I had the displeasure of reading Inspector Gadget’s ‘Wasting police time’ book full of anecdotes of the thin blue line. One of the chapters I found highly enlightening was in regards to the ticking of detectable crimes.
For the Police Service, they now not need a conviction to improve their statistics, they only need to identify the wrongdoer, go through the motions and then release the ‘perpetrator’ for another ‘successful’ detection.
A prime example of lazy policing is from the Telegraph.
Flame-thrower scooter owner arrested
Published: 8:00AM GMT 27 Mar 2010
Colin Furze, a plumber who adapted his scooter to shoot 15ft flames from the rear, has been arrested for an alleged firearms offence.
Mr Furze, 30, displayed his modified his scooter, with an anti-tailgating flame thrower operated by the flick of switch, in the press earlier this week.
But Lincolnshire Police spotted the pictures of Mr Furze allegedly riding his scooter on a public highway – and arrested him on Thursday.
He was held on suspicion of possessing an object converted into a firearm, and was released on unconditional police bail without charge until May 6 pending further police investigation.
Possession of a firearm carries a maximum prison sentence of five to seven years at Crown Court.
Mr Furze, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, declined to comment.
Speaking before his arrest, he said: ”Everybody wants a flame thrower on a motor bike.
”I don’t need a flame thrower on the back of my bike, I’m not going to set fire to people’s car’s, it’s just something interesting to do.”
The scooter, which was built before Christmas, was Mr Furze’s third attempt at the project after the first did not ignite and the second burst into flames.
A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said: ”A man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an object converted to a firearm on Thursday. He was released on unconditional bail.”
So the hard-work of spotting pictures in a national newspaper leads to the arrest of a James Bond enthusiast? Is this how Lincolnshire Plod spend their day, going through the publications trying to spot misdemeanors? Still, at least Lincolnshire Police have another ticked box in the ‘fight against crime’.
With Policeman like these, who needs criminals.
No, but they were probably respoding to a flood of letters from people who read that paper. I doubt they were really looking to waste time on a moped rider.