The allotment site has been raided again. Now there can not be an allotment site in the country that has not, and some could no doubt boast the number of times they have, but for us it is the 5th time in the 3 years since the site was reopened and it is beginning to feel like we are being harvested for our tools.
I have long since stopped leaving any tool that I would miss if stolen but unfortunately the newbies do, and fired with enthusiasm they leave some very nice shiny gear up there. The old cynic's amongst us will tell our bereft colleagues that they could buy them back if they go to the Sunday car boot sales, or if not theirs, someone else's.
Surrey has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and as a result the powers that be can show statistically that we no longer need so many police. The result is that Dorking's police station has closed along with its nearest neighbour in Leatherhead. We do however have a help desk in the Town Hall manned by Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) who's role it is to provide a presence in order to reassure little old ladies they are safe and resolve issues on a local level. They do indeed look like the real thing and can issue a fine if your dog craps on the pavement but anything more serious a real policeman (they are the ones that race about in cars) is summoned. No use trying to report a crime to a PCSO as they will give you the number of a call centre to use and any way they have the rather disconcerting habit of referring to criminals as 'those naughty people'.
So how did all this come about? It seems Justice is rather an expensive commodity and it just happens that Surrey is one of the wealthiest counties in the country (22 millionaires in Leatherhead at the last count) who do not want to spend a penny more than they need to. Put another way, once you've got rich, you don't stay rich by paying taxes.
So they can up with a scheme called Restorative Justice. Straight forward enough it meant that the offender said sorry and compensated the victim. Trouble was that the offender usually cared little for the victim and even less about any loss or damage they had caused. It did not last long.
The next, and present, scheme is Effective resolution. With this one the offender needs only to admit to the offence (apparently it saves the police having to investigate and the courts having to prosecute) and the offender gets a telling off but no criminal record. The key is that the victim has to agree to this and so far has been so effective that Surrey Police have used it 3288 times in the last 12 months. Although how they managed to convince the two rape victims and the guy beaten unconscious in a Farnham pub that this was an OK outcome, I'm not sure.
They say a good rant is cathartic (A. adj. Med. cleansing (the bowels)) and that's pretty much what I think of the present state of affairs.
Surrey has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and as a result the powers that be can show statistically that we no longer need so many police. The result is that Dorking's police station has closed along with its nearest neighbour in Leatherhead. We do however have a help desk in the Town Hall manned by Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) who's role it is to provide a presence in order to reassure little old ladies they are safe and resolve issues on a local level. They do indeed look like the real thing and can issue a fine if your dog craps on the pavement but anything more serious a real policeman (they are the ones that race about in cars) is summoned. No use trying to report a crime to a PCSO as they will give you the number of a call centre to use and any way they have the rather disconcerting habit of referring to criminals as 'those naughty people'.
So how did all this come about? It seems Justice is rather an expensive commodity and it just happens that Surrey is one of the wealthiest counties in the country (22 millionaires in Leatherhead at the last count) who do not want to spend a penny more than they need to. Put another way, once you've got rich, you don't stay rich by paying taxes.
So they can up with a scheme called Restorative Justice. Straight forward enough it meant that the offender said sorry and compensated the victim. Trouble was that the offender usually cared little for the victim and even less about any loss or damage they had caused. It did not last long.
The next, and present, scheme is Effective resolution. With this one the offender needs only to admit to the offence (apparently it saves the police having to investigate and the courts having to prosecute) and the offender gets a telling off but no criminal record. The key is that the victim has to agree to this and so far has been so effective that Surrey Police have used it 3288 times in the last 12 months. Although how they managed to convince the two rape victims and the guy beaten unconscious in a Farnham pub that this was an OK outcome, I'm not sure.
They say a good rant is cathartic (A. adj. Med. cleansing (the bowels)) and that's pretty much what I think of the present state of affairs.
Do you have poison ivy in the UK? I would find a tool you could live without and rub the handles with the leaves of poison ivy. Whoever steals the tool will end up with nasty blisters and might not come back to try again.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea but no poison ivy in the UK. The nearest thing to a plant nasty is Giant Hogweed who's sap contains furanocoumarins which photosensitises the skin causing painful blisters in sunlight, but then we don't get much of that either. Oh well.
ReplyDelete