CPS would have none of it. They are the one's who prosecute, not the police, if the CPS aren't confident in a conviction they will TELL the police to take no further action, nothing they can do about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu0x Posted 7 March, 2012 Share Posted 7 March, 2012 To this day I`m still wondering is leaving the scene of a accident a crime ? Considering the lorry driver knew he had bashed my car. Not in these circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 7 March, 2012 Share Posted 7 March, 2012 The problem isn't the police its the CPS. The police could investigate the criminal damage, get the fingerprints of the chav that did it and arrest him. Chances are he did it, police know that, but the CPS would have none of it. They are the one's who prosecute, not the police, if the CPS aren't confident in a conviction they will TELL the police to take no further action, nothing they can do about it.the decision by the police to not come and take a print is not made by the CPS, the decision not to go to court will be. Take a print, perhaps the kid has a record, go round his house and ask him a few questions and perhaps he/she might think twice about doing it again. Maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 7 March, 2012 Share Posted 7 March, 2012 but surely if you don't report it to the police and get the bit of paper then the insurance company won't pay? Happened to me when I was on a deplacement somewhere in the Midlands, hotel secure car park,the old C4 trashed a bit,window smashed for no reason etc etc. Reported it to the OB and claimed on the insurance. A good few months later got a court paper saying that XXX and YYY had been found guilty of smashing up my car(and a lot of others) and that they would be paying me about £1000 over time, never ever saw a penny of it now that I come to think on it. Yes it is a crime, it's called criminal damage, as I'm sure you're aware any claim made on an insurance policy will almost inevitably result in higher premiums for the claimant (the victim), why should he be out of pocket because some little thug decided he didn't like his wing mirrors. I assume you are joking when you said he shouldn't be parking his car in a car park, and IIRC paying for the pleasure. It was a somewhat tongue in cheek / cynical view of this part of society today. I've come to accept that this sort of crime will probably never be addressed by the police - so why make it their remit. Why do insurance companies insist on a police number - whats the point. I've been to the police to report such incidents - 'thank you sir, your number is 1245 or whatever'. No interest whatsoever as to the cirmcumstances of the crime / damage / claim. So why not just take this burdon away from the police. Personally I hate this kind of criminality - but let's be honest, usually trying to get any sort of official retribution is normally a futile exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 7 March, 2012 Share Posted 7 March, 2012 It was a somewhat tongue in cheek / cynical view of this part of society today. I've come to accept that this sort of crime will probably never be addressed by the police - so why make it their remit. Why do insurance companies insist on a police number - whats the point. I've been to the police to report such incidents - 'thank you sir, your number is 1245 or whatever'. No interest whatsoever as to the cirmcumstances of the crime / damage / claim. So why not just take this burdon away from the police. Personally I hate this kind of criminality - but let's be honest, usually trying to get any sort of official retribution is normally a futile exercise. But in my case they did actually catch the criminals, or 2 young delinquents confessed to the crime as one of many others anyway.Whether the police found them by enquiries or whether they caught them red handed and the lads owned up as "other charges to be taken into consideration" I couldn't say.I was awarded reparative damages so in theory the Bill had done their job. The culprits probably got locked up for something else and never became solvent enough to pay up I suppose. I just sent all the guff to the insurance and as they'd already advanced me for the damages I never thought about it again,until yesterday that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted 8 March, 2012 Share Posted 8 March, 2012 the decision by the police to not come and take a print is not made by the CPS, the decision not to go to court will be. Take a print, perhaps the kid has a record, go round his house and ask him a few questions and perhaps he/she might think twice about doing it again. Maybe not. The choice to not try and get a fingerprint off of the car is indeed the police's, that choice is made because the CPS would not charge on that evidence, so what's the point? It's a waste if everyone's time. If they did take a print and the Chav already had a record, the fact they have done it again already kinda answers your question about them thinking twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted 8 March, 2012 Share Posted 8 March, 2012 TIC's have been with us for decades and in general only serve to distort crime so ex figures. If you are trying to solve a murder enquiry then any similarity in modus operandi can prove invaluable but when your run of the mill petty (lol) crim is sat in the interview room and has it put to him or her that a lesser sentence can be guaranteed by fessing to a few dozen similar crimes in their vicinity they will bite your hand off. It's not an irony, it's a shameful but accepted method of clearing the 'unsolved' books. It's institutionalised, it's rife and it is the reason that our Bobbys on the beat no longer exist. I grew up wanting to be a fine upstanding copper, being too tall was in hindsight a lucky escape I reckon. I have immense respect for the copper on the street as their mere presence offers reassurance to a community, albeit a false confidence as even petty crims appear know their stuff to the letter nowadays. Anyway, all possession is theft in the eyes of the lord so see it as a test of your mettle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 8 March, 2012 Share Posted 8 March, 2012 A few years ago I used to drive an old Triumph Vitesse which had old style chrome 'bullet' wing mirrors. They were like a magnet for every meathead in a 20 mile radius. They got smashed (not stolen) five times in 10 months, with modern cars either side untouched. Could never understand why people can be so mindless they have to destroy anything that is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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