As I've mentioned already, one afternoon about six months ago a car demolished the low garden wall at the front of my house. After I heard a terrific bang, I went out to see what had happened, and saw that the driver had driven on about 40 yards further down our street, and was staring up at one of the houses. When I got closer to him, I realised he'd been drinking. He was completely oblivious to what he'd just done, and was much more interested in confronting an ex-girlfriend who'd apparently just dumped him. (She wasn't in, as a matter of fact.) After threatening me, he calmed down, and gave me his details, but only on the understanding that I wouldn't call the police. (I had no intention of honouring that particular promise.)
After a few more minutes, the girlfriend arrived with her parents; he drove off without speaking to her. I rang 999, not because of the damage to the wall (which will cost £5,000 to rebuild) but because he looked and smelt way over the limit, and was clearly a menace to anyone on the road. The girlfriend's mother also told me that they were considering taking out a restraining order against him because of his past behaviour.
Over four hours later, a PC turned up and just about summoned up the energy to take a statement from me. One of the first things he said was that he'd forgotten to bring a camera to take a picture of the damage. When I asked him if he was going to speak to the girlfriend, he said he wouldn't because he didn't want to get the cases mixed up with each other. And because of the time that had elapsed, it was too late to breathlyze the driver. Frankly, he seemed less than interested in the whole affair.
I've now had a letter from the police telling me the driver's punishment (for careless driving, I assume) involved attending a one and a half day driver improvement course, arranged "as an alternative to prosecution".
A year or so ago, I was caught on a speed camera doing 37mph in a 30mph zone late at night when there were no pedestrians or other cars around. As a result, I ended up being sent on a one-day driver's course.
Something isn't quite right here.
The third paragraph of the following report might provide some scant consolation for the sorry state of affairs described above). Rest assured that such travesties are not a purely British phenomenon. I was assaulted three years ago in the Netherlands by a drunken Dutch neighbour (one with previous convictions and experience of prison). Nine blows to my face were punished by conditional fine of 300 euros. Here's to lightning not striking twice!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=426650&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5
Posted by: Liam | Tuesday, January 09, 2007 at 06:23 PM
... and your wall still isn't fixed.
They should have sentenced him to dealing with the insurance company regarding the wall repair.
Posted by: Patti | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 03:41 PM
Good idea, but his lawyer would probably say it's cruel and unusual punishment...
Posted by: Clive | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 04:44 PM
You don't say how or if you managed to conceal your rage against the PC who showed up four hours later, camera-less -- that is, if you felt rage, or only resignation. Obviously getting mad at the police would achieve less than nothing, but I don't think I could have controlled myself. I guess the frustration is better directed at your nearest local elected official. Or does that seem pointless as well?
Not long ago I had cause to seek the attention of the police to something here in my home of New York City, and I must say I was very pleasantly impressed by how quick and responsive they were. And it was an issue that required significant resources and time. I probably wasn't the only complainant, but they took the trouble to call a couple of weeks later and let me know what they had accomplished. Of-course, in the U.S., the effectiveness of police departments varies by locale, and the prevailing notions of law enforcement.
Your post over at the Daily Dish on local crime and the oppressive thuggery you sometimes encounter was chilling as well. If Rudy Giuliani doesn't end up running for president, maybe he could be coaxed to run for mayor of London.
Posted by: Sean aka RWB | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 05:34 PM
Well, by the end I wasn't doing very well at hiding my irritation. I tried to keep it bottled up at first, partly because he had a trainee PC with him, partly because I've had the same frustrating experience a few times before when dealing with the police. Later on, I gave him a much harder time on the phone, and did the same with his supervisor. Not that it had any effect: they insisted they'd handled it all according to the book. I appreciate they're overstretched, and that they have much more serious cases to worry about, but the jobsworth, "not much we can do about it, guv" school of policing isn't the way to win over the public.
Posted by: Clive Davis | Wednesday, January 10, 2007 at 08:53 PM