The behaviour of UK police officers.

[Nessie]

I agree - welfare checks when there isn't a worry about a possible crime shouldn't be done by the police at all, but we do know that there a lot of areas in which the police "pick up the slack" when it should be a different agencies' job.s

I did a welfare check on an elderly lady, reported by her family in England. The house was locked, we looked through the house windows, but saw nothing. A neighbour saw us and confirmed she had not seen the elderly lady for a few days, which was unusual. We said we did not want to break in to the house without checking as much as we could and could we borrow her ladder to look in the upper floor windows. The lady said yes and as we were carrying the ladder to the house, she said "would it not be easier if I gave you the spare key I have?" We searched then house and found her on the bathroom floor, still alive, just. I always thought that sort of welfare check is for family, neighbours and friends, but for some reason, many are reluctant, or just want the police to do it.

 

[zooterkin]

...
Have you any idea what it costs to signwrite a van like that? Its in the £thousands, and there were dozens of police vehicles signwritten like that.

Police bleat about not having the resources to do their job properly, and then they are engaging in an obscene waste of taxpayer moneyon this rubbish. Its unconscionable!!

Well, probably only one thousand for each, as they'll likely be vinyl wraps, and it doesn't look like a complete wrap.

How Much Does a Van Wrap Cost in 2026?

Planning a van wrap in 2026? Discover how much a van wrap costs, how partial and full wraps influence pricing, and the tactics to create a strong ROI!

www.complete-graphics.co.uk

 

[catsmate]

This is not true. The ONS does quarterly crime surveys which show crime trending downwards for the last 10 years or so, with the exception of fraud which has been trending upwards. The latest summary to March 2026 is here https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...ns/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2026

No - it is down, we use the recorded crimes and the national crime survey for England and Wales to track crime rates. From ONS: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...ns/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2026

ETA: Ninja'd

Ah, facts....

 

[smartcooky]

This is not true. The ONS does quarterly crime surveys which show crime trending downwards for the last 10 years or so, with the exception of fraud which has been trending upwards. The latest summary to March 2026 is here https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...ns/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2026

Show me where in the statistics are the figures for all the people who have been burgled, shoplifted, had their phones snatched in he street, etc, who never reported it to Police

 

[smartcooky]

The flaws with your demand, are that you are not investigating intent

We're told that intent is irrelevant (see the Lucy Connolly case, or the Graham Linehan case, or the case involving Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine) where they were arrested PURELY for WHAT they said not why they said it.

and you are ignoring that there are usually two sides to a story. Only a certain amount of enquiry can be done, without speaking to the accused. You are advocating for half arsed, incomplete investigations. Real police officers know that speaking to the accused and getting their side of the story, is a vital part of any investigation,

When intent is irrelevant, all they have to do is read the hurty words and make a decision based on that.

especially if the complainer is a bad actor and rather than being sent away with a flea in their ear, they can be charged with wasting the time of the police or perverting the course of justice.

All false complainers need to be charged (give them one freebie and after that they're toast).

Additionally, another police action I object to is accusing people of posting hurty words but refusing to reveal which post is the allegedly offending one, and who made the complaint. There should be no ability to make an anonymous complaint AND expect Police to take action on it. People have a right to know exactly what they have been accused of (the post, the platform, the date and the time) as well as the right to face their accuser.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Show me where in the statistics are the figures for all the people who have been burgled, shoplifted, had their phones snatched in he street, etc, who never reported it to Police

There are two surveys (It isn't something I particularly follow so I don't have the detail, @Nessie probably does) one is reported crime, the other is a random sampling of people to find out if they've experienced crime, reported or not. Also, people report crimes in a lot of cases for the crime number even if they don't expect anyone to show up. I remember when I had a car break in. The crime number was for the insurance, realistically I wasn't expecting a full CSI team for my favourite gloves and a £15 Tandy car stereo.

 

[ohms]

There are two surveys (It isn't something I particularly follow so I don't have the detail, @Nessie probably does) one is reported crime, the other is a random sampling of people to find out if they've experienced crime, reported or not. Also, people report crimes in a lot of cases for the crime number even if they don't expect anyone to show up. I remember when I had a car break in. The crime number was for the insurance, realistically I wasn't expecting a full CSI team for my favourite gloves and a £15 Tandy car stereo.

Yep, there's more about the Crime Survey for England and Wales here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_Survey_for_England_and_Wales

It's far from perfect (see the Limitations section) but is a better method than relying on police figures alone.

 

[Nessie]

We're told that intent is irrelevant (see the Lucy Connolly case, or the Graham Linehan case, or the case involving Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine) where they were arrested PURELY for WHAT they said not why they said it.


When intent is irrelevant, all they have to do is read the hurty words and make a decision based on that.


All false complainers need to be charged (give them one freebie and after that they're toast).

Additionally, another police action I object to is accusing people of posting hurty words but refusing to reveal which post is the allegedly offending one, and who made the complaint. There should be no ability to make an anonymous complaint AND expect Police to take action on it. People have a right to know exactly what they have been accused of (the post, the platform, the date and the time) as well as the right to face their accuser.

Show me a court ruling that intent is irrelevant. Intent is part of the law, for example, hurty words that are incitement;

Serious Crime Act 2007

An Act to make provision about serious crime prevention orders; to create offences in respect of the encouragement or assistance of crime; to enable information to be shared or processed to prevent fraud or for purposes relating to proceeds of crime; to enable data matching to be conducted both...

www.legislation.gov.uk

"44Intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)he does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence; and
(b)he intends to encourage or assist its commission.
(2)But he is not to be taken to have intended to encourage or assist the commission of an offence merely because such encouragement or assistance was a foreseeable consequence of his act."

How do you intend to prove that a complaint was false? If someone is genuinely upset by what you regard as something that is not hurty words, would you charge them? If so, what with?

I agree the police should reveal what any complaint is about.

 

[Nessie]

The Crime Survey;

Crime Survey for England & Wales

"The survey records all types of crimes experienced by people, including those crimes that may not have been reported to the police. It is important that we hear from people who have experienced crime and also those who have not experienced any crime in the last 12 months, so that we can show an accurate picture of crime in the country.
In 2025/26 around 75,000 households across England and Wales will be invited to participate in the survey."

The results;

Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

Crime against households and people aged 16 years and over, using data from police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).

www.ons.gov.uk

"Crime against individuals and households has generally decreased over the last 10 years with some notable exceptions, such as fraud."

 

[Mojo]

Show me where in the statistics are the figures for all the people who have been burgled, shoplifted, had their phones snatched in he street, etc, who never reported it to Police

Shouldn't you be doing that?

 

[Darat]

Show me where in the statistics are the figures for all the people who have been burgled, shoplifted, had their phones snatched in he street, etc, who never reported it to Police

Read the link.

 

[wollery]

Show me where in the statistics are the figures for all the people who have been burgled, shoplifted, had their phones snatched in he street, etc, who never reported it to Police

Do you have any evidence that the proportion of crimes that go unreported has changed significantly?

If you can’t show that, then rates of reported crime, while not showing the actual rate of crime, should track the same way.

 

[bluesjnr]

Hey @Nessie! I'd like to hear your opinion on this one? Is this good use of the time of a police force that constantly insists that it's overstretched?

Those of you who can't get past the source, just shut it. This is about the content.

169K views · 5.3K reactions | 🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest following comments she made

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest...

www.facebook.com

 

[Darat]

Some police are poor at determining if hurty words are breaking the existing hate or communication laws. That is part of the problem. Not very bright officers are recruited and poorly trained and led. They are put under pressure to detect and reduce hate or communication crimes, so there is a temptation to get detections, which is the main metric the police use to measure success.

...snip...

How do we improve the training - we know what the courts have decided, indeed I know what the courts have decided so it isn't as if it is some esoteric hidden decisions. Look at the issue I mentioned someone who swears when talking to the police, that was finally settled in 2012 (from memory) yet some police still try to use it as a public order breach to arrest people. Are the police recruits really so thick that they can't understand "someone swearing at you and using naughty words when talking to you is not a public order breach"?

(I do understand that after the Tories and liberals decided to cut the overall number of police by 20,000 that meant a lot of experienced police left on cushy terms, and that the u-turn by the last tory government with funding given to increase police numbers by 20,000 means a lot of inexperienced police have entered the service.)

 

[Darat]

Yep, there's more about the Crime Survey for England and Wales here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_Survey_for_England_and_Wales

It's far from perfect (see the Limitations section) but is a better method than relying on police figures alone.

And it's the consistency that makes it very good for tracking trends.

 

[Darat]

Hey @Nessie! I'd like to hear your opinion on this one? Is this good use of the time of a police force that constantly insists that it's overstretched?

Those of you who can't get past the source, just shut it. This is about the content.

169K views · 5.3K reactions | 🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest following comments she made

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest...

www.facebook.com

I can't see that - perhaps you have to be logged into a facebook account?

 

[smartcooky]

Hey @Nessie! I'd like to hear your opinion on this one? Is this good use of the time of a police force that constantly insists that it's overstretched?

Those of you who can't get past the source, just shut it. This is about the content.

169K views · 5.3K reactions | 🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest following comments she made

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest...

www.facebook.com

An "online thinking course!?"

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. How woke can they get?


Two words for you Copper, the second one is "OFF"!!

 

[Rolfe]

I can't see that - perhaps you have to be logged into a facebook account?

I got it on my phone although I don't have a Facebook account.

 

[bluesjnr]

I can't see that - perhaps you have to be logged into a facebook account?

 

[Nessie]

Hey @Nessie! I'd like to hear your opinion on this one? Is this good use of the time of a police force that constantly insists that it's overstretched?

Those of you who can't get past the source, just shut it. This is about the content.

169K views · 5.3K reactions | 🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest following comments she made

🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Animal rights campaigner, Anneka Svenska, was visited at home by two police officers and told to accept a police record, attend an “online thinking” course, or face arrest...

www.facebook.com

There is not enough information there to comment. There is no mention of a crime, or what enquiry has taken place, but that could have been edited out of the video, to make it look like the police just turned up because a company was unhappy with the lady posting about dead dogs online and they have concluded, with no enquiry, she is at fault and she has to face consequences.