Mindless

[Wheelsnuts]

Last Saturday night 12 or more cars in our village had their wing mirrors smashed. This wasn't one incident in a car park, but throughout the village. So a bunch of mindless morons had been on the rampage. One of the 'victims' was my daughter's A Class. Luckily the mirror sprang out of its fixing and could be reinstated without damage but at least two Audis and one Merc have sustained over £200 of damage each. The police are convinced it's the work of a gang of youths following a party that broke up in the early hours. It appears that they may have some cctv footage but nothing adequate for identification. What on earth motivates these people?

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Alcohol.

 

[ras8963]

Disappointing....

They have video footage but cant use the super dooper video enhancing technology to identify the culprits ....or maybe its just tfd.

Police effort V level of crime, the ratio always makes me suspicious of plod im afraid......not that im saying they did it themselves of course

ATB

 

[Laters]

I had the rear spoiler of my c class ripped off in a similar incident a while back where they went through the entire estate removing wing/door mirrors spoilers and aerials from any cars they passed.
Pretty much every car on my street got some damage. There was a trail of broken glass on the route they took.
Police were called & also has some ropey cctv but never found anyone sadly.

More recently my car was keyed down one side from front wing to rear door down to bare metal. Pretty obvious it wasn't a accident as they had a couple of go's on the front door.
Police were called and even though there was a nice hand print or two where the culprit had leaned against the car didn't want to attend. After making a fuss on the phone they sent a s.o.c.o. to photo the damage and she told me that cps wouldn't prosecute unless they had a witness as well as prints. Sadly no witness came forward and where the car was scratched outside of my inlaws house no cctv either.

I don't get what they get out of damaging peoples cars.

 

[Wheelsnuts]

Alcohol.

I agree: I must admit the question was rhetorical. Alcohol surely plays a significant part. But some people get drunk and friendly, others just pass out but the moronic element become aggressive and destructive!

 

[KennyN]

A similar thing happened a few weeks back to our friends but the local scum scratched their gangs name into the bodywork of a bunch of cars along their road in Barrhead.

Kenny

 

[dozypillock]

The kicking mirrors off was apparently in a film, cannot remember which one, that encouraged the "yoofs" in the film, to try and drop kick a mirror off in one kick. This was a few years ago, and I have noticed more and more cars now have folding mirrors. I think there was a bit of an epidemic of this a few years ago. As for aerials, I thought most modern cars either had them on the roof?....or built into the screens?
Best advice is do not live on a walk home route from a pub?

Neil

 

[Laters]

The kicking mirrors off was apparently in a film, cannot remember which one, that encouraged the "yoofs" in the film, to try and drop kick a mirror off in one kick. This was a few years ago, and I have noticed more and more cars now have folding mirrors. I think there was a bit of an epidemic of this a few years ago. As for aerials, I thought most modern cars either had them on the roof?....or built into the screens?
Best advice is do not live on a walk home route from a pub?

Neil

That's the very thing they were doing and if the mirror didn't come off that's when they found something else to rip off.
As for the aerials they pulled the aerial of swmbo Nissan micra after they failed with the door mirror on that one too, and yes the aerial is roof mounted they snapped the plastic mount from the roof. Luckily it was easy to change and pennies unlike the spoiler on my c class.
As for the walk home from the pub, no local pub within a mile either way so not that

 

[Giantvanman]

Disappointing....

They have video footage but cant use the super dooper video enhancing technology to identify the culprits ....or maybe its just tfd.

Police effort V level of crime, the ratio always makes me suspicious of plod im afraid......not that im saying they did it themselves of course

ATB

^:fail

Everyone is an armchair expert relating to the police it seems which coincidentally is where the very same people seem to glean most of their insights and knowledge from….I refer to the screen on the wall/in the corner, of course.

 

[Giantvanman]

Police were called and even though there was a nice hand print or two where the culprit had leaned against the car didn't want to attend. After making a fuss on the phone they sent a s.o.c.o. to photo the damage and she told me that cps wouldn't prosecute unless they had a witness as well as prints.

As an insight, the reason this situation exists is down to defence lawyers and barristers. It goes like this:
My client was in that road and did touch the car but by accident when (insert any plausible excuse such as tripping, being pushed, being intoxicated and stumbling). At no time did he cause damage. Had he, then this fine young man would have left a note or tried to locate the owner to report the matter. Furthermore, had he seen anyone damaging this or any other car, he would have tried to apprehend the suspect or at least alerted the police.
The court swallows it hook and line because of reasonable doubt.

Common sense and 'knowing' have no place in law and scum (and the people who make a living representing them) are aware and exploit it. Even previous convictions wouldn't help in these cases.

And this sad state of affairs does not sit any better with police officers than it does with victims like yourself. They are caught between the public, the CPS, senior officers, pressure groups and a system weighted heavily in favour the suspect.
In addition there is always an armchair expert who knows exactly that the police should do and how to do it (not aimed at you in any way) because they have watched CSI Miami or Spooks.

 

[E55BOF]

Sadly, the only effective answer is a gurt big ugly b******d with a baseball bat minding your car...

Even if you did get lucky and there was a successful prosecution, they, their families and their mates know where you and your car live. Not worth it.

 

[meeeb]

As an insight, the reason this situation exists is down to defence lawyers and barristers. It goes like this:
My client was in that road and did touch the car but by accident when (insert any plausible excuse such as tripping, being pushed, being intoxicated and stumbling). At no time did he cause damage. Had he, then this fine young man would have left a note or tried to locate the owner to report the matter. Furthermore, had he seen anyone damaging this or any other car, he would have tried to apprehend the suspect or at least alerted the police.
The court swallows it hook and line because of reasonable doubt.

Common sense and 'knowing' have no place in law and scum (and the people who make a living representing them) are aware and exploit it. Even previous convictions wouldn't help in these cases.

And this sad state of affairs does not sit any better with police officers than it does with victims like yourself. They are caught between the public, the CPS, senior officers, pressure groups and a system weighted heavily in favour the suspect.
In addition there is always an armchair expert who knows exactly that the police should do and how to do it (not aimed at you in any way) because they have watched CSI Miami or Spooks.

Regrettably people have, through ignorance of the judicial system and, to put it politely, lack of imagination, a totally unrealistic expectation of the police.

It would benefit such people to go sit in a court every now and then and see just how soft and gullible are magistrates and judges, and how difficult it is to secure a conviction, even with what appears to be cast-iron evidence.

As a simple but common and frustrating illustration, not related to the unfortunate circumstances recounted by the thread-starter, one only needs to look at cases of 'drink-driving' to see how flimsy a defence will succeed in getting an acquittal for a potential killer.

 

[Giantvanman]

Regrettably people have, through ignorance of the judicial system and, to put it politely, lack of imagination, a totally unrealistic expectation of the police.

It would benefit such people to go sit in a court every now and then and see just how soft and gullible are magistrates and judges, and how difficult it is to secure a conviction, even with what appears to be cast-iron evidence.

As a simple but common and frustrating illustration, not related to the unfortunate circumstances recounted by the thread-starter, one only needs to look at cases of 'drink-driving' to see how flimsy a defence will succeed in getting an acquittal for a potential killer.

Understandably having been fed a steady diet of 'cop shows', there is the belief that the police have the latest, most up to date and effective equipment available. Real James Bond 'do a little keyboard dance and everything is there to see' kind of thing. The reality is, governed by the lowest bid price because it is public money, they are hamstrung with outdated IT equipment and stupidly poor software systems.

To put this in context, the current met commissioner, after a few months in office, vowed to ensure all officers had access to the internet to aid communication with outside agencies/people and to aid investigations (post code searches, voters, etc etc). Up until then, only a select few (relatively) had access. We are only talking three years ago when most didn't have access to the internet.

Then there is the software. For example, on completing a case file for submission to CPS, a set of electronic forms have to be completed. Two of them in particular, nine times in ten, will corrupt partway though completion. Saving the file and re-activating the macros to safeguard work results in the form having to filled in manually i.e. moving the cursor to each section via the mouse for every entry of which there can be hundreds. There is no way to use these forms efficiently so a fifteen minute task turns into an hour chore at best. It has been that way since the system was created some 20 years ago approximately.

Out of date, run down photocopiers, printers that are a decade old (shared amongst scores of people), maximum 5mb storage per PC on the server, 2mb max emailing capability and being forced to do all files electronically to send to the CPS to save the cost of paper……photographs included! All run from PC's that are least ten years but closer to twenty years out of date.

Hamstrung and harangued, unappreciated and criticised at every turn by 'armchair experts', treated like inconveniences at best by senior officers AND they have to deal with people that ordinary folk would cross the road to avoid.

They are not perfect but thank F there are still people out there willing to try to protect us, even if they are dealt a hand from a stacked deck at every turn and with no back up from their bosses, the government and dwindling support of the public.

 

[Wheelsnuts]

Just checked my wife's Saga car policy. It covers damage by vandalism without loss of no-claims discount. Worth thinking about next time I have to renew my policy.

 

[steve9bug]

Just no respect these days and the punishment is not hard enough when they get caught.

 

[Richiebuoy]

Understandably having been fed a steady diet of 'cop shows', there is the belief that the police have the latest, most up to date and effective equipment available. Real James Bond 'do a little keyboard dance and everything is there to see' kind of thing. The reality is, governed by the lowest bid price because it is public money, they are hamstrung with outdated IT equipment and stupidly poor software systems.

To put this in context, the current met commissioner, after a few months in office, vowed to ensure all officers had access to the internet to aid communication with outside agencies/people and to aid investigations (post code searches, voters, etc etc). Up until then, only a select few (relatively) had access. We are only talking three years ago when most didn't have access to the internet.

Then there is the software. For example, on completing a case file for submission to CPS, a set of electronic forms have to be completed. Two of them in particular, nine times in ten, will corrupt partway though completion. Saving the file and re-activating the macros to safeguard work results in the form having to filled in manually i.e. moving the cursor to each section via the mouse for every entry of which there can be hundreds. There is no way to use these forms efficiently so a fifteen minute task turns into an hour chore at best. It has been that way since the system was created some 20 years ago approximately.

Out of date, run down photocopiers, printers that are a decade old (shared amongst scores of people), maximum 5mb storage per PC on the server, 2mb max emailing capability and being forced to do all files electronically to send to the CPS to save the cost of paper……photographs included! All run from PC's that are least ten years but closer to twenty years out of date.

Hamstrung and harangued, unappreciated and criticised at every turn by 'armchair experts', treated like inconveniences at best by senior officers AND they have to deal with people that ordinary folk would cross the road to avoid.

They are not perfect but thank F there are still people out there willing to try to protect us, even if they are dealt a hand from a stacked deck at every turn and with no back up from their bosses, the government and dwindling support of the public.

Probably all very true, its a shame they cant afford up to date IT stuff to help catch low life's, maybe if they didn't spend so much on BMW, Audi, Volvo and other top of the range cars.......

 

[Scott_F]

Understandably having been fed a steady diet of 'cop shows', there is the belief that the police have the latest, most up to date and effective equipment available. Real James Bond 'do a little keyboard dance and everything is there to see' kind of thing. The reality is, governed by the lowest bid price because it is public money, they are hamstrung with outdated IT equipment and stupidly poor software systems.

To put this in context, the current met commissioner, after a few months in office, vowed to ensure all officers had access to the internet to aid communication with outside agencies/people and to aid investigations (post code searches, voters, etc etc). Up until then, only a select few (relatively) had access. We are only talking three years ago when most didn't have access to the internet.

Then there is the software. For example, on completing a case file for submission to CPS, a set of electronic forms have to be completed. Two of them in particular, nine times in ten, will corrupt partway though completion. Saving the file and re-activating the macros to safeguard work results in the form having to filled in manually i.e. moving the cursor to each section via the mouse for every entry of which there can be hundreds. There is no way to use these forms efficiently so a fifteen minute task turns into an hour chore at best. It has been that way since the system was created some 20 years ago approximately.

Out of date, run down photocopiers, printers that are a decade old (shared amongst scores of people), maximum 5mb storage per PC on the server, 2mb max emailing capability and being forced to do all files electronically to send to the CPS to save the cost of paper……photographs included! All run from PC's that are least ten years but closer to twenty years out of date.

Hamstrung and harangued, unappreciated and criticised at every turn by 'armchair experts', treated like inconveniences at best by senior officers AND they have to deal with people that ordinary folk would cross the road to avoid.

They are not perfect but thank F there are still people out there willing to try to protect us, even if they are dealt a hand from a stacked deck at every turn and with no back up from their bosses, the government and dwindling support of the public.

Absolute 'eroes they are, gawd bless 'em:

Generous pay and perks mean police officers are in top 20 per cent of earners | Daily Mail Online

More than 30 police officers paid more than Prime Minister - Telegraph

 

[Beetnik]

^:fail

Everyone is an armchair expert relating to the police it seems which coincidentally is where the very same people seem to glean most of their insights and knowledge from….I refer to the screen on the wall/in the corner, of course.

Non-armchair view concerning last two dealings with police:

1. Two 'yoofs' walking home from pub. One walks up to plate glass window of our shop and puts his fist through it. Witnessed by older bloke who follows him home, reports it to police and takes the trouble to pop round next day and let us have the details. Police, despite having description of said 'yoof', decline to pursue as the address to which the 'yoof' went was a block of four flats and they couldn't be sure which one he'd gone into which meant, and I kid you not, that they didn't know which door to knock on and weren't prepared to knock on them all. i.e. we can't be *rsed.

2. One cop walking past house on routine patrol. No tax disc in car window. Despite a) it being easy for him to check whether or not it was taxed (it was) and b) being aware that legislation meant that it wouldn't be very long before it wasn't a requirement to display (perhaps I'm being over generous to him and his knowledge of legislation) he chose to issue a ticket. Again, and maybe there's a moral here, he couldn't be *rsed to knock on the door to give a friendly warning.

£400 for the window and £60 for the ticket.

And my view? - I'll leave it for you to guess.

 

[Giantvanman]

^ Painting with a very wide tar brush there. And this " wouldn't be very long before it wasn't a requirement to display" combined with this "he couldn't be *rsed to knock on the door to give a friendly warning" proves the point really. It was still an offence but you thought he should have dealt with it differently and because he didn't, the officer got it wrong. Hmmmm.

 

[219]

On the other side of the coin , I remember reading an account of a burglary in our local village a couple of years back .

Said break-in took place during the winter and , when the local bobbies attended they simply followed the footprints in the snow , from the burgled house to the culprits one a couple of streets away , where 'Britain's dumbest criminals' were found in possession of the stolen items

Hardly needed Sherlock Holmes , but it nice to read of a result every once in a while