# when you cant even have a spot of lunch in peace!!



## pobby (Jun 2, 2005)

what a lovely sunny day it has been today on the south coast so DP decided to get out of the office and have a little drive at lunch time...
a few moments later, feeling peckish, he decided to pull over in a quaint country lane to eat his cheese sarnie..
A few moments later he was questioned and detained (briefly!) by two armed officers under the terrorism act! 
They say it was because he was "in the flight path of gatwick"  (he could just about see an easy jet plane flying in the distance!)
I know we have to be protected from people who want to blow us all up but does anyone think that the world has gone ever so slightly mad?  
DP has recovered by the way but the experience did put him off his apple!

Pobby x


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## carrie3479 (Nov 30, 2005)

OMG! Seriously havent they got better things to do   
I suppose its lucky you werent eating doughnuts they would have confiscated them 

Mind you we had a run in a few months back.. driving home one night in DHs car and suddenly blue lights were flashing behind us. I was getting ready to have a good old rant for what ever DH had done!! but the policeman (well policeBOY!) just wanted to say what a nice car it was as he likes BMWs!!!    

The world has gone completely mad

Corrina x


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## Stalyvegas (Oct 14, 2007)

Pobby OMG thats terrible - poor DH.

Corrina, thats abuse of their powers/flashy lights - they could have gotten into trouble for that I bet!


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## carrie3479 (Nov 30, 2005)

Thats what I thought, I think he had followed us all the way through the town until we got to the quiet country stretch, checky blighter. But thats what you get when kids are employed in a position of so called power! Im sure they get younger and younger.


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## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

maybe theyve got nothing better to do.

I lost a bit of faith in our local officers.  We called them out as our exneighbour got violent and attacked dp.  Honestly no provocation here....He had history of violence etc and had been inside a few times (and was dealing drugs but thats a different story).  He basically said "Im gonna ******* kill you" to dp as he attacked him.  We locked ourselves in and called them out....

Their response..."oh we know him, he's all talk"  "but he threatened to kill me" "well he didnt do it did he"....great huh.....seems sensible.....question people having a quick sarnie and turn a blind eye to blatant threats.....


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

OMG Pobby that's terrible 

....although not surprising !   I remember DP getting pulled up by some "officers" when he was coming through barriers on tube on way to work one morning (I wasn't with him!).....he was looking a bit scruffy as unshaven (he's sooooo lazy!) and dressed in jeans and Tshirt but they started questioning him, asking where he was from, where he lived, what he was doing, where he was going......the fact that he speaks with a London accent and was actually born in Westminster (in the sound of the Bow bells) was nothing......he said he was made to feel like a criminal...think they were just randomly checking people for immigration or whatever....  He reckons it's his "Polish" nose that does it....I say it's cos he doesn't shave every day and looks like a scruff with his stubble


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## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

I forgot to say that at the height of the 7/7 stuff a member of my staff was stopped literally twice daily for 2w+ and searched on his way to and from work.  They would take him to one side and ask him to take his shoes off etc.  They also took my details as his boss to check out his identity etc....It was a scary time but he felt totally humiliated as this was done in front of commuters at busy stations.


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

EBW1969 said:


> I forgot to say that at the height of the 7/7 stuff a member of my staff was stopped literally twice daily for 2w+ and searched on his way to and from work. They would take him to one side and ask him to take his shoes off etc. They also took my details as his boss to check out his identity etc....It was a scary time but he felt totally humiliated as this was done in front of commuters at busy stations.


I think we all appreciate they have to do these things for a reason....and yes, it was a very scary time around 7/7...a day that will stick in my head for a very very long time....
....but as you say, it's doing these checks in full view of others which is so humiliating....DP didn't have to take his shoes off but the fact he's was pulled over and asked all these questions made him feel he'd done something wrong, when he was a completely innocent man on his way to work ! Mind you if they'd carted him off somewhere in private and people had been watching would've been just as bad I spose......if not worse ! It's a tough one isn't it ?

N xx


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## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

Yeah I mean it was understandable as we were right in the epicentre of it all being on Russell Square, and very close to the bus.  I actually missed 7/7 as I was on holiday but the repercussions going into work were felt for weeks.  I think part of the problem was he liked to carry a rucksack....


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## outspan3 (Jan 22, 2006)

well I'm going to play devils advocate

Yes, your partner was perfectly innocent, eating his cheese sandwich. What if they next guy isn't - what if he has rocket launcher? Only way they find out is by stopping him. They are humans they are not infallable - better check everyone than let one slip through the net. Would be calling them if they didn't stop people. As long as they are polite and nice whats the problem? If its happening to you everyday then yeah you have an issue and you have a right to be annoyed. If its a one-off, yes it might seem stupid but whats the point in being uptight about it. Would rather they checked an innocent guy than let a guilty guy go free.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. If you've got nothing to hide what have you got to fear.

Yes you do get the ones who abuse the power for example BMW guy, personally if thats all it was I would have reported him.

As for the neighbour threatening violence. If he denies it where do they go from there? Don't think it's as easy as we all think. Then we jump on their backs because it doesn't suit us.


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## Catb33 (Aug 1, 2006)

I'm going to agree with outspan and play devils advocate. I work closely with the police and they don't have an easy time of it. They're often stymied by the CPS not pursuing cases that we might think were open and shut for niggly reasons, and then they get all sorts of silly targets put on them which make it difficult to do what we would see as a regular police job. 

Stopping you to say your car is nice is well out of order though. And the lunch stop also sounds a bit unnecessary, though they may have had a tip about that area.

Cath

PS You wouldn't be stopped on a tube for immigration. There is no law requiring you to carry proof of nationality/ID within the country and immigration can't stop someone randomly, only the police have stop and search powers.


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

CathB said:


> PS You wouldn't be stopped on a tube for immigration. There is no law requiring you to carry proof of nationality/ID within the country and immigration can't stop someone randomly, only the police have stop and search powers.


I didn't say it _was_ immigration who stopped DP....I said we thought perhaps that was the reason as we couldn't think why.......he was stoppped for absolutely no reason....rush hour, in the morning, in City on tube !

As I say, I do understand that they have to be cautious but sometimes they aren't always friendly......I'm sorry but that's just the case and not saying they all are like that....they can often be very abrupt and "treat" you like you're a criminal....which I personally think is completely wrong when the majority of us are innocent people going about our daily lives...

....and since I work in the City and there were staff members who lost their lives in 7/7 (and also in 9/11 in our US offices), I am well aware of the reasons behind the security....it's a sad world we live in 

....it's a shame when I've been assaulted twice now (once on train and once on bus, in fact the one on the bus was only a matter of weeks ago at 9am on way to work....and during my 2ww to make it worse !), and no one bothers to do anything ! I didn't report the incident on train and know I should've done (punched and verbally abused by group of young girls)....I did look into reporting the incident on the bus but the bus company wouldn't do anything as said it was police matter & told me to speak with transport police, transport police then said not them, speak with Met police in Southwark.....and you know what, they said that as I was only verbally abused (the guy shouting he was gonna slap me up amongst other things !) and the bottle that he threw at me didn't hit me but the back of the seat I was on, then they probably wouldn't be able to do anything (despite CCTV).....so I gave up reporting that too !

That's why I get annoyed when things like DP getting stopped happens....yet when something actually happens to me, they don't do...or are unwilling to do anything !

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now ! 

Take care
Natasha

PS....and I'm not having a go at the police force....I'm just putting my own thoughts...and experiences across !


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## professor waffle (Apr 23, 2005)

DH is a train spotter & has been turfed off some stations for appearing suspicious! Not even London ones either. I can see the point but he's quite obviously just a sad anorak!!


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## TwiceBlessed (Nov 8, 2006)

Im not saying I have no sympathy with the good job most police do but I just felt in my circumstances seeing them chatting like old mates to a man who had just held my dp by his neck and threaten to kill him and then treating us like we were the ones causing hassle was just plain wrong .  This man had a history of violence


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## pobby (Jun 2, 2005)

Hi Outspan
i didnt really think i was being "uptight" about it. when DP told me the story i actually laughed as it sounded so crazy! It just made me think what a sad state the world is in that such an innocent activity can end up with having policemen questioning you that are carrying guns. I absolutely agree they have a job to do..i WANT to be protected by terrorists! and i think, by and large, they do a fantastic job.However, i do think men, on the whole, get a worse deal. i bet i wouldnt have been stopped if it had been me there? and as for stopping people that look scruffy, it's ridiculous.
Natasha has highlighted the whoeful inadaquecys (sorry cant spell that word   ) of the system when she gets attacked and gets NO help! its DISGUSTING!  about 6months ago I phoned the police to tell them a man was watching me through my window (he was standing in someones garden peering over there fence at me) I know it wasnt crime of the century but they told me to go out and confront him! 
and blokes that are minding their own business are getting stop and searched for no reason (except to look as though they are doing something??) and yes, its all well and good saying "if you have nothing to hide" but I bet that poor brazilian guy thought he had nothing to hide on the underground before he got shot in the back and killed! anyway, like I say, its a shame the world has come to this when we are all so paranoid that people want to kill us...why cant we just all hug each other??! 

Love and peace!
Pobby xx


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## Happy Mummy (Sep 22, 2006)

Hi everyone,
Minxy, OMG, what a terrible experience!   
maybe what is needed is better trained police, better paid police and more police. Just a thought.
Future Mummy


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## outspan3 (Jan 22, 2006)

well you do get mistakes, it's the same in any job. Granted it was a tad more serious that they shot and killed a guy for no apparent reason.  Seems to be the world we are living in these days.

Yes we do live in a police state gone mad, but thats government targets for you. I mean come on, targets on crime? Get a grip! Did you know that police are judged on how many stops they perform in a month? Thats simple stops as in, speaking to someone on the street. They then have to complete a form and enter it on the computer. Why? This is the kind of crap that prevents real situations being dealt with. If they don't get the right amount of stops they put action plans into place. This is possibly part of the reason they spoke to your husband - another notch on the belt to keep the bosses off their back. As for telling you to deal with the guy in your garden (which is crap and I would also be annoyed at it) Chances are they didn't want to deal with it so that they didn't have to record it. This is because they are also rated on their detection rate, granted it's their job, but how do you detect someone who is standing in a garden? He would probably have been gone by the time they had turn up and that job is left undetected and they get into trouble for it from bosses. I'm not saying its right, it's just the way it is.

Yes you do get knobs in the uniform - met a few myself and would happily have told them to f... off but you also get people trying to do an honest days work and actually help people, made more difficult by silly targets and paperwork.

Future - try telling that to the government!

preach over!


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## AmandaB1971 (Feb 19, 2006)

Hi

I agree with Elaine completely.  My BIL is a cop and I have many very good friends who are cops ranking from a Superintendent to bobby's on the beat and on the whole they do a fantastic job.  I work with them very closely professionally and will do so even more in my new job.  As Outspan says they have really rigorous targets to meet and these are set by the Government not by the Police.  They're up against it tremendously and also put their lives on the line every day they attend work to protect us!

I don't think Men get a rougher ride than women, as a female biker I must get stopped on my bike at least 3-4 times more often than my DH or any of our friends.  Sometimes it's because they want to admire my bike and sometimes it's because they can see long blonde hair coming out from under the helmet and that's unusual and draws me to their attention.  I don't see the problem though, my bike's completely legal and I've nothing to hide so if the stop me to admire it, I'm proud of the fact that I own it! If they stop me to check it I accept they have a job to do and just stay courteous and pleasant.  I have met the odd jobs worth along the way but I know my rights as a biker/motorist/british citizen very well indeed and if they do overstep the mark I have no problem in assertively reminding them of my rights and how they are breaching them! 

Perhaps we need to be thinking about this from the opposite way around, if my bike gets nicked I want to know that a traffic cops going to stop is a mile from my house, realise they don't own it and get it back for me!  Similarly living 0.5 miles away from an international airport I want to know that if some loony does decide to blow it up that they will be on the ball and deal with it!

I don't think we can malign the Police for the general woes of the world.  Similarly the Police are an easy target for frustrations which should be vented at the Government!  Finally!  Lets remember that these guys/girls put their lives on the line just as Firemen do, as we're all running away from something nasty they're running towards it and that makes them special!

Off my soapbox now! 

Axxxx


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## Happy Mummy (Sep 22, 2006)

Some police do a good job , some don't, it is the same in every country. However what I have noticed in this country, apart from the lack of them , is :so many are not fit! how are they going to run after the criminals? it should be a prerequisite to the job really. As far as I have seen , firemen are fit. why can't it be the same for the police? 
Police presence is essential for people to feel safe, I think, but I also feel the police is "depressed", they are not rewarded enough for the dangerous job they are doing. It is a catch 22 really. 

Future Mummy


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## outspan3 (Jan 22, 2006)

future

they do have to pass a certain level of fitness before they are accepted. Once they are in though, well it's a slightly different story!


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