It's been a while......

But finally.................................... I've moved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES YES YES!!! Result.

As I've probably said in previous comments, we'd been in the house a month before we put it up for sale, that was July 2006. We moved at the end of July this year. Four, God awful years, that put me under an enormous amount of pressure and there were times when I thought I was going to crack up. That sounds dramatic, but when you live in a constant state of "stomach knot" (for want of a better expression) it takes its toll, as I'm sure some people appreciate.

We lost a lot of money on the house, but so what, it's only money and we had to get out. It very nearly went pear shaped at the end because I had to explain to the buyers that we'd had problems in the past (I didn't want to find myself on the end of a legal battle, I've done enough battling over the past few years) and it nearly went off at the end. But I think some angel somewhere was looking after us, it went through and I did a merry dance.

I now live opposite a lovely little church, I go to bed at night and I actually sleep properly, for the first time in a few years.

I can't "blame" the police for the situation I found myself in, some would even go as far as to say it was my own fault and in some respects, for a woman of my years, I was naive at best - however, I am a tax paying, law abiding citizen and I expect to be treated with a modicum of respect. When I first had to call the police about the problems it was abundantly clear that anti social behaviour, despite all the hype surrounding it, was really not of any interest to the police officers who visited me. I was nothing more than a nuisance to them and eventually I gave up calling them unless things were really bad (eg the night we had around 100 kids fighting outside, and the night someone set fire to a car right outside the house!).

So whilst I accept the police are not to blame for any of the problems I experienced, they did not help matters at all - they were awkward, ill mannered, unreceptive and as I say, I was treated in a very disrespectful way. I have a sense of disdain towards the police in general which is shocking really, as I was not brought up that way. Had they pulled their fingers out properly, shown the little villains which way was up, I'd have had much more respect for them - but no, my situation was of little or no interest to any of them. Funny really, because some of those little darlings who were making my life a living hell, are no doubt now on to bigger and better criminal activity - thus keeping the local police even busier during this turbulant time since the new Government. If only they'd dealt with them 4 years ago eh?

Hey, how about that, a post without one, single, expletive? :)

Victim Liaison Officer - what a fucking laugh

Got a letter today, nearly pissed myself. It was from Community Safety Services. It goes something like this:-

I am writing in response to your report of antisocial behaviour (Which fucking report I ask myself? Last night, the night before, last Friday? Christmas Day, Boxing Day? which report is she referring to?) Our Victim Liaison Officer PC Bla de Bla has tried to contact you by telephone (lying cow, I've had no messages on the house phone and no calls on my mobile - don't lie to me love, I'm not that arsed if you do or you don't phone - you'll do fuck all anyhow, so it's all the same to me) in order to provide you with an update on the action taken (that'll take all of about 1 minute then - how long will it take them to tell me they've actually taken no fucking action whatso-fucking-ever?) and to see if there is any further assistance we can give you. (Errmmm, yes you can give me some further assistance actually, you can perhaps turn out when I call you, you can start treating me with a bit of respect - you can acknowledge that this matter has NEVER been treated with any degree of seriousness and you can reassure me that you recognise there is a problem and you can give me some help....... ok, I'm kidding, I don't expect that at all, I expect what I'll get, fuck all assistance - I won't be too disappointed will I?)

Now this is the bit that made me nearly piss my pants - and I quote: "If the antisocial behaviour you have reported is a regular occurrence or if you feel you have been targeted directly.... etc" Listen love, why don't you do your fucking research and look back through the file which by now, is probably as thick as the Doomsday Book - YES it is a regular occurrence, I know most of your officers by their christian names, I've bumped into two of them when I've been out shopping - they've stopped for a chat! YES my house has been targeted - several times - my fucking windows have been put through, I've been burgled and my cars have been damaged, several times so yes, it is a regular occurrence and yes I've been targeted - why are you adding insult to fucking injury by not even doing a little bit of homework?

I've got a questionnaire to fill in too - fuck that, I'll not be completing it - what's the fucking point? "Do you feel safe in your neighbourhood at night?" Do I bollocks. "Are you happy with the response to your complaint?" Am I bloody hell! THE RESPONSE IS THIS STUPID FUCKING LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE! WHY THE HELL WOULD THAT MAKE ME HAPPY?

And finally, would I like to be kept informed of Community Safety activity in my area? No I fucking would not, not unless the "activity" involves the stringing up of delinquent youths and their parents.

Friday night

I had a bad day on Friday. My friend's dad passed away last week and it was his funeral on Friday. She didn't have a good relationship with him, he'd been a drinker and a gambler and she didn't have many happy memories of her childhood - that said, he was still her dad and it was a sad occasion. A group of us from the office went to support her and of course as is normal in that kind of situation, you have time to reflect on the lives of people you have lost and I felt quite sad as I remember my relationship with my father which was truly wonderful and then I thought of my friend who passed away 2 years ago at just 30 and I felt quite sad and thoughtful.

I came home later that day to find a gang of bastard kids screaming and carrying on in the park. They're not just playing normally (keep in mind that the park I refer to is a little tot's park - baby stuff on it, little slide, swings, train engine etc - NOT for the teenagers that were actually on there creating holy hell) The noise was fucking awful. I've said previously that I have stopped calling the police now, I can't be fucking arsed, I turn the TV up loud and ignore. Therein lay the problem, the bloody TV volume wouldn't work! My pal's little lad had been around earlier in the day and buggered about with the remotes! I just couldn't get it to work. I'd had some decorating done and the house was covered in bloody dust so I was trying to clean it all up, amidst coughing my head off and wheezing, still feeling a sense of sadness but becoming more and more wound up as I listened to this fucking awful noise right outside my house.

This went on for a couple of hours and in between cleaning I tried desperately to sort the TV out. The time came for the security guys to come and lock up the park and of course the bastard kids then decided it would be a good idea to hang around right outside my house and carry on with their bastard noise making.

So, I called the police and simply said to the operator "I don't care if you act on this or not, but what I'm going to tell you will happen. If a car is not here in the next half an hour, I will go outside with a weapon, and I will deal with these kids how I think fit." Of course the inevitable questions came then "What are they doing?" "Do you know them?" (Oh aye love, I know them all by name and I socialise with their parents FFS) I answered her questions and just said "Look, just take the details - check the computer, there have been calls logged to this area and my address going back nearly 4 years - I don't want to have to go through the same thing time and time again - just send someone out"

Now, remembering what was said the night before by the young police officer - that there are only 2 of them covering a large area - I truly didn't expect them to get there - so I prepared my ambush. However, what did happen was that the security guards came back and shifted the kids on! I can't say for certain if the police contacted them and asked them to help them out, albeit it is strange for the security guys to come back once the park is locked up - but there we are. The kids were saved and so was I - because I know if I'd carried out what I'd intended, I'd have been locked up by now.

For anyone who is interested, the TV simply needed resetting by switching off the plugs!

I'd laugh my head off, if it weren't so serious

So, very young police officer came for a chat last night. Can't even be arsed to bore you with the details, I'm sure you all know the script too well. But he did let slip that there is only him and one other officer covering 3 areas where there are known problems with ASB (see, I'm getting into it now, I'll be talking about TWOCing next). My son said to him "What happens if something really serious happens then?" Answer? "The shit will hit the fan son"

Fills me with such faith.

Summer is coming.... Aaaaannndddd we're off.

I was getting ready for work this morning, my husband shouted goodbye up the stairs to me and my son. Within 5 minutes he was back in the house, cursing like a good 'un. "Fucking little bastards" was the gist of it.

I asked him what had happened, knowing full well it would have something to do with a nice bit of "low level crime". "Some little bastard has broken into my car" They'd smashed the door lock and nicked his work jacket off the back seat! Worth about £40 if that. Obviously didn't have the skills required to lift the radio or actually drive the fucking thing away.

He works about 30 miles away so didn't have the time to ring the police and be left on hold for half an hour.

He rang them this evening and the conversation went something like this:-

Operator - Greater Manchester Police
Him - Control room for Oldham please
(almost 20 minutes go by before it is picked up - eventually it gets answered)
Him - Need to report a break in to my car please.
Operator starts to take details, but when he tells her it happened this morning, she gets arsey and says "why has it taken you this long to report it?"
Him "Because unlike the scrotes who did it, I work for a living and I had 30 miles to drive - I only get half an hour lunch break so I couldn't spare the time to sit and wait for someone to answer - now are you going to take the details or aren't you?"

Half an hour later someone calls back and he explains the shit situation we are in, how the police actually don't give a shiny fucking shite how many times our house is targeted, our cars are damaged, our sleep is disturbed and guess what? The woman who rang is "really concerned" that we think we are not being taken seriously and our queries are never dealt with and she is "sending an officer round" Fuck me, I am glad that I am going out shortly because I would end up getting myself arrested. Because I would be telling whichever "couldn't give a shit officer" who cares to call round, that I am going to buy a gun and I when I am pushed over the edge, unlike Fiona Pilkington I won't be killing members of my family, I will be going outside and I will be killing the fucking bastard kids (and their parents if I get the chance) who are responsible for all the shit that goes on around here.

Fucking Greater Manchester Police - what a complete and utter waste of fucking space you all are - I shall find out how much of my council tax relates to police work and fucking deduct it from next year's bill. You have done fuck all to even try to make my life any easier - and you fucking deserve every bit of bad press that you get.

Fiona Pilkington & Family

So, 10 police officers under investigation? The Independent (don't make me laugh) Police Complaints Commission are investigating. That will be interesting. I'd be so ashamed if I were part of that investigation. They felt they were prisoners in their own home, how sad is that? Bless them.

As a matter of interest, the idiots outside my house are now out in force again. Lighter nights, better weather - in the park until all hours , creating nuisance, one lad tried to burn a swing the other night (Mmmm, thick twat, trying to set fire to a metal swing....) - but hey, fuck it, it's just a bit of "low level crime". Despite being told to ring the police when I feel I need to, I no longer do so. I've now got surround sound in the living room so when the noise levels get up there, I turn the TV up a bit louder or stick my IPOD on. I am NOT going to call the police just to be told I'm overreacting or I must "live in Beirut" (Yes, that is what one Inspector said to me, tosser).

I know I harp on about the "low level crime" but it is just so fucking stupid that I feel the need to mention it to stress the point. IT IS LOW LEVEL CRIME NOW, BUT IN FUTURE IT WILL BE WORSE - GO FIGURE.

If you Google Greater Manchester Police and "News"

There is a bloody page full of appalling stories. Man with learning difficulties tormented to death, GMP failed dead woman murdered by her ex boyfriend, GMP one of the worst performing forces in the country et al. Tell me something I don't already know.

Over the past few months, ranting on here and reading blogs by other police officers, I'd found myself starting to mellow and I felt that some of the stories told by officers made me feel sorry for them - their job seems difficult at times and they appear to be hamstrung in certain situations. But when an innocent victim dies because they have been failed by the police, then I'm sorry, but you deserve every bit of bad press you get.

You are all human beings - when did you stop to actually care?

I had to smile to myself as I watched last night's news. A spokesperson said that GMP are great at dealing with "serious crime" but not so good at dealing with "low level crime".

Now I don't profess to be a fucking genius, but I'm bloody sure it doesn't take Aristotle to work it all out - if I've managed it, I'm sure the so called bright sparks at GMP can give it a go. Ahem:-

• Children being badly brought up
• Neither parents nor children are dealt with on any level (I'd put social services in the frame here also)
• Said children become perpetrators of "low level crime"
• Said children are reported to police by people like me, time after time
• People like me are ultimately dismissed as cranks by the police, told to get a grip because this is "low level crime" (I'm beginning to warm to that expression - makes one think the world is not so bad after all.....)
• Children get bigger and dafter and the incidences of low level crime become a bit more serious
• Police officers start to take a bit more notice of these feral yobs - (shame they didn't listen to me in the first place really - I'm not such a fucking imbecile after all...)
• The low level crime becomes serious and before you lot know it, you are arresting the little bastards for all sorts of stuff.

So, in essence, you police officers have now created your own work load for the future. By allowing these little fuckers to get away with all sorts from a very early age, you are now reaping what you have allowed to be sewn.

In 2007 I wrote to Michael Todd - this is an extract from the letter I sent:-

What is your policy on this kind of behaviour? I seek a definitive answer on this point, because I am constantly given conflicting advice from different officers.
Are you prepared to deal with this situation to my satisfaction? I know it may not seem like such a big deal to you, but being constantly disturbed by hooligans at all hours of the day and night is causing me untold stress.
I am told you have funding problems – far be it for me to criticise, but you seem able to find funding for expensive commercial campaigns to combat the use of mobile phones whilst driving, speeding cameras, etc – do you not consider that law and order in this area is paramount also? Whilst speeding and reckless driving increase the risk of road traffic accidents, why do these often victimless crimes take so much priority over crimes perpetrated by young thugs and vandals? Perhaps it is because the drivers can be used to generate funds, whilst any action taken against the thugs costs money?

In the past few months, I have begun to understand why many people have considered vigilantism. When the very police force that is supposed to protect the law-abiding and tax-paying citizens fails them, the average person will not accept that they must sit back and take what the criminals throw at them. The British have always been taught that they should fight back against oppression. Whilst I do not wish to sound dramatic, these youths that plague the lives of my family and I are, in effect, oppressing us. When they behave as they do, my strongest desire is to meet them head-on. However, I am not willing to fall foul of the law myself. I wish to address this issue in the correct way, by allowing the police to perform their duty. I hope, above all hopes, that with your intervention the local police will be spurred into action. Please do not forget that by turning a blind eye to the actions of these delinquents, society is preparing them for a life of crime – they may be committing what are considered petty crimes now, but their complete lack of respect for the police will only lead them onto worse crimes. I even suspect that some of these youths are already involved in theft, burglary, assault, etc. If they are not taken to task now, the Greater Manchester Police may be responsible for generating its own workload for the future.

My reasoning behind contacting you directly is due to the indifference expressed by practically every official involved, at every level. So, it is with regret that I find myself having to go over so many heads, to ask you directly for assistance. I would have preferred not to have to do such a thing, but I feel that I have been forced to act, for the safety and wellbeing of my family and myself. I would hope that my next step is not to be a letter to Parliament to explain how I have been forsaken by every law enforcement official in this region. I expect that you are a reasonable enough man, with a family of your own, who will understand my predicament and who will wish to do everything in his power to resolve what is really a small issue (in relative terms). I would be very disappointed if you were to treat me with the same disregard that so many before you have.

Please accept an invitation to my home on any night you should choose, so that you may see for yourself just what it is that my family and I are subjected to on a daily basis.

I look forward to receiving a reply from you and I hope that you can help to bring this issue to a satisfactory conclusion (for both parties).

It probably comes as no big surprise to find that after about 3 months I received a reply from one of his side kicks - a bigger load of bollocks you couldn't have wished to read.

So, I guess it has all come full circle. It appears to me to have been proved beyond doubt that the "service" I have come to expect from GMP is absolutely no fucking service whatsoever. I work in professional services - if I treated a paying client the way I have been treated, I'd lose my job.

Far be it from me to say "told you so" but if my letter of 3 years ago had been taken seriously, perhaps GMP might have been getting some better press today. But no, I was dismissed as a lunatic and here we are.

They can get as much bad press as possible for me, serves them fucking right.