Police damaged property and refuse to pay for repairs

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Oh please send me ?30 Huguenot. You have no idea what the Budget has done to the price of cigarettes.

[Rockets]

Yeah come on Huguenot - put your prejudices aside, dig deep and send forth your money to the needy of East Dulwich - you are such a charitable fellow! Or maybe you should pay for some anger-management classes! ;-)

The police are perfectly capable of doing their job without the paperwork before, it's the paperwork after that seems to have been missing on this occasion.

Two gardening companies quoted ?160 for the work due to the damage caused to the posts as well. Perhaps you should start a gardening business as your prices are very competitive!!!

Anyway, my complaint is progressing and I will keep you updated on the outcome.

[Huguenot]

What prejudices? What am I prejudging? I only have the information you've given us, I didn't think about it beforehand at all.

You've got a dented fence, it's not the end of the world. Five year-olds could do worse. It was dented by a policeman looking after your best interests.

Treat it as 'one of those things' instead of trying to get them to buy you a Lamborghini as a replacement for your scratched bike.

Have you no relations / neighbours who could give you a hand?If I were local I'd come round and do it for you. Community sprirted, that's me. As it happens I am a bit of a fence meister. It's not the fence that's pricey, it's the labour.

I wasn't angry Rockets, just a bit aghast.

[Brendan]

Huguenot, the movers broke my garden seat (I believe people who want to sound posh call them arbors)* will you send me 160 quid please?

*The seats not the movers. People who want to sound posh call them removals.**

**The movers no the seats.

[katie1997]

Wow Huguenot, I'd love to see your neighbours fences - they must be in great condition having a community-spirited, fence meister such as yourself living nearby.

Nice to see all of the advice offered on here for Rockets to choose as s/he pleases. I'd like to think if the police agreed to reasonably pay for the cost towards repairing any damage, then they should stand by that.

Oh, go on and send the 30 pounds like you said you would.....:)

[Huguenot]

I actually said quite the opposite if you read it katie1997, I said I wouldn't send it because I didn't think he needed it and I thought he may abuse the trust.

Maybe I'm cynical, but there are plenty of people on this forum who complain about government waste, I do hope Rockets hasn't ever been in the category! 160 quid for a fence panel is in that box.

I did however offer to buy PGC her fags, and she politely turned me down.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I am happy to confirm the lovely Huguenot is a complete gent.

[katie1997]

I am happy to confirm I have re-read it and now understand that the fence meist.. lovely complete gent, won't be sending the money ;-)

I hope that the fences are repaired soon, that the criminal is caught and that we collectively vote for a government that lets vital public services, like the police, function without so much red tape...happily ever after.

[Rockets]

Hugeknot - you don't work for the police legal services department do you......you certainly sound and act like you do? ;-)

?160 might seem steep to you but it is what the gardening companies who came to view the damage quoted. Not sure what else I am to do - perhaps say: "Sorry but in the interests of saving the precious public purse and to avoid government waste I will not accept your quote Mr fencing expert and must insist that I pay at least 50% of the cost of repairs myself".

[Huguenot]

:))

Oh well.

[Rockets]

All,

Thought I would update you all on progress - or lack of it!

I complained to the commissioner about the problems we had been having getting the money for our damaged property. The commissioner referred it back to the department that dealt with it in the first place. A month later that department came back and reduced their offer of compensation from 50% to 20% seemingly as a punishment for daring to complain. My neighbour is spitting fire as the officers who spoke to him on the evening concerned are lying and he also now plans to take matters further.

There is a simple lesson to be learnt from all this: if the police come knocking on your door asking for your help and assistance think very carefully about supporting them. I have always been a big supporter of the police (my family is littered with serving and retired Met police officers) but my attitude has now changed and they can no longer count on my, or my neighbour's, support.

[Jeremy]

I'm sure if you'd just stumped up ?30 for a couple of new panels, and asked the good people of the EDF to donate some man-power, it would all be sorted by now.

[paragon]

> if the police come knocking on your door

> asking for your help and assistance think very

> carefully about supporting them. I have always

> been a big supporter of the police (my family is

> littered with serving and retired Met police

> officers) but my attitude has now changed and they

> can no longer count on my, or my neighbour's,

> support.

Just read through this thread. To start with I agreed with you, i would be annoyed if this happened to me and would have expected some kind of recompense. I probably would have accepted 50% but that's just because i doubt i would be bothered about taking it further.

However to say that you don't plan on supporting the police moving forward because of this incident seems petty and over the top. If a Copper knocks on your door asking if you have seen anyone suspicious in the area are you going to slam the door in his face because of your fence panel?

Considering your family is littered with Plod it seem bizarre that you don't have any perspective on this incident.

[Rockets]

I will be more than happy to talk to the police on the doorstep but if they ask to use my house as access to the gardens to try and aprehend someone (as they asked my neighbour in this incident) then I will politely tell them no and why.

Funnily enough the police members of my family agree totally with my stance and say that pen-pushing civil servants working in the police are making front line officer duties more and more difficult exactly because of this type of issue. Their advice has been that the officer concerned will have damaged the fence, said what he said to my neighbour, forgotten to write up the property damage report and then lied when confronted in light of this complaint to cover the fact he did not do the report.

You hit the nail on the head when you say that you would have accepted the 50% because you could not be bothered to take it further - that's exactly what the civil-servants want us to do - to foot the bill ourselves. And that is wrong.

[paragon]

Rockets Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I will be more than happy to talk to the police on

> the doorstep but if they ask to use my house as

> access to the gardens to try and aprehend someone

> (as they asked my neighbour in this incident) then

> I will politely tell them no and why.

>

> Funnily enough the police members of my family

> agree totally with my stance and say that

> pen-pushing civil servants working in the police

> are making front line officer duties more and more

> difficult exactly because of this type of issue.

> Their advice has been that the officer concerned

> will have damaged the fence, said what he said to

> my neighbour, forgotten to write up the property

> damage report and then lied when confronted in

> light of this complaint to cover the fact he did

> not do the report.

>

> You hit the nail on the head when you say that you

> would have accepted the 50% because you could not

> be bothered to take it further - that's exactly

> what the civil-servants want us to do - to foot

> the bill ourselves. And that is wrong.

Fair enough, i thought you meant that you wouldn't assist the police in anyway at all again. If what your family are asserting is true (the policeman forgot to do a damaged property report and then lied) I would suggest that it is the policeman who is at fault not the pen-pusher.