Police response
 

Last night my pub was robbed, clearly a professional job, minimal damage and mess. They only took unopened bottles of spirits and wines and unopened cases of beers and minerals. Approx loss £1000.
Phoned the police this morning and was given a crime reference number and told to take photograhs and report it to the insurance company. Also informed that no officer would be attending.

Would this be the same in Spain?

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No.

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Well, I'm not so sure.

Two nights ago, at 11:30pm, we had our gate bell rung. I went down to the gate to find a VERY distressed (Portuguese) lady (about 30) sobbing her heart out.

To cut a long story short, she was from Portugal and she had come here with her husband to see a lawyer about a divorce and to pick up her daughter who she had legal custody of.

Going past our house her and her husband had a row where he had threatened to kill her. Because of this she had jumped out of the moving car - he then drove off without returning - she was cut, bruised and complaining of being beaten up!


I called the local police who were not interested as it was a 'matrimonial problem'! They suggested I went to the national if she was prepared to denounce him. I then drove her into town to the national police where I was told that they were not interested as it was a local matter and that I should go to the local police.

In my best Spanglish, I swore at them about the situation - a young woman had been threatened, she was from Portugal so a long way from home, had all her documents/money/suitcase/phone taken by her husband and they weren't interested:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:


Just what should she have done in that situation? The police even told me that I should not have opened my door to her! I would like to think that if my wife or daughter ever needed help, someone would stop to assist and that the police would help in some way!

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I'm sorry but which country did this happen in?

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Stuboy that just sounds like a very poor service to me I assume they entered premises to steal the property? which would make it a burglary and should be examined for forensics at least. i am also assuming you are speaking of this being in the UK? If so I would be complaing to your local Police authority

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Yes - it is the same in Spain, it's happened to me.

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no Spanish experience, but 2 instances in uk was just a statistic, although neither were robbery.

and they wonder why we have no respect for them when they pull us for speeding 5-10mph over the limit.

What did the Chief Constable say when you foned him ??

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This is a very recent Spanish example. A local shopping centre suddenly suffered a number of arson attacks on pubs and restaurants, almost on a nightly basis. The premises attacked were Indian, Spanish, Chinese and Colombian. There were all sorts of petitions and money was collected for CCTV cameras.

People wondered at the inactivity of the local police and the Guardia Civil, until they arrested the arsonist responsible. I don't know what took them so long. it was just too obvious. While all the other premises were set on fire nightly, dozens of times, a little Brit bar in the corner, in a really stupid place that never got the sun, remained untouched.

The owner has now been arrested and is in custody.

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UK, Chichester

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I agree, It is generally considered unwise for a publican to complain about the police. My friend (a fellow publican) did so and he got a surprising amount of police presence for a while in his car park. At one stage they put reflective orange stickers onto the back of customers cars so they could easily identify which cars had left the pub car park.

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is that legal ?

and they want our co-operation and support.:frown:

funny how things are different if they use your pub themselves, but then they only drink where retired coppers are behind the bar...

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Not investigating burglary's orange stickers on the back of cars parked in car parks all sounds bizarre to me

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all to do with the Club of Funny Handshakes....;)

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I think in the UK it's a lot to do with police numbers, the first time my UK house was burgled, I had detectives, SoC, taking details, dusting for fingerprints, the whole enchilada. The second time, some 8 months later, I just had a single PC visit, took details, gave me a crime number, the next two tmes no-onr visited, just got given crime numer over the phone. Police numbers were under pressure at that time, and they were being told to concentrate on more important crimes.

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Remnant of the Islamic invasion 711 AD:- Women are worthless

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I admit openly I don't know what the situation is in other EU countries, but Spain has 3 or 4 layers of Police, so they would appear to have more people to put on the ground.

But as all Brits say, they have enough to put out on stamping down on certain aspects of car crime, also filling the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights (am I being cynical in suggesting that is overtime?), and when the local football team plays at home.
and forensics is a costly and complex part of crime prevention and investigation. But without investigating these matters they lose their credibility with the people, and an opportunity to gain the evidence for a successful prosecution.

No crime is "victimless"

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I could be wrong but I believe in England the police work on a points system, the greater the numer of points the crime accumulates the more chance of it being dealt with.
It could be the same in Spain,do not know.

Graham

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It works the other way too, if a force is under pressure to use statistics to improve numbers they will have a crackdown on easy targets such as motorists. The problem is that whatever the police concentrate on they will be castigated.

Graham

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I believe a police officer is employed under a warrant, the terms of which state that a police officer should report\investigate any crime they may see at any time.
How can crimes be cherry picked, a crime is a crime, just some crimes are worth more in the publicity stakes than others. (my apologies to George Orwell)

they are at the mercy of statistics and politicians, my county has one of the lowest heads per 1000 population, but the politicians have steadfastly refused to increase it based on rising population, based on their own figures for influx of migrants who are bringing their own style of crime to our streets, just like the Brits did to CDS,.

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Can only speak of my own area, as has been stated no crime is victimless all burglaries including shed burglaries are visited and created as priority 2 in order to assess/preserve evidence. A Police Officer visits every scene and makes an assessment as to forensic evidence if any chance at all SOCO attend. Some times it has all ready been lost weather time to report etc. All criminal acts get a visit by an officer that is anything that would be a criminal act that is even when a person reports one then changes there mind they must be seen to retract and sign their initial account of a crime being committed. Obviously other force areas work differently from what has been said.
As for the oath an officer takes well it is freely available to view online here is the current one which par for the course now includes human rights


I, .. .. of .. .. do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the Queen in the office of constable, with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, upholding fundamental human rights and according equal respect to all people; and that I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property; and that while I continue to hold the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law."

I have never heard of a points system for policing

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I can assure you that the burglary from my pub was given a priority of 5 and definitely not 2. How do I know? Because the police turned up today and I saw the police transcript on the desk, It seems another pub was robbed last night in the area and it appears the MO was the same. They have a suspect for that burglary and were keen to take a statement from me.

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lets do him for as many as possible that means the figures will look good
its called policing by numbers
:eek:

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It's also a pretty daft comment.

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To be honest that comment is not worth answering, what do you want the police to do if someone admits further offences ignore them.

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Sorry HBG must have been typing at the same time

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come on guys, you especially HBG should know that used to go on, it may well do under some new "initiative"

remember the OP ? You know the guy who had a break in and was just given a crime number, until it proved convenient. And he said they had a second break in with a similar MO. all of a sudden he is flavour of the week.

All forces are different in how they respond, but sorry guys, this isnt the policing the Great British Public expect.

by all means take it as a daft comment

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Well, I can't resist it and will probably get into more trouble. You say that I know what used to go on. I certainly do.

I've seen acts of bravery that would make your head spin. To list them here would take forever. I'm sure they're on Google somewhere.

A really good pal of mine died recently. He had 24 commendations for bravery and some medals to go with it. If any member of the great British public was ever in trouble when he was around, they could rest assured that he would lay down his life for them.

(I don't like being morose and would advise the troublemaker who started this thread to sell his pub in that beautiful part of the UK and buy one in Els Poblets, the German crossroads among the orange groves of Denia. 'Bei Stuart' would be a lovely name for it, but he would have to learn German).

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You won't get in trouble with me - I am naive, I served the colours, I believe that any who wear the Queens uniform will be there to serve and protect the GBP, who are often too quick to turn their backs when they want to, when it is convenient to them, That is a cross we have to bear.
But let anyone irrespective of uniform who takes the micky whilst in that uniform, who misbehaves with the trust I and others have put in them, then I will be as relentless as you to ensure they get the payback they richly deserve.

budgets get cut, goalposts get moved, initiatives come and go, but the GBP must never see that members of a uniformed service can't be bothered.

rgds

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I've had the misfortune to have had numerous dealings with the boys in green here and have experienced both ends of the spectrum.

Aside from the fact that I've been stopped more times than I care to recall whilst driving here in Spain (the majority of those random paperwork checks and breathaliser tests) I've suffered 2 burglaries and one physical assault following a forced entry into my house.

For one of the burglaries, the Guardia were pretty good - it was they who discovered it, traced me (in the middle of the night) across a provincial border and waited at the crime scene for me to arrive. No fingerprinting or owt tho.

The other burglary, they couldn't have cared less. The track to the property was muddy at the time, it was raining and they refused to get out of their vehicle to even visit the premises, never mind owt else. They didn't have the requisite wellies apparently (despite me having advised them they would be needed) and didn't want to get their uniforms and shoes dirty. They said they'd return at a later date...still waiting, over a year later ;o)

With regards to the physical assault, the Guardia arrived promptly and dealt with the situation. They, even now, call me every couple of months to check if I'm ok. The assault occurred in 2009 however - and I'm still waiting for it to go to court...

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During the last burglary at my house in Spain, before the Doberman arrived, there was a fracas involving three Algerians who had got into my house. The Guardia Civil arrived promptly, just as I was trying to climb back over the wall into my property, having chased off the said Algerians.

I stood very still, in just my underpants, with two cocked police revolvers feet away from my chest. I knew that the younger one was about to pull the trigger, when the older one growled something which made him stop. He said something involving 'ojos', but I didn't get the rest of it. I've got blue eyes.

Once it was all explained to them, they drove off looking for the three burglars. I'm sorry but I can't put this any other way, but they found them and shot one of them dead. I had to make the identification later, which is how I knew them to be Algerians.

That was eight years ago and we've had no trouble since, although we got ourselves a Doberman.

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I might do that one day. As for troublemaker, thats a bit harsh.

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I was jesting, about both. If you do want to try it in Spain, go big, get a Spanish partner and open a disco or entertainment venue in a place like Benidorm.

You'll have a load of hassle, but at least you're getting paid for it. You might have to pay Sticky Vicky 100 Euros for her half-hour slot, which you'll take back in ten minutes.

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I have no intention of opening a bar/disco in Benidorm. It's hard enough doing it in the UK where one is familiar with all the rules,regs,language,customs etc.

Bei Stuart? Now your'e talking