This weekend I lost my respect for the police
Discussion
Sorry this is a bit of a long one.
Coming home from a meal out with my wife at the weekend in the car, I nearly hit a homeless chap walking in the road on an unlit country road - thanks to the idiots coming the other way "warning" me using their full beams
As we were only 2 minutes out of our village, I decided to drop my wife off and then go back and pick him up - it was a question of when not if he was going to get hit. She refused to let me go back on my own so off we went driving slowly back up the road until we found him.
We popped him in the back of the car and drove back into the village. It turned out he'd had to sleep rough on the moors for two nights - how the hell he hadn't died of hypothermia I don't know, but he was very cold, hungry and thirsty. We bought him a bag of food and fluids from the late shop and then drove back to our house. My wife popped in and called the police to find out if there was a homeless shelter anywhere.
To cut a very long story slightly shorter, the police in Scarborough said there was and that they'd sort him out if he could get there. I didn't have enough fuel to drive him there (and past 7pm all the local garages shut) so we gave him my old goose-down mountaineering jacket, gave him some money to get himself some breakfast and pay for his bus fare and put him on the bus. I had toyed with the idea of letting him stay at our house, but as he was mentally ill, and I have a baby in the house, there is only so much I was prepared to do. If only I'd known how helpful the police were to prove to be I'd have taken the risk.
The next day I rang Scarborough police to check that he'd got there all right to be told he didn't get there till late (of course he was on the next available (last) bus as we told you) and that the shelter was then shut. They told me that they'd given him a blanket and sent him on his way.
It was ~ -5C overnight here at the weekend. What kind of inhuman person turns out another human being in that sort of weather - given he'd already spent a couple of night out on the moors and was cold, that could well have been a death sentence. To say I'm utterly utterly disgusted with the behaviour of the police in this matter is huge understatement.
Coming home from a meal out with my wife at the weekend in the car, I nearly hit a homeless chap walking in the road on an unlit country road - thanks to the idiots coming the other way "warning" me using their full beams
As we were only 2 minutes out of our village, I decided to drop my wife off and then go back and pick him up - it was a question of when not if he was going to get hit. She refused to let me go back on my own so off we went driving slowly back up the road until we found him.
We popped him in the back of the car and drove back into the village. It turned out he'd had to sleep rough on the moors for two nights - how the hell he hadn't died of hypothermia I don't know, but he was very cold, hungry and thirsty. We bought him a bag of food and fluids from the late shop and then drove back to our house. My wife popped in and called the police to find out if there was a homeless shelter anywhere.
To cut a very long story slightly shorter, the police in Scarborough said there was and that they'd sort him out if he could get there. I didn't have enough fuel to drive him there (and past 7pm all the local garages shut) so we gave him my old goose-down mountaineering jacket, gave him some money to get himself some breakfast and pay for his bus fare and put him on the bus. I had toyed with the idea of letting him stay at our house, but as he was mentally ill, and I have a baby in the house, there is only so much I was prepared to do. If only I'd known how helpful the police were to prove to be I'd have taken the risk.
The next day I rang Scarborough police to check that he'd got there all right to be told he didn't get there till late (of course he was on the next available (last) bus as we told you) and that the shelter was then shut. They told me that they'd given him a blanket and sent him on his way.
It was ~ -5C overnight here at the weekend. What kind of inhuman person turns out another human being in that sort of weather - given he'd already spent a couple of night out on the moors and was cold, that could well have been a death sentence. To say I'm utterly utterly disgusted with the behaviour of the police in this matter is huge understatement.
I know you are not looking for applause for your actions.. but after waking up to another snowy morning, if everything went pear shaped I'd be thankful to know there are a few good people still about.blindswelledrat said:
Im impressed with your actions.
Not many people would havce gone to the lengths you did.
Top marks.
In the defense of the police- they cant just house everyone who truns up to thier station, otherwise they would simply become a hotel for tramps.
No need to bring Blackpool into this.Not many people would havce gone to the lengths you did.
Top marks.
In the defense of the police- they cant just house everyone who truns up to thier station, otherwise they would simply become a hotel for tramps.
blindswelledrat said:
Im impressed with your actions.
Not many people would havce gone to the lengths you did.
Top marks.
In the defense of the police- they cant just house everyone who truns up to thier station, otherwise they would simply become a hotel for tramps.
I do agree with you, and for most of the year I think their response would have been appropriate. However, given the circumstances I think their response was the incorrect. What they did could well have led to him dying of hypothermia. If it was some drunk teenager who'd missed his last bus home, I bet they wouldn't have just turned him out with a blanket.Not many people would havce gone to the lengths you did.
Top marks.
In the defense of the police- they cant just house everyone who truns up to thier station, otherwise they would simply become a hotel for tramps.
rhinochopig said:
I do agree with you, and for most of the year I think their response would have been appropriate. However, given the circumstances I think their response was the incorrect. What they did could well have led to him dying of hypothermia. .
I agree, yet disagree.Im less emotionally involved than you thus I can just write it off as one of those things. Its only because you have transfered a sense of responsibility to yourself that you are annoyed at the police.
He probably stank. You see now?
Common sense and best intentions seem to elude a system full of stupidity, paperwork 'some other departments problem' sadly.
It's not the police, but we have a similar problem with Social Services at the moment. Wifeys nan is 89, barely mobile and lives in a 1st floor flat. She has to go up and down the dangerously steep stairs daily to let the people in who deliver her food. Yet they refuse to put her into a home despite our warnings and the impression we get is that they'll review the situation if and when she falls down the stairs and kills herself. Everyone seems to point you in someone elses direction until you end up back with the first person.
It's not the police, but we have a similar problem with Social Services at the moment. Wifeys nan is 89, barely mobile and lives in a 1st floor flat. She has to go up and down the dangerously steep stairs daily to let the people in who deliver her food. Yet they refuse to put her into a home despite our warnings and the impression we get is that they'll review the situation if and when she falls down the stairs and kills herself. Everyone seems to point you in someone elses direction until you end up back with the first person.
blindswelledrat said:
rhinochopig said:
I do agree with you, and for most of the year I think their response would have been appropriate. However, given the circumstances I think their response was the incorrect. What they did could well have led to him dying of hypothermia. .
I agree, yet disagree.Im less emotionally involved than you thus I can just write it off as one of those things. Its only because you have transfered a sense of responsibility to yourself that you are annoyed at the police.
He probably stank. You see now?
You've probably hit the nail on the head there reflecting on it. Kind of like helping a chick that has fallen out of its nest only to have next doors cat eat it.It's a sad reflection on our society though that people are willing to write it off as just one of those things.
To GSB. I wasn't suggesting that it is the role of the police to look after the homeless under normal circumstances. I don't for one minute think it is. However, I'd expect them to help a person in need when their life depended on it.
And herein lies the problem. The Police are expected to be Social Workers, surrogate parents, marriage guidance councillors, homeless shelters, animal protection, teachers, breakdown mechanics, taxi drivers etc etc!! What do you expect the Police to do, tie up two Officers to ferry him around looking for somewhere to stay. Even a small Force gets tens of thousands of calls a day. There is a finite limit to resources. Sometimes, we actually get to deal with real crime. (And Waynetta ringing up to say Wayne has nicked her mobile cause his hasn't got any credit, isn't real crime..but that's what a lot of our calls are!)
Why didn't you call an ambulance if you feared for his welfare! Last night someone rang up because her daughter had been sent to the headmaster at school and didn't like it. She demanded to see Police. How about the man camping who rang to say one of the 'Dragons' off Dragons den had nicked his idea and demanded he be arrested for theft (yes it was very bizarre. Or the woman who rand because she thought a fox was after her rabbit. The list is endless. All of them thought their call was the most important and demanded immediate attention. Of course the people trapped in a car at the RTC, or the person being stabbed might beg to differ!
Why didn't you call an ambulance if you feared for his welfare! Last night someone rang up because her daughter had been sent to the headmaster at school and didn't like it. She demanded to see Police. How about the man camping who rang to say one of the 'Dragons' off Dragons den had nicked his idea and demanded he be arrested for theft (yes it was very bizarre. Or the woman who rand because she thought a fox was after her rabbit. The list is endless. All of them thought their call was the most important and demanded immediate attention. Of course the people trapped in a car at the RTC, or the person being stabbed might beg to differ!
Edited by Elroy Blue on Monday 1st February 14:12
Elroy Blue said:
And herein lies the problem. The Police are expected to be Social Workers, surrogate parents, marriage guidance councillors, homeless shelters, animal protection, teachers, breakdown mechanics, taxi drivers etc etc!! What do you expect the Police to do, tie up two Officers to ferry him around looking for somewhere to stay. Even a small Force gets tens of thousands of calls a day. There is a finite limit to resources. Sometimes, we actually get to deal with real crime. (And Waynetta ringing up to say Wayne has nicked her mobile cause his hasn't got any credit, isn't real crime..but that's what a lot of our calls are!)
Why didn't you call an ambulance if you feared for his welfare! Last night someone rang up because her daughter had been sent to the headmaster at school and didn't like it. She demanded to see Police. How about the man camping who rang to see one of the 'Dragons' off Dragons den had nicked his idea and demanded he be arrested for theft (yes it was very bizarre. Or the woman who rand because she thought a fox was after her rabbit. The list is endless. All of them thought their call was the most important and demanded immediate attention. Of course the people trapped in a car at the RTC, or the person being stabbed might beg to differ!
What you wrote is fascinating but has little relevance to my post. I appreciate how busy the police are and the difficult role they have in today's society. In fact I work with them on a regular basis in a mountain rescue capacity. The fact remains, however, that in my opinion it was an appalling judgement call on the part of the police in this case. Their actions could have lead to the death of this chap.Why didn't you call an ambulance if you feared for his welfare! Last night someone rang up because her daughter had been sent to the headmaster at school and didn't like it. She demanded to see Police. How about the man camping who rang to see one of the 'Dragons' off Dragons den had nicked his idea and demanded he be arrested for theft (yes it was very bizarre. Or the woman who rand because she thought a fox was after her rabbit. The list is endless. All of them thought their call was the most important and demanded immediate attention. Of course the people trapped in a car at the RTC, or the person being stabbed might beg to differ!
In answer to your question, I didn't call an ambulance because because he was in no immediate danger AND because the police said they would look after him if I could get him to the station. Had I known they would look after him by putting him back on the street with a blanket, I would chosen a different course of action.
bazking69 said:
It's not the police, but we have a similar problem with Social Services at the moment. Wifeys nan is 89, barely mobile and lives in a 1st floor flat. She has to go up and down the dangerously steep stairs daily to let the people in who deliver her food. Yet they refuse to put her into a home despite our warnings and the impression we get is that they'll review the situation if and when she falls down the stairs and kills herself. Everyone seems to point you in someone elses direction until you end up back with the first person.
This is another one that puzzles me... Why is it their problem, she no doubt has a bloody house for free. There is thousands of old ladies who fall over alot, all of them want a bungalow. Beggars can't be choosers, there is a limited number of properties... you get what your bloody given.
If your so concerned sort it our yourself. Why is someone elses responsibility.
YAD061 said:
The yawning chasm between GSPs post and the OPs is interesting.......wonder if there's and age difference or something
Did you see the homeless begging thread a week or so ago, mind boggling chasm between the "give a s
ts" and "couldn'ts"OP, well done. You'd have been a loon to let him stay at yours, you did all you could and should be applauded for it.
Can understand why the police did what they did, doesnt make it right in any way though..
WTF is the point of a homeless shelter that closes?? if anything you'd think they would be closed in the day, and open from somthing-pm all night till the early hours of the morning when they kick everyone out again...
GSP said:
davido140 said:
WTF is the point of a homeless shelter that closes?? if anything you'd think they would be closed in the day, and open from somthing-pm all night till the early hours of the morning when they kick everyone out again...
They close when they are full. 
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