Our police need to get their priorities straight August 7, 2008

Some categories: ranting & raving. Some tags: , . And exactly 1 rambling response.

I was in London for two days last week, and I was shocked by what happened on one of our bus journeys:

Firstly, a whole team (not just one, about 5, plus a police officer and some bouncer guy) of, yes, ticket inspectors got on our bus. They discovered one man who hadn’t swiped his Oyster card, and the card was empty/faulty. He put up a tiny argument, refusing the 20 pound fine. This was fine, he wasn’t violent or anything like that, just angry.

Then it happened, after about 5 minutes of agruing, the bus was ordered by the ticket inspectors to stop. However, was the man made to get off? No. Was every single paying customer? Yes. What is wrong with the police? The priority is to the public, not the criminal! When he eventually gave in, they even allowed him to finish the journey.

This is what should have happened: he argues, police/ticket inspectors give up, smack him round the face with their batons, and drag him onto the street where they wait for more police to prosecute him. Meanwhile the paying customers get to our destination on time.

We need to be tougher on criminals in the UK, police need more power, more respect. Currently they seem to remain as the laughing stock of the country.