My attempt to embed the video didn’t work. Interesting stuff from Russia Today. My video is near the bottom of the page. Contrast with total tosh from NATO spkesman.
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-06-10/drug-heroin-afghan-conference.html
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@Suhayl
Whit aboot the Broons!
Redders
Decriminalisation has, as you say, the big advantage of preventing the rise of drug-related crime. For that reason I am for ‘Dutch’ solutions like permitting the use of drugs under medical supervision. On the other hand, Steve seems to have indicated that society (and hospital wards) get filled with junkies that way, and the Dutch are moving towards a tougher policy.
So doing away with the supplies is part of the solution. See, even the Taliban get it right sometimes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3408353.stm). Of course we would need different methods. So destroy the poppy fields!
PS. I enjoyed Oor Wullie as I grew up, but I never took to the Broons for some reason. I will always remember the immortal verse
“A glass of milk – a can of tea-
then orangeade – and it’s all free!”
To those who don’t understand what that could mean – it won’t make sense unless you’ve experienced reading Oor Wullie, Oh poor deprived person.
Redders,
no, I don’t know much about the figures. I had a quick look, but mostly the figures are not tabulated by age range. But I was quite surprised to find just one drug-related death for under-15s. The mainstream media and conventional wisdom make a big point about drugs and children, so I’d assumed it was a big problem. Looking it up put it in perspective.
My point about traffic isn’t to do with who causes the accident, but that it wouldn’t be right to use extreme measures to eliminate risk. Your contribution emphasises this even further: childish behaviour leads to road deaths and injuries. So we could drug our children with something to make them behave more sensibly, or we could curtail their freedom so that they’re never allowed near traffic, or we could ban all non essential traffic or journeys. Two of these are less extreme that Abe Rene’s proposal. The more extreme one, about drugging children, already seems to be being implemented in the case of ADHD!
Due to years of mainstream hype good sense goes out of the window when drugs are mentioned, to the point that the last government sacked their scientific advisor on drugs because what he said didn’t fit the mainstream opinion. Damn the papers and their sensationalism; they make every problem more difficult to solve, and damn those politicians that respond to the press instead of demanding sense from it.
I have just come off of shift and I agree something must be done my cells were filled with roughly this breakdown. Drug users 35%, Drunks 20%, wife beaters (some drunk) 40%. Idiot criminals 5%. But it is more complicated than that because some of the drunks beat their wives as do the drug users and most of the drunks and drugs users are idiot criminals so it goes around in circles. And to make it more complicated some of the drunk wife beaters are stoned on drugs as well. Legalising the drugs isn’t going to stop the drug users from shoplifting or beating their wives when high off their heads its just going to put them in the same category as the drunk who beats his or her partner whilst pissed.
very few people get arrested for possession alone it is normally as a consequence of them being involved in another offence to pay for the drugs or whilst off their heads. So unless you are advocating giving up to £300 of free drugs away to whoever wants them whenever they want them people will still need to get money to purchase drugs. As most drug users that cause problems are so stoned and wasted to work then legalising drugs would have little net affect on crime or police time.
Contrary to popular believe the real drug dealers are not arrested very often as they tend not to take drugs and drive good cars with insurance tax etc so don’t get caught very often. When they are involved in crime it tends to be big like serious GBH or murder.
The little man who just sells enough to cover his own usage would probably have to turn to crime to subsidise his habit if drugs were legalised which would then have the knock on affect of creating more crime as a side effect. I have seen numerous bottom tier dealers who see it as an ethical way to subsidise their habit. And I cant see boots taking them on to distribute their drugs for them.
The TV portray cops spending hours tracking down the Mr Bigs of this world. In real terms only a tiny resource is used on this by very few people most time is wasted clearing up all the shit from users stoned out off their heads taking meat from Tesco’s or kicking shit out of each other. This is hugely complicated and legalising drugs would do nothing to prevent crime as criminals would just find something else to do. Gun smuggling? Prostitution? Gambling? All these million plus houses and Range Rover Sports have to be paid for somehow
Steve,
I really feel for you, trying to keep a lid on this godawful mess. I know what you mean about the ‘businessmen’ at the top of this food chain; it is disgusting. This is who our intelligence agencies should be going after; I wonder how many of these people are also involved with weapons dealing.
Of course all drug users are legally ‘criminals’, but I personally regard the sort of people I used to associate with as unfairly criminalised. So I hope you’ll bear with me when I describe some ‘criminal drug users’ as a distinct group.
One thing I’ve noticed is that some people are attracted to crime by excitement; this often seems associated with cocaine / stimulants (don’t get me wrong; only some stimulant users are like this). These people get very excited by getting away with something, it doesn’t really matter what.
I once happened to be present when a couple of these concluded a minor fraud. They’d located an empty flat, and ordered some expensive electronics to be delivered there from a catalogue company. They knew roughly when delivery would happen, and were watching for it, so that one of them could go and stand in the doorway with a set of keys and pretend that he was just going out, and sign for the goods. They got away with it up to that point, and I never heard of them getting caught.
So they got away with a £600 electronic device, but I’m convinced that the excitement was the major motivation; they were buzzing, like kids fooling a teacher. I used to say that this sort of people would rather make a fiver illegally than a hundred within the law. Of course they never got rich, but a few do, and I expect that a lot of the ‘Mr Bigs’ start out like this.
Public perception is not blameless here. Every night the airwaves are laden with stories about fictional crime, and decades on, Ronnie Biggs still makes the headlines and is a sort of a public semi-hero. Not my sort of thing; I’m an (ex?) hippy.
Regarding the people overcrowding your cells; society desperately needs some good method of giving these people something better to live for, something that attracts them more than what they already have. As you say, the crime, the drugs, and the aggression and violence all go round in circles, they’re woven together and no single strand can be separated from all the others.
Steve,
some further thoughts. I was really lucky with my introduction to drugs. I met a group of older people, some of whom were experienced drug users, several of them had professional jobs, one was a dispenser studying to become a pharmacist and one even worked for the police. They knew a lot about drugs, the toxicology, addictiveness and the social dangers. They spoke from experience and made a lot more sense than the mainstream, that shouted “All Drugs Are Deadly” in their news columns, and “Become An Adult – Buy Fags and Booze” in their advertisements. My ‘drugs initiation’ was much like that of someone in a tribal society, guided through by the elders of the tribe. They directed me to enlightened literature, arts and music. Drugs were associated with creativity rather than crime in this group.
Things are far more likely to go wrong with a group of teenagers and no older, more experienced users. And this forms part of my argument against prohibition. Those older users opened themselves to risk by educating younger people like me. The stronger the prohibition the more they would have to loose. Indeed, the dispenser never became a pharmacist because he was busted for cannabis. I’m very grateful to these people. What I learned from them has safeguarded me from the dangers of drugs for my whole life.
Clark
Very interesting and thoughtful post. But you were lucky you dont get kind benefactor drugs mentors in sink estates and Government sponsored ones by way of trendy hippy drugs refferal workers will be pretty busy if they have to mentor all the drugs users that would come out if it were legalised. Drugs ruin lives and communities as does drink we cant ban drink only manage it. lets not open up drugs for all so everyone can be exposed. Most people are put off drugs because they are illegal full stop. Not because they fear harm or worry about what they are taking. Take away the fear of coviction and watch pandoras box open. Look what happened when these idiots liberalised the drinking laws.
Steve,
I’m sorry, but I disagree on several points.
We shouldn’t have ‘sink’ estates; we shouldn’t *need* sink estates; the concept itself implies the almost deliberate creation of a problem by councils’ housing policies. But there are decent, quiet users in these places. Probably the police don’t notice them much because they don’t cause trouble. I’ve met them, I probably was one at one time, passing on what I had learned to those who seemed to need to know. It’s an unquantifiable thing, hidden by the secrecy imposed by prohibition; no one knows what the drugs scene would be like without sensible users. But my feeling is that the proportion has fallen over the years, drug supply has become more commercial and competitive. But maybe I only feel that because I live elsewhere now.
Illegality does not simply put people off drug use. Rather, it polarises the issue. Many youngsters start taking drugs partly to advertise their rebellion, the illegality actually draws them to drugs. Conversely, the people who are put off are the sort who would be more likely to use sensibly.
Ruined communities and drug use certainly occur together, but I wouldn’t assume that drug use causes ruined communities. Drugs are partly a cause and partly an effect. Again, disentangling these is extremely difficult, but it is worth looking at external factors. For instance, if a major local employer shuts down, does drug related trouble rise or not?
I don’t know much about the new licensing laws. Last time I went into town on a Friday night, it looked pretty messy. I saw one bit of minor trouble, nothing much, but I wasn’t tempted to go back. I believe France, for instance, has less trouble with drink but more liberal laws. I think something was done wrong here. At a guess, I’d say that larger (ie more commercial) venues get more trouble, and that security firms are no substitute for a good landlord that knows his regulars. And synchronised chucking out times create a flashpoint.
I barely drink, but I’d hate to see it banned. A pint on a summer afternoon by a village cricket match is just one of many drug related pleasures.
Sorry Clerk
But I agree with you but disagree. We dont live in a eutopian world where sink estates dont exist or where everyone has a kindly mentor leading us through lifes wonders. And we never will even if we legalised drugs and gave them away to all and legalised prostitution. And while we are at it lets legalise burglary and shoplifting and have communal cars. This wouldnt be eutopia it would be anarchy. Yes we must strive for eutopia but we must also temper that with reality. Maybe we have to have anarchy before eutopia? It has happened in the past. But only a brave man or a revolution would make it happen. So many people say you only see the bad side of life so you get a distorted view. I could counter that by saying most people only see the good side so they are blinkered. Every coin has two sides.
Steve,
relaxation in the drug laws would have to be phased in, along with other measures, such as sorting out our bewildering array of age restrictions, equalising the employment situation so that you don’t have these places with massive unemployment, putting responsibility for people’s lives back in their own hands, encouraging true community and cutting back the power of corporatism, reestablishing the links between community and the police, establishing lifelong education as a norm, and having a representative media. I could go on and on, all of these things are entangled and affect all others.
The mess we’re in has crept upon us gradually and it can’t be put right at a stroke. Each reform would open a floodgate, so it has to be done piecemeal. Drugs are the clearest example of this. Many people have no experience to use drugs responsibly or how to advise the people around them, and if you just abolished all the laws tomorrow there would be a disaster. Decades of moving people’s personal responsibilities onto the state has created a situation where when people are let down by the system (and millions are), some of them reject the whole lot but have inadequate personal morals to fall back on.
What is clear from the state of your cells is that something in the current system doesn’t work, it’s not even close, and I think we need to look at politics: personal, local, national and international. Yes, we need brave people at all levels, but the current system favours mediocrity; decision makers are so scared of being blamed for getting something wrong that they never take an action that could put something right.
@Steve
Depressingly, you have some very good points however, most of the scum bags you lock up week in, week out will never change, whether its drugs, booze, glue or whatever they will next find, most of them are congenitally stupid.
The current system of drugs control is not only failing people in this country its failing the rest of the world. Prohibition causes untold criminal activity from its source to the end user as well as disease. If nothing else happened other than production in Afghanistan was controlled and managed it would at least mean we didn’t have friends, colleagues and family going out there getting blown up by IED’s. The billions of pounds we are committing to the war could be far better used back in our economy paying off the debt from screw up nulabour.
If it didn’t eliminate the blacked out pimpmobiles altogether it would surely reduce them; if they did find new criminal franchises like gun running at least they can’t hide £1,000 Kalasnikov up their arse or ensure their prostitutes weren’t wholly dependent on them for their next fix, they could tell the pimp to eff off and toddle down to Boots for a hit.
The scum bags languishing in your cells are exactly the same ones I was locking up 35 years ago. Their wives and kids are no different and despite all the money we have pumped into the social work departments, education, self help, back to work schemes etc. they are still an effing plague on society. And its the same the world over.
Interesting dynamic of characters here guys 🙂
Perhaps someone will develop collapsible Kalashnikovs.
Steve,
Redders,
I’ve found this conversation with a couple of coppers very refreshing. Daft laws draw a false line between people who are morally on the same side.
Unfortunately, scumbags do tend to remain scumbags. But their ranks swell or dwindle over time according to the health of society itself. Generations replace generations, so it’s the trend that needs to be influenced.
Redders, you write of the money put into various social schemes, and their lack of success. I agree. These measures are too institutionalised, they will always be regarded (with some justification) as an imposition by the people that they are intended to help. The division is the problem; all these schemes come down to ‘professionals’ working with socially separate and relatively disadvantaged ‘clients’, who then feel lectured and ask “what do you know about surviving in these conditions?”. Your suggestion about religious communities is good, though religion is on the decline.
I’m going to be bold and suggest that drugs can actually be part of the solution. Pubs were always a social center, a place where people were united across the social divisions by their common desire for intoxication. It’s a very human thing; people use alcohol to lower their barriers and encourage sociality and communication. That has broken down somewhat in recent times as intoxicants have diversified; globalisation if you like. Holland’s policies have increased some drugs problems, but its coffee shops are a success. People meet for a drink and a smoke and a chat, and barriers are broken down as different types meet each other.
In a globalised world people shouldn’t be isolated by prohibition according to which drugs they prefer.
@Suhayl
Too bad if one of them went off whilst in place. OUCH! 🙂
Talking of which did you hear about the guy who wanted to photograph his son whilst holding his (Dad’s) Beretta 9mm to his (Son’s) temple. Yep, predictably the gun was loaded, safety was off and the Son shot himself; what’s worse is the Dad ran off!
The Son wasn’t fatally wounded but Dad was jailed for his ……..well, stupidity really.
Truly Darwinian.
@Clark
“I’ve found this conversation with a couple of coppers very refreshing. Daft laws draw a false line between people who are morally on the same side.”
Don’t forget, I’m an ex copper who left 23 years ago but your sentiments are entirely correct about false divisions. The majority of the general public would, I suspect, agree that something has to be done but of course, the devil in in the detail. Inertia prevails because no one wants to risk political suicide by implementing radical change but radical change is what we need.
As far as the social aspect is concerned I’m rather with Steve from that perspective. I’m not inclined to encourage another form of substance abuse to become commonplace, I would still actively discourage drug use especially amongst our youth despite them perhaps not being as involved as we are commonly led to believe. My idea of drug ‘legalisation’ is more centred around existing users and their distributors, breaking the cycle if you like by rendering the pushers obsolete.
Cannabis use is a difficult one because its so commonplace and almost accepted in many social circles. There can be little doubt it has a debilitating effect if used to excess, but what doesn’t?
@Clark
Sorry, meant to mention this bit. Religion is on the decline because of inactivity. Religion was successful because it was seen to have a function in society, now it doesn’t. Why not give it a function that represents a move away from purely religious activities into a more social role with its religious principles as the foundation. It would, in fact, be a better reflection of what Religion represented to us all in the past.
As a cop we used to have a lot to do with Catholic Priests as they could often deal with recalcitrant children better than the system could. March them up to the Cop Shop and they were arrogant little buggers, march them up to the Priest and they were, almost to a child, blubbering wrecks by the time you got to the Church. And I’m not talking 6 year olds here, 16 and 18 year olds were frequently as distraught at the prospect.
I wonder if it happens now. Steve?
Redders,
socially healthy youths shouldn’t have time to use excessively, life should be sweeping them along. I’m against prohibition party because I think it actually encourages use as an act of rebellion; if your dad or his mates do it, it isn’t so cool. It also makes little groups hide away, and that is where excessive use and false divisions usually develop.
I haven’t mentioned refining and increased potency. These are generally a bad thing, and I don’t have clear ideas on this. I’d rather opium was used than morphine or smack, for instance, but prohibition works its evils for users of refined stuff and raw stuff alike. Maybe if drugs in their natural forms were more available less users would choose the concentrates. Certainly concentration is a benefit only for the criminal traffickers. But highly concentrated alcohol has traditionally been available, even though it’s seriously bad for the few that get hooked. Dilemma. Stronger regulation on concentrates? Only for over 25s?
What has happened to religion is tragic but inevitable. It’s another victim of globalisation. It had two major components; morality, and dogma. The dogmas of various religions were incompatible to varying extents, the moralities mostly compatible. Globalisation has brought the dogmas into contradiction of each other, and morality has suffered by association.
Then there’s the whole social dimension that society has found too expensive to replace. People who would have confided in their religious elders are now turning to the healthcare system and finding councellors in very short supply. Ironically they are encouraged to become (prescription) drug users! The human resource is still there, but a key needs to be found to motivate and integrate it.
@Clark
Nobody said it would be easy 🙂
The whole subject is an unexplored conundrum, if drugs were to be legalised then surely legalising for some and not others just replicates the problem with different dynamics and therefore different outcomes. Would we be subject to different types of illegal activity, perhaps like cigarette smuggling?
I think if it were possible then drug use, much like alcohol use, would have to be restricted by age, not that it stops underage drinkers but at least early abuse is identifiable. And when you think about it, your observations on the 15 year old death might suggest that drugs are really only commonly available as one gets a little older, pub age for example and if you’re working, it’s the time you can best afford them. So unlike smoking which is really a childhood addiction, perhaps drugs are a late teenage problem.
The religious question is interesting as the dogma was the part I was keen to avoid which is why I suggest unconditional assistance. No compulsion to attend church, no preaching or converting people whilst they are ‘patients’ or ‘clients’. I started thinking about it when my daughter went to a drama group run by a Christian organisation and I was expecting her to come back with stories of conversion, prayer or indoctrination sessions at which point I would have pulled her out but it never happened. These guys run this group unconditionally, it’s a safe, friendly environment for the kids and they have a great time, we haven’t had a flyer even suggesting they’re a religious group and many other ethnic and religions attend. It has had a positive effect on me, which is unusual as I’m an eternal cynic, and I’m pretty sure my daughter would be happy talking to them about a problem if she couldn’t talk to her Mum and I (which she always can). That to me is a good Church, genuine faith without the dogma.
Clark Redders
I agree with both of you entirely it isnt working at all the system is broken. Society is broken. Yes the total collapse of religion hasnt helped in some areas. Christianity has all but disapeared. It was the moral compass that the majority blindly used to stumble through the fog without falling over too many cliffs. But that has gone. Even our muslim youths who used to be so polite and devout are straying into drugs and robberies. They are now second or third generation whos fathers and mothers worked so hard to give them a good life. Now the kids are rebelling driving expensive cars bought with mums and dads sweat bullying and using their newly gained maturity and size to threaten their parents who are now broken and frail. I have lost count of how many I have come into contact with high on drugs robbing someone for kicks of a crap mobile phone then throwing it away because it is nothing compared to the top of the range one in there pocket bought with cash virtually stolen from parents. Drug use is widespread amongst this group trying to cope with the conflicts of going to the mosque daily and praying with all the pressure of radicalisation and trying to make sense of all the world talking about terrorism and atrosities done on all sides. And fitting in with the wider community not understanding why their parents wont speak to them because the girl at school they are going out is from the wrong race religion cast or social status. But despite still having this supposed moral compass the mixed directions they are being sent in often put them over the cliff. This can be the same for christian kids from devout black families. The street life they live bares no relation to the Sunday school image they see at church and they live two seperate lives. White kids all too often dont even know what religion is as christianity in many white communities has become irrelevant. How many times have you seen the tragic conflicting photos of the poor victim of street knife crime who was stabbed and a picture of them 5 years ago dressed as the local choirboy just for pictures from facebook to come out with him holding a pistol or knife wearing gang colours with his homeys.It is unfortunately inevitable that religion has gone now the hubble spacecraft can see all the way to where we though heaven was hiding. The hierachy of religion, family, community and state are all now broken. Schools dont instill discipline anymore but teach individual choice. Police and Courts say they are victims and deserve 20 or 30 chances at intervention before any punishment is considered. The father figure going out each day early to work and coming home sweaty and tired at night then getting rewarded at the end of the week with money wages has been replaced with mum sitting at home pissed or stoned with an endless stream of uncles and benefits streaming through the door for no return. Given all this no wonder our counrty is fucked
Redders,
drama! It’s a positive influence, religious practices make use of it, and it is comparable to religion in terms of emotional power. It’s an exceedingly positive activity. Commercialism is again a bad influence, hijacking drama from something people are involved with to a passive activity, especially as regards TV. Yes, lets encourage drama and the creative arts generally. This is what I loved about the Stonehenge Free Festival. Everything there was self-motivated, done because the contributors wanted to do it.
Steve,
where to start? I think it’s a fair guess that you’re policing a particularly troubled area. I’ll read your post a few times and hope I come up with something sensible. I bet you get flak from all sides. Some initiative has to be found which encourages cohesion, and that’s not the role of the Police, who are already too busy dealing with the mess. I can’t do much but wish you well.
@Steve
Wow!
It’s not all that bad, there are certain sections of the community of which that is a fair reflection but your working with them for those reasons. I have also seen the dark side, peered over the abyss and truly, its not all black although it seriously does seem like that from where you are. Ask Suhayl what Easterhouse is like, Blackhill, Possil Park, Drumchapel and many more places I worked that were sink estates before the term was invented. All those attitudes displayed by your Muslim youths was commonplace in Glasgow of the 70’s and 80’s but it was white trash without even the dichotomy of a Church to make them question their behaviour. There was no redemption possible for them, the opportunity of seeing the light in their faith simply didn’t exist, at least your Muslim lads have that chance.
What really made me think one day was when I was walking the beat (Strange I know, but we did that a lot, and if you pissed off the Sgt. or Insp. you did it on your own, a lot!) and within 100 Yards went from one of the most deprived areas, tenement buildings, postage stamp piece of grass, knackered old cars etc. where we inevitably spent most of our time, to an area where there were 1930’s council semi detached houses, rows of them, painted by the tenants with neat gardens front and back, drives with modest but newish cars in them etc. and I had to do a double take to convince myself how close I was to Hell. We normally drove through this area at 60MPH responding to another call in the cauldron so we never noticed it existed. Then I started to question what areas in the tenements I actually visited regularly and of course it was always the same ones; when I was with one of my more community minded colleagues we used to drop in on his acquaintances who existed cheek by jowel with the scum bags, perfectly respectable people with jobs, ambitions, well cared for and educated children, clean homes and self respect. The more I thought and looked, the more of these doormouse people I saw. Like a voyeur I began to pay more attention at 8am when the kids were sent to school and the Dad’s went to work and I began to realise that there were lots of the doormouse people, lots more in fact than there were scum bags but they were normal, and we never saw them because early shift was frequently spent serving warrants on the scum bags who were on the run and we knew didn’t get out of bed before lunchtime.
There is hope, there are more good people than bad, you just sometimes have to look for them because unlike you, me and the scum bags they are respectful and fearful of the law so are inclined to keep their heads down. I was as cynical as you were early in my job as a copper but as I developed I began to realise I was often under the influence of my circumstances and the environment I was forced to work in. When I left I actually quite liked the job but only because I lightened up and began to associate, wherever possible, with the nicer elements of the public, they made the job worthwhile it was the bosses that did it for me. We were told by an Inspector to walk the beat on night shift, all of us, on our own and to nick anything that moved for at least a breach of the peace. Big gob me asked him about corroboration and he told me I was to radio him and he would provide whatever corroboration I needed at which point I told HIM to nick them then and I’ll provide his corroboration which he knew would be none as I wasn’t about to risk a good job for the sake of his crime figures. The bastard tried to stitch me up later when he put me with a guy that didn’t particularly like me in a car and, predictably, we got involved in a car chase, I ran into the back of the car as it stopped (just a ding on the bonnet) and he tried to persuade my partner to say I had been driving recklessly and that he would make it worth his while to drop me in it. Thankfully the guy had more dignity than to deal with the shit, refused and in sight of him, came over and told me what he had said.
The scum bags come from unexpected places, but then so do the honest people.
Our system may be busted but I’m hoping this government, with the financial challenge it faces wont tolerate the waste associated with nicking, releasing and nicking again, the same suspects 20 or 30 times. My desire of our religious communities developed from my belief that prison and rehabilitation cannot exist concurrently. We can’t go on kicking people out of prison straight back into the environment the trouble started in. Rehabilitation needs to start at the prison gates but on the way out not on the way in. We need to separate punishment and rehabilitation, you discipline a child by sending him/her to their room then after the punishments over and everyone’s calmed down you start to repair the damage done to your relationship. But the government would say “we can’t afford that, we don’t have enough social workers to cope”……so use the effing churches! not to dispense dogma but to help with adjustment to living outside the nick, provide a gentler nick to let them convert to ‘normal’ life.
“Passive activity” tut tut, contradiction in terms.
@Clark
Huh?
I was commenting on my own mistake; your great post came in meantime.
Timings me @ 3:02, you @ 3:02, me @ 3:04
Yes, Coppers must get a concentrated view of crime, it must look dreadful sometimes. I knew an A&E nurse, she saw all the stab victims and wouldn’t go out at night. I never saw any trouble as bad as knives in that area and never felt scared on the streets at night.
It’s the same with the drugs. The cops see all the troublemakers, there are vast numbers of ordinary people that also happen to be drug users but keep quiet because it’s illegal, and a fair few great people who use, too.
Redders,
respect to you and your partner for telling that Inspector where to get off. I wonder what that Inspector would have got up to if he hadn’t ended up in the Police? It doesn’t seem he had a very honest approach to things.
@Clark
My wife was an A & E Nurse in Glasgow, she treated a guy who’s hand had been cut with a meat cleaver except it wasn’t just once, they had held him down and chopped it all the way up to the wrist. She said his hand was like a bag of bolts. He never reported it to the Police, he just went after the guys who did it and they appeared in the same department over the following months with a variety of horrendous injuries.
We cops thought we had seen it all but we really had no idea.