Police inspector plans New York-style approch to Shropshire crime
Thursday 28th October 2010, 11:30AM BST.
FBI-STYLE mugshots of convicted shoplifters could be handed to shopkeepers in north Shropshire as part of a new hard-hitting approach towards tackling anti-social behaviour and low-level crime.
New police inspector Rik Klair said he planned to take a New York-style approach to reduce crime in the area.
And he vowed to catch some of north Shropshire’s known offenders on his watch.
Inspector Klair was speaking at a meeting of Whitchurch Chamber of Trade and Commerce last night – and told business bosses the moves could also help reduce instances of more serious crime.
Inspector Klair said he would explore whether pictures of convicted shoplifters could be supplied to town centre shopkeepers to help them identify would-be thieves before they strike.
He said: “If we look after things like the broken windows, serious crimes like murder will look after themselves.
“We are led by the public, and when we speak to the public, they tell us they are concerned about things like speeding and shoplifting.”
He added that dealing with things like vandalism had a knock-on effect in terms of fewer serious crimes being committed.
Inspector Klair said the approach yielded good results in New York, where a recent police crackdown on lower level crime has also resulted in a drop in more serious crime.
The inspector added that he hoped to catch some of north Shropshire’s known offenders on his watch.
Chamber members welcomed the initiative and urged Inspector Klair and his officers to do more to tackle shoplifting in the town.
There is already a ShopWatch scheme running with police in partnership with traders in Whitchurch, where shopkeepers have been provided with mobile phones to text details to each other.
Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, police in New York have controversially taken a tougher stance on violent crime and low-level disorder.
Ethnic minorities in the Big Apple say they have been disproportionately targeted by police using stronger stop and search powers. But city officials say the move has helped reduce overall crime, making the city safer.
By Tom Johannsen
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Really?
This is called ‘talking a good job’, isn’t it??
Sounds good in practice – but I would imagine the police will have to bow pretty quickly to the ‘privacy’ and ‘human rights’ groups, and that this idea will never get off the ground.
But then again – you never know…..
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And the point of it all is?
I was rather hoping that the headline about the New York style approach referred more to their willingness in that sensible-minded city to lock villains up for years at a time rather than this creation of an “honour rating” system among villains and their mates to see who can have their photo on public view the most times. It’s a bit like the ASBO system – a badge of honour.
Police have always shown themselves to be more than ready to pounce on anyone who takes “pre-emptive action” to prevent the criminal entering their premises, so why bother letting everyone know who they are?
Police aren’t going to respond to a call saying “I’ve seen one of those people in town” BEFORE an offence is committed.
And when the offence is committed, with the “punishment” for shoplifting being a small fixed penalty notice fine with no propspect of more than 10 minutes’ loss of liberty, which shoplifter in their right mind would stop nicking stuff and go straight?
FPN’s are just part of their ongoing expenses to get the job done. They were Labour’s golden legacy to shoplifters in an effort to end “poverty” and “promote equality” between the haves and the have nots, (who are usually actually the have much mores after a decent shoplifting spree)
By imposing a small fine on shoplifters, it’s the government’s way of sharing the proceeds, a means of divvying up the take, another sort of stealth tax on shopkeepers.
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I was hoping more along the lines of a shoot first, ask questions later policy!!
Oh well, softly softly walky monkey it is.
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Wait a minute…the headline suggested a maverick law enforcer with a .44 Magnum and a penchant for sardonic lines.
This is disappointing to say the least.
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So what is New York style about circulating a felon’s picture? I’m sure they’ll be shaking in their boots over this. Where are the tough cops with tazers, night sticks, 45 Magnums and the certainty of a long jail sentence? Just like the “American-style” muffins and burgers on sale over here, It seems that everything we adopt from the USA has to be a miniaturised watered down version of the real thing.
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So where are all these street-wise officers coming from?
999 call
Caller – Help! I’ve seen one of those robbers!
Operator – What sort of robber?
C – Well one of those pictured in the shop window, he’s up to no good
O – Okay, can you give me his identity number? It’ll start with a letter followed by three digits
C – B573
O – Okay thank you I have that information on my screen,now, I have a CSO I can send to you, I have an appointment at 8.30am next Tuesday or 7pm on the Friday
C – I want the Insp who said he was going to clean the streets of this s**m
O – I’m sorry, he’s not available this week, he’s doing a project for the Supt and then is on an advanced gibberish course so he can communicate with the other partners in the next quango to be created.
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This will probably be just another box to tick as the inspector strives to make that jump up to the next rank. How many times have we seen it in the news? Policing used to be a case of doing what was right and for the common good rather than what can I do and how many times have I got my name in the local press to impress the boss and promotion panel?
If it works all well and good but I suspect that this is just another cleverly engineered news splash by the PR people to try and protect their own jobs when the cull starts. Just ask yourself this question, would you prefer X number of PR people at a PCs salary or 1 doing the job of all of them and have the money spent on front line PCs ? One thing’s for certain when you dial 999 when your home is under attack don’t expect to be faced with a PR bod armed with the latest edition of Max Cliffords ‘Penguin Guide To Writing Good News’ to force the mob off the streets in a crusade for truth and justice, they’ll be be safely tucked up in their bed dreaming up the latest novel to hit the stands in the form of the midday edition.
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