I cautioned a 17 year old lad recently. What was slightly unusual was that it was for Grievous Bodily Harm, Threatening Behaviour and resisting arrest. He had been drinking with friends in a park on a Saturday afternoon. They decided to go into town for a burger. In a busy takeaway on a Saturday afternoon he decided he didn’t like someone. There was no reasoning behind it. He started pushing another lad around. Families scattered, lots of threatening abuse and frightened kids. The other lad didn’t want to get involved and just kept asking him to leave him alone. The drunken yob eventually punches the victim in the face knocking him over and he cracks his head on a table leaving him requiring 8 stitches. The offender then runs off but is followed by CCTV and the police turn up and arrest him. He decides he wants to fight and there is a scuffle and he ends up handcuffed.
The police take statements, seize CCTV, seize victims and offenders clothing and cover all the bases to get this lad charged. There is a problem though. He has no previous convictions. CPS decide he must be cautioned. Three times the case is referred back to the CPS but they would not budge.
I do feel sorry for the victims who have said that they feel the police have only carried out cursory investigations before cautioning offenders for theft and assaults. I hope victims understand that we have put up with this position for years. As soon as an offender is booked into custody a check of previous convictions is carried out. If the offender has no convictions, unless the offence is murder, manslaughter or rape, they will almost inevitably be cautioned. It is pointless spending hours and hours building the case. If the offender is making admissions, you can hardly blame us if we caution them and move on to the next case. Is this justice for some of our victims? Of course not. Many first time offenders quite rightly deserve a chance and cautioning them is the right thing to do but for many they should be in Court.
The media has at last picked up the fact that offenders are being cautioned for serious offences and have made a fuss about this. Inevitably we have had strong words from the Government about how things have gone astray but it is going to change. I am afraid nothing will change. Our prisons are too full and the Government don’t want more offenders in Court. I can only tell you that we will carry on arresting offenders and hope that eventually victims will see some justice done.
The police take statements, seize CCTV, seize victims and offenders clothing and cover all the bases to get this lad charged. There is a problem though. He has no previous convictions. CPS decide he must be cautioned. Three times the case is referred back to the CPS but they would not budge.
I do feel sorry for the victims who have said that they feel the police have only carried out cursory investigations before cautioning offenders for theft and assaults. I hope victims understand that we have put up with this position for years. As soon as an offender is booked into custody a check of previous convictions is carried out. If the offender has no convictions, unless the offence is murder, manslaughter or rape, they will almost inevitably be cautioned. It is pointless spending hours and hours building the case. If the offender is making admissions, you can hardly blame us if we caution them and move on to the next case. Is this justice for some of our victims? Of course not. Many first time offenders quite rightly deserve a chance and cautioning them is the right thing to do but for many they should be in Court.
The media has at last picked up the fact that offenders are being cautioned for serious offences and have made a fuss about this. Inevitably we have had strong words from the Government about how things have gone astray but it is going to change. I am afraid nothing will change. Our prisons are too full and the Government don’t want more offenders in Court. I can only tell you that we will carry on arresting offenders and hope that eventually victims will see some justice done.
By default then, we, the innocent are forced to live amongst known violent offenders in what amounts to an open prison.
ReplyDeleteNice
Interesting article. A few weeks ago I nipped out to our local shops for some cigs, there was a gang of drunken youths and girls hanging around outside as usual, they came into the shop and started swearing and abusing the lady behind the counter, I said "mind your language youth" to one half-caste lad, within seconds six of them were dragging me out onto the street, they were screaming and baying like hyenas, and I expected that I'd be the next morning's headlines and that by the time the cops showed up about all they'd be able to do was go to the wife to tell her I'd been kicked to death. Fortunately for me some passers-by saw what was happening and stepped in, pulled them off, i escaped with a fractured skull, a broken wrist and two broken ribs and waited in the shop till the cops turned up. When the police finally arrived, thirty-five minutes later, they walked right past the drunken jeering youths and went to arrest me, no questions, just a "right you you're coming with us!" and were quite unwilling to accept that I was the victim despite my cuts and bruises until the shop owner pointed out that I (miidle-aged white man) been sticking up for her. Already turning into farce, the sorry tale was topped off by one of the coppers turning to me and saying, "well we'll be off as it's all calmed down now" (I was pouring with blood by this point) and when I said that I wanted to make a complaint of assault, they looked at each other and said (I kid you not) "well sir, we can't arrest them as we haven't got the facilities to deal with six of them..." then they got in their car and drove off.
ReplyDeleteLater on that night, after several hours in casualty, I came home to find a message on my answer machine; a "courtesy call" from Staffordshire Police saying that they were busy and wouldn't be able to get to me to take a statement.
No offence to you personally, but this is why the public have utterly lost faith in the Police - they never turn up on time and if they do they get it wrong or simply don't give a damn, yet god forbid I should set a speed camera off or headlight bulb fail.
Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteIt says alot about how police have to adapt to the rest of the criminal justice system--so that effort and resources are not wasted, but used more effectively in other activities.
Great post. The problem with Panorama type programs is they focus too much on the Chief Officers, heads of CPS and the like, giving the impression that the frontline copper is as responsible as the system you are forced to implement.
ReplyDeleteThis is a clear case of your common sense policing being over ruled by a CPS system that is out of touch with what the public wants.
The sad part is, the majority of coppers want these yobs brought before the courts to face real justice, as your comments show. Good for you mate, you did all that could have been expected of you, it's the CPS tossers that let the side down. A great example for the public to see what is really wrong with the system.
Off topic, we received this Police Shooting video today... Well worth a look, and proof that what you think you see at first isn't always the full story .....
http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com/2009/11/police-shooting-watch-video-before-you.html
Brilliant posting... and it just goes to show that sometimes no matter how hard we try we still cannot do what is right!
ReplyDeleteIt's like when the CPS refuse to charge even if you DO have the evidence as the likely outcome in court won't be favourable..
On another note I scrolled down further today and saw the fish for the first time so I clicked in there.. I didn't know that you could get things like that, it is quite funny. Thanks for a moment of amusement in an otherwise trying and dully day.
I totally understand the difficulties that police are in and the ratio of incidents, criminals to police and time taken to pursue everyone to the end.
ReplyDeleteI do think with agravated behaviour which is destructive/disruptive and threatening perpetrators shoudl go to some workshops to change behaviour. Run by those who have been there - older wiser men and those who understand the culture and pressures and maybe types who guys would look upto. Not sociologist councillors just out of university where violence and street are just a theoretical concept. Many guys have asked me how they get out of the male, gang, group cultre where if they are not "in" they are "out." and are expected to get involved in things even of they don't want for group "pride."
Also, I know you ask for understanding. but as child and female I found and still find that policemen support, condoned and actively involved in violence against women and sexual abuse of women and children. I have nothing but horror stories about you and the police and IPCC support of police abuse of women and children.
I decided that men were wicked and evil when aged three, at age 6 I belived that policemen were wicked and cruel and decided never to have children or marry. It would be better for all women and children not to be born or die at birth. I only associate you with wickedness and evil and now have such horrific backlash whenever I see a uniform that I would never got ot you no matter what. I would not even go to you about child abuse as I know child rape victims who have been treated worse by the police and told they were very good little girls for not fighting back and say it is OK now your done. No reason to take it forward. Police supprot violence against women and sexual assualt of women and children and even babies. Always have and always will. No other experience and witness for over 50 years. the rot continues. Put us down. Put a bullet through our heads the minute we walk through the door to complain abotu male abuse. Beter to be dead than under a policeman who enjoys hearing about the violence and pain you have gone through.
The CPS is probably here to stay, since lawyers breed like MRSA and are as difficult to get rid off. The best we can hope for is that the decision whether to prosecute is at least handed back to coppers, rather than left to faceless bean counters whose "street" experience consists of scurrying across the office car part from their Audis.
ReplyDeleteThat's the hope. What I expect is that we'll continue to play catch-up with the US law industry and end up with some half-arsed version of "district attorneys" but (in best British fashion) implemented as quangos run by the usual collection of yoghurt knitters and Nice-But-Dims.
And when victims finally have had enough & become vigilantes will you & your Plod pals feel ashamed that you never had the guts to stand up & support the victimes in the first place? Or will you be racing round like mindless robots arresting victims who have finally turned on the little turds & ticking your little boxes?
ReplyDeleteI blogged this before I read Anon's comments, honest!
ReplyDeletePS. Very sorry to hear of your awful incident `Anon` @ Wed 18th.
ReplyDeleteWait until you see the half chad little cunt crossing the road Anon and speed up, send him flying like a rag doll. Few points on the license, job's a gud un. Should be an easy target as they are all the same arrogant shits crossing the road with back to traffic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good wishes, chaps and chapettes (I am anon from Wed 18th)
ReplyDeleteI still can't walk properly nor can i see out of my right eye yet, but the thought had occurred to me of perhaps completely accidentally temporarily losing control of my car on a wet, dark night should one of the evil scrotes happen cross my path.
As a yet further disappointing update, I have just been informed that the local plod are classing this as an "undetected crime" and filing it even though they have the scum on cctv and know who they are! I narrowly avoid almost certain death, only thanks to some passers-by, suffer significant injuries, I'm going to be off work for months, feel totally helpless and vulnerable, but the plod can't be bothered? But you can guarantee (and this has been confirmed to me) that if I'd belted one of these little rats as I really wish that i had done, I'd have been prosecuted for an assault on a minor, regardless of what the scum did to me. Well stuff that, I'm getting a Taser from the States, and sod it being illegal, I'm not going out again to be another victim or headline, if the Govt and the Police can't or won't protect us, we'll protect ourselves. Hopefully when this Liebore shower get thrown out, we might get back to some proper policing in this ruined country (doubt it though with that EU human rights rubbish)