How much?

Having read some of the other threads on GC recently about people being kept waiting for ages on emergency calls etc, I got to thinking about what we offered in the mid to late 60's.

Then, your emergency call was answered in less than one minute, and we the Bobby on the beat were expected to be on scene PDQ thereafter.  Your crime report, be it minor damage or theft would be fully investigated including neighborhood calls & enquiries etc..  When you went away on Holiday, you told your local Police Station and the bobby on the beat included checking your house on his vulnerable premises register at least twice per week.  We delivered summonses personaly ( That way you got to know all the troublemakers on your patch) and of course executed warrants.  We were coppers 24 hours per day and 365 days per week. We were always on duty even when on holiday.

Today; none of that applies!  Police Officers regard their work as a job, nothing more, and what they see happening off duty didn't happen!

In my area of North Bristol, just about all the Police Stations that I served in have been closed and demolished. Many are now just clusters of houses.  The bobby on the beat is none existant, and the public have no access to their local beat officer.

The Govt will tell you that the crime rate  is falling and so do the figures confirm.  But I would ask "DO YOU MEAN REPORTED CRIME IS FALLING?"  because that is a very different thing!

When a society loses faith in its Police Force, - it ceases to complain to it. What is the point? They will not do anything about it!

So how much would it actually cost to restore the service to a level that applied in the mid 60's. And if we were to do that, how much more would it be to what common crime is costing us all today?

Or am I just mythering about nothing, or is that really the case?  & if so what can we do to put it right?

TF