[ShellyD]

I apologise in advance if this turns into a bit of a rant, but I am getting so annoyed at our local police force and wondered if this is a nationwide thing and can I actually complain to a police body or something?

Where my mum lives there are flats which used to be for the elderly and are still occupied by mainly elderly persons. However, the council placed this guy in one of the flats about 3 years ago and he has been dealing drugs from there from the day he moved in. There are people banging on his door at all hours and shouting through the letter box, the person in the flat below finds needles in his garden constantly. There's junkies lingering around in the alleyways etc.

A number of the neighbours have reported it to police, the guy who lives downstairs put the needles in a jiffy bag and took them up to the council office and reported him to the housing authority too. Still nothing gets done, the dealer found out and started abusing the guy (who is in his 60's) who eventually lumped him one and guess what the police were going to press charges!

In March last year my mum phoned the police complaints line and said she was sick of nothing being done and to that she didn't want to speak to the local force as they were useless, they put her through to the Drugs Squad for the area, who assured her they would take the matter seriously and who helpfully advised my mum not to leave valuables in the house if she was going away. Now nearly a year later and he is still doing it and never a sign of the police.

The other day this dealer went into the local shop where the owners wife was alone in the shop, barged past her and grabbed a load of cigerettes, she tried to grab him as he went out the door and he dropped most of them but she was left very shaken. They called the police and guess what despite them knowing his name, address and having it on cctv they wouldn't even come out.

This guy is living off the state, to my knowledge there is no reason why he can't work, yet he is getting his flat paid for and receiving benefits and following his career of drug lord on the side. Yet no-one seems to care, despite all this the public need to tell us about things so we can take action bull.

This is just one example of their incompetence and the town is really just going to the dogs. There is a massive drug problem in the town and I can see why, even I know where all the pick up points and phone boxes are, you only have to take a quick drive around to see it. It's frustrating and sad to watch the decline of this place over the past 4 years or so.

What can I do?

Originally Posted by ShellyD

I apologise in advance if this turns into a bit of a rant, but I am getting so annoyed at our local police force and wondered if this is a nationwide thing and can I actually complain to a police body or something?

<snip>

What can I do?

Where do you live Shelly?
Could you get your local councillor involved?

[intheknow]

Make an official complaint? if you called the police and they didn't respond appropriately, also write to the chief constable and your local MP.

[ShellyD]

Originally Posted by kujo

Where do you live Shelly?
Could you get your local councillor involved?

Thanks, that's a good idea, I hadn't even thought of that. I live in Hampshire, I know they are aware of the drug problems here, but it might show them that people in the community are sharing information but it is not being acted upon.

[Altheya]

How about going to the media? Might sound a bit OTT but if you can get something out in the public domain stating as much as you can about this bloke and the (what I consider to be) negligence by your local Police force without causing any libel issues maybe someone such as an MP will have to take notice??

Originally Posted by ShellyD

Thanks, that's a good idea, I hadn't even thought of that. I live in Hampshire, I know they are aware of the drug problems here, but it might show them that people in the community are sharing information but it is not being acted upon.

Our local representatives ctually clamber to represent us when we have a social issue and it needs presenting to the authorities.
It really is worth a try.
The very best of luck and tell your mum I think she's a trooper and keep up the good fight.x

[Richie1001]

Maybe look at talking to a local paper or something? Get the local press involved and the police will make a point of doing something as a PR stunt.

Edit - Altheya beat me to it!

[lostsworld]

complain to police, complain to councilor, if no success complain the local news/national news with a story of how the police force and council are failing the general public, including responses from police and council.

[gandatron]

Usually the promise of an Indian take-away afterwards guarantees the blue boys taking some action.

Kind of an "I'll uphold the law, you buy the curry" type deal.

[stud u like]

Police are useless these days. You might as well have asked the cat to do it.

The best course of action is to contact your local newspaper who relish such news with a passion.

Originally Posted by ShellyD

the guy who lives downstairs put the needles in a jiffy bag and took them up to the council office and reported him to the housing authority too.

I'd be inclined to take the next lot of needles into the Town Hall in a shoe box, and tip the whole mess onto my councillor's desk.

There's nothing like a desk full of infected needles to focus their minds.

That's exactly what I did when the council failed to remove some chunks of corrugated asbestos, which I had reported as being lying around on a local building site.

I took a couple of chunks into the environmental section of the local council, plonked them on the desk in front of the department head and said "This is the hazard I reported last week. Now will you do something about it"?

Guess what? Inside 24 hours, it had been removed!

[spoty]

We 'read' in the papers that they are going to send people out to film people smoking in pubs ect... When the ban comes in. The world seems to have gone mad.

My Gran was in a similar situation, but the young man, above her, really needed medical help [care in the community and all that]. He must have flooded her flat about 5 times. He could not look after himself.
How did they expect my Gran to cope at 80, when all her stuff was getting water damaged.

[gandatron]

Originally Posted by Jean Luc Picard

I'd be inclined to take the next lot of needles into the Town Hall in a shoe box, and tip the whole mess onto my councillor's desk.

There's nothing like a desk full of infected needles to focus their minds.

That's exactly what I did when the council failed to remove some chunks of corrugated asbestos, which I had reported as being lying around on a local building site.

I took a couple of chunks into the environmental section of the local council, plonked them on the desk in front of the department head and said "This is the hazard I reported last week. Now will you do something about it"?

Guess what? Inside 24 hours, it had been removed!

Nice work! Wish I lived next door to you!

[Deep Purple]

I would keep on at the council if it is their flats. The media will be a bit reluctant to name an individual without some evidence, but may be worth a word.

As for the Police, they should have it in the system, but as you say drugs area major problem, and there are that many similar stories across the country it's a job to know where to start.

Speak to someone in charge at the local nick, and try and establish that they are taking the complaint seriously.

It may be they are collecting enough information, and intelligence to carry out a warrant at a time likely to yield a decent result.

[Dazballer]

Originally Posted by spoty

We 'read' in the papers that they are going to send people out to film people smoking in pubs ect... When the ban comes in. The world seems to have gone mad.

The UK has gone mad...

[ShellyD]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, I'll try the councillor and police complaints first as I'm a bit reluctant with media stuff as he's not the sort of person to upset. Not too bad for me as he doesn't know where I live, but he does know where my mum lives. But worth speaking to them on an anonymous scale. They would only have to sit there for an hour in the evening to get all the evidence.

Jean Luc I applaud you

[Deep Purple]

Originally Posted by spoty

We 'read' in the papers that they are going to send people out to film people smoking in pubs ect... When the ban comes in. The world seems to have gone mad.

My Gran was in a similar situation, but the young man, above her, really needed medical help [care in the community and all that]. He must have flooded her flat about 5 times. He could not look after himself.
How did they expect my Gran to cope at 80, when all her stuff was getting water damaged.

The problem is that all these initiatives keep coming out, but there are not actully enough local Officers to deal with everything that is thrown at them on a daily basis. There are all sorts of Depts promoting what will be done, but no where near enough to actually do it.

In the area I worked, we had to bid each week for these squads to come and do things like warrants, because we didn't have the local staff. You'd probably get someone every couple of months, and they would come when convenient to them, not when a result was likely.