Text a cop

[jedimaster]

nt sure f dis is srs r nt so txtn 2 say smn nikd me car big bloke wearin blk trakkis n bsbl cap wiv 2 m8s wrn blk tshirts lst sin em ediin dwn accy rd doin 60

*reply*
MI5 is currently searching for an enigma machine to decode your message!

[Mancie]

I don't see anything wrong with texting the police ..it dosent replace 999 so what's the problem?..the "grumpy old man" syndrome ..I mean any sort of new service is always ridiculed.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Mancie

I don't see anything wrong with texting the police ..it dosent replace 999 so what's the problem?..the "grumpy old man" syndrome ..I mean any sort of new service is always ridiculed.

Er...it's costing £3.5 million pounds, and it comes right after the last scheme, which cost a similarly large amount of money, has been proved not to have worked.

[Mancie]

Originally Posted by garinda

Er...it's costing £3.5 million pounds, and it comes right after the last scheme, which cost a similarly large amount of money, has been proved not to have worked.

£3.5 million?.. peanuts!... considering that most insurance companies require a reported crime number that you get by phoning up your local police station .. and then the police having to call you back with a crime number ..I don't see that as practical and sure its costs more than £3.5 million...you lot need to get in touch with progress and embrace new technology!

[garinda]

Your blind one party loyalty is quite charming.

Everyone knows that if this had been the initiative of a Tory government it would be an effin' waste of money, and that it was Thatcher givin' more power to the effin' corrupt pigs who'd battered the miners, the effin' fascists.

[Mancie]

I'm not blind..charming?... there are only two political parties that have governed this country in the last 90yrs... so you takes yer pick and run with it.

[jedimaster]

Originally Posted by Mancie

£3.5 million?.. peanuts!... considering that most insurance companies require a reported crime number that you get by phoning up your local police station .. and then the police having to call you back with a crime number ..I don't see that as practical and sure its costs more than £3.5 million...you lot need to get in touch with progress and embrace new technology!

technology is fine - if it works
modernisation is fine - if it works
progress is fine - if it works
however another hare brained scheme from the government that will not work on the back of another hare brained scheme which didn't work. methinks you need to embrace the fact that the greatest waste of government resources and taxpayers money IS THE GOVERNMENT.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Mancie

I'm not blind..charming?... there are only two political parties that have governed this country in the last 90yrs... so you takes yer pick and run with it.

It's actually three, if you count the war time coalition government as not being one of those two major parties.

I look forward to the day where I'll read anything remotely like constructive criticism of the Labour party.

In my opinion Jacqui Smiths and Hazel Blears, and quite a few of the former Blair Babes are idiots, and Bessie Bradock and Barbara Castle would wipe the floor with them.

[Mancie]

Originally Posted by jedimaster

technology is fine - if it works
modernisation is fine - if it works
progress is fine - if it works
however another hare brained scheme from the government that will not work on the back of another hare brained scheme which didn't work. methinks you need to embrace the fact that the greatest waste of government resources and taxpayers money IS THE GOVERNMENT.

..yes.. I will embrace that!

[shakermaker]

I know that this new service will be intended for incidents of a less serious nature, but does anyone know if there is an SMS service available for serious situations?

I was wondering about this the other day actually in one of my staring into space mind-tangents.
Can people send a text to 999 requesting police assistance if they are in immediate danger?

I'll make a 'for instance'. If a girl is being followed, she puts herself at risk by making a call, as putting the phone to her ear makes her less aware of the movements/actions of person behind her. Being able to discreetly send a text message (as most of my generation are well trained in from classroom disobedience) would solve the problem.

Sorry if this is seen as a thread wander.

[onlyme]

Originally Posted by shakermaker

I know that this new service will be intended for incidents of a less serious nature, but does anyone know if there is an SMS service available for serious situations?

I was wondering about this the other day actually in one of my staring into space mind-tangents.
Can people send a text to 999 requesting police assistance if they are in immediate danger?

I'll make a 'for instance'. If a girl is being followed, she puts herself at risk by making a call, as putting the phone to her ear makes her less aware of the movements/actions of person behind her. Being able to discreetly send a text message (as most of my generation are well trained in from classroom disobedience) would solve the problem.

Sorry if this is seen as a thread wander.

As stated previously, yes there is an emergency service that you text. Primarily used for hearing and speech impaired, but can be used in examples such as this.

Lancs Police and Fire & Rescue have this service, and it has been use, tested and proved sucessful.

I think its a cracking idea to proactively encourage community engagement. We dont kick off about initiatives using websites, and more people have access to a mobile phone that they do the internet.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by garinda

'The initiative, which is part of a new Home Office drive to make police forces more responsive and accountable, is meant to help people who might not be certain how to report minor crimes.
Its introduction follows the failure of the new non-emergency number 101, which was introduced in 2005 to ease pressure on the 999 system but abandoned two years later.'

Text 66101 for police instead of calling 999 - Telegraph

I fail to understand how if Joe Bloggs didn't grasp the telephone number to ring for 'minor crimes', and that that initiative failed, how the introduction of a similar text scheme will be more successful.

I can certainly think of more important ways the police could have perhaps used the £3.5 million poind budget the scheme's cost.

If you are too stupid to be able to look up Police in the Phone book or at www.bt.com you are probably incapable of sending a text message anyway.

I wonder how much we are paying these idiots to think up these ideas. We have been reporting minor crime for years before mobile phones were even thought off.

I can't believe some people idea of non serious crime either. I was at a Neighbourhood Watch meeting the other week and they were talking about a group of youths that were fighting on a nearby street. Someone was saying the non emergency number was not being answered at Greenbank. I said that someone led on the floor with a group kicking him is a 999 call.

I have used 999 while on the motorway to report debris in the road as you don't know the local Police to phone when driving down the M6. They thanked me and said they would send a car to sort it out. When I told someone the story they thought I was wrong to phone 999 for that. the Police must have agreed with me that preventing a pile up was an emergency.

About a year a go I reported a car drifting from lane to lane on the motorway almost out of control. The driver was an elderly lady and she looked very unwell. About half an hour later the Police phoned me back to thank me for reporting it and to say she had been taken to hospital after they stopped her. That was a 999 call as well.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by onlyme

lol @ cashy and lancs

I think it depends on how they expect it to work. The scheme in lancs is an emergency service, the control room act straight away. Its been rolling for a few months and i believe it has been used 40 odd times already, not a huge amount, but its not a figure we'd want to be high.

I can see it as a good idea for people with speech and hearing difficulties but not for everyone else. When you phone the Police they ask you questions to help them determine what they need to do. I can't seeing it being as effective as talking to a person if it is done by text with a 24 hour turnaround. Its bad enough when you get the press 1 for this and 2 for than phone lines.

Originally Posted by jaysay

The point is that the police don't respond now to 999 or 101 so why spend £3.5 million on another scheme when they don't respond to the ones already in place. This government is top heavy with gimmicks and clueless people putting them in place

When did you last phone 999 and they did not respond?
Whenever you phone the Police and it is not an emergency type call always ask for the incident number. You can then call them back later to ask how they are progressing the issue. Also if the issue occurs again, phone back and quote the same incident number. Do not let them open a new incident.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Mancie

£3.5 million?.. peanuts!... considering that most insurance companies require a reported crime number that you get by phoning up your local police station .. and then the police having to call you back with a crime number ..I don't see that as practical and sure its costs more than £3.5 million...you lot need to get in touch with progress and embrace new technology!

The idea of reporting a crime is for the Police to investigate and catch the criminal that stole your car. The idea is not to issue a number for your insurance company then put the phone down and flick the kettle on until they have to give someone else a number.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by shakermaker

I'll make a 'for instance'. If a girl is being followed, she puts herself at risk by making a call, as putting the phone to her ear makes her less aware of the movements/actions of person behind her. Being able to discreetly send a text message (as most of my generation are well trained in from classroom disobedience) would solve the problem.

But how many people in that situation would remember to give all the relevant details in the first text? They then have to wait for a reply to see if the Police got it or if the text system is having a go slow.

When you phone the Police you get trained staff who will ask questions to get the right information out of you instantly. They will also advise you what to do if you think you are being followed. the fact that someone following you hears you are speaking to the Police might actually deter them from doing anything. The silent text and slow text chat between the girl and the Police would not have that effect. I think she would also get the reassurance to know that she was talking to someone who could stay on the line while the Police arrive in the same way they do when you phone an Ambulance advising you how to look after the injured person.



I am not saying text is a complete waste of time. I think having a national emergency number and a separate national non emergency number like 101 is the best way. They should have stuck with it and promoted it more. Teach it to kids in school and make it a free to call from all phones like 999 is. I had never even heard of 101 until this thread.