Past master wrote:

This seems to have turned into a rant about the police. On a (possibly) practical note, I met a bloke in Alderley Edge (big houses, thieves' paradise) who bred mastiffs. Mastiffs don't bark, they just grip and hang on. He got back home one weekend and found the thief outside the front door with his arm still through the letter box. Been there hours. Trousers somewhat soiled. He was the only one in the road who never got burgled after that...

Biscay wrote:

Incidently, farm equipment theft has increased due to google earth. All they do is go on it live, spot a vehicle, and then they dont have a wasted journey. Isn't technology wonderful.

True but also due to the escalating cost of such equipment, my collection of stuff seems to actually appreciate in value every year.
People wouldn't nick stuff if they didn't have a market for it, sadly in the case of farm stuff then it seems other farmers must be aiding the thieves by buying the knock off gear . At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

It depends I think on how far they push you whether you care if it's legal or not. In our case they broke into our factory on a fortnightly basis. They ignored alarms, smashed through doors etc and it became a battle of wills who would win. My husband confronted them one night and they threw a piece of 2' x 4" through his windscreen at him.
It got to the point where we steel banded the fax machine through an office desk after they broke into the safe to steal it, and blow me they then returned the following night and removed the entire window (three sections wide) to get the desk out onto the pavement!
The wiring up of the window bars and door worked when everything else failed , the Police were always half an hour to respond so they'd gone, and as I said, in the end we were prepared for repercussions.
Oh and six months' later the canteen ceiling collapsed, they'd drilled holes in the steel roof and rain had slowly seeped in without anyone knowing.
No, if people drive you to extremes they deserve what they get, and a painful zap off a horse fencer was mild compared with what they really should receive !  Why have Igot a Firenze Red Freelander? Because I kept losing the silver one in car parks....

We have some friends living in rural Texas, the police view to intruders is pretty simple, if they are inside your property and facing you , and you perceive a threat you shoot them. Never in the back , never outside your property, never if they are leaving. On the radio we heard the local Sherrif praising a bloke who tackled 4 thieves in his garage, killing 1 and hospitalising the 3 , no hand wringing, no investigation, just thanks , job done less scumbag, local hero , model citizen.

Now I know all the arguements for and against this type of approach, and i know that over here some curmudgeonley old farmer would probably shoot a kid for stealing apples, and someone would shoot the next door neighbour for whatever, but the right to defend your property especially during the hours of darkness should be absolute and if a few thieves got an illegal 1000v DC up their jacksie, thats fine by me, should have been the national grid  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

I agree Florence and Martyn. Just because I know what the law states and what obligations we are under doesn't mean I agree with it.

If I were in your position, I would love to be able to take the Eastwood approach (video appears to be out of sync but never mind): &feature=related LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

No one likes to be the victim of crime and it is obviously more annoying when nothing you have done by way of a deterrent works to prevent it happening. But this type of crime is not random and not committed by your local neds but by professional criminals who do their homework including use of Google street view etc to determine where they can find what they want and what obstacles they may have to overcome.
I don't know the latest figures, but theft of agricultural and construction equipment ( Land Rovers are in those categories ) across the UK must run into the 100s of millions of £s a year.
I retired several years ago after more than 30 years in the Police and know that, while there are obviously exceptions, most Police Officers are committed to serving the public and catching criminals, with many risking their lives on a daily basis to do that job. We are fortunate in this country that Police fatalities are as low as they are but I think that would certainly change if we ever adopt the Dirty Harry, vigilante American approach already proposed in this thread.
The cutbacks are not the fault of the Police nor is their replacement by Community Support Officers or the reduction in Traffic Patrols or the transfer of Motorway Policing to the Highways Agency or indeed a range of other task transferred to civilian agencies who have neither the skill set or the power to actually perform the duties given to them. Indeed anyone who pays any attention to these issues will probably find that in every case the Police organisations did raise concerns about the impact of the changes. How many of the contributors to this forum actually voice their complaints to their elected representatives ?
There are several anti Police rants in this thread, but I suspect most are from people with little personal experience of the Police, other than perhaps as disgruntled drivers, but even that does not justify some of the comments and names used. To call any group of public servants 'Filth' must surely say more about the limited intellect and vocabulary of the subscriber than it does about the organisation concerned or does the writer actually side with the criminal underworld where that particular term originated.
The Police may not be great but they are surely deserving of more public support than that demonstrated here.

Last edited by dunroof on 19th Oct 2012 11:27 am. Edited 1 time in total

snowy22255

Last edited by dunroof on 16th Feb 2013 8:44 am. Edited 1 time in total

Shut it Victor Meldrew

Dunroof

I don't believe my comments make the thread any more personal than the use of such a derogatory and insulting term when referring to Police Officers.

I agree wholeheartedly that in an open and democratic society every one has the right to free speech and demonstration including the right to criticise organisations like the Police, NHS etc indeed it is the existence of a politically free Police Service and military that preserves those freedoms for us. A point perhaps worthy of consideration when next you decide not just to criticise the whole but to also insult the individuals.

But getting back to the original story if professional thieves want something they will move heaven and earth to get it because the profits are so great and in the circumstances I am not sure I would really want to risk using my family pet to protect property as some have suggested.

For me as a patrol cop any commercial, agricultural or construction traffic on the move between 11pm and 6am was always worth a pull, but that was when there was enough of us to actually let us be proactive and not just chasing our tails reacting to calls. And in answer to the next question yes that could be done without upsetting people and alienating the public as long as the cops attitude was correct and the person stopped understood the reason and the ultimately public benefit.

Last edited by dunroof on 19th Oct 2012 11:28 am. Edited 1 time in total

No worries Victor I say what I feel, what you see is what you get.

Last edited by dunroof on 19th Oct 2012 11:28 am. Edited 1 time in total

Gents

For me I think we risk disrupting the smooth running of the forum and I am happy to agree to disagree.

Dunroof

I will PM you.