Peckham rye station last night

[Booboo2008]

It looked like 2 groups of girls verbally beating the sh*t out of each other. I didn't see any violence. I could have called the police I guess. Sorry everyone for being a crap citizen. Rather more concerned about getting away from that hell hole of a station.

[Timster]

It was just a bunch of teenage girls shouting at each other. I was tempted to tell them all to shut up because it was making my head hurt, but life is too short.

The comment about how nice it is when the police are at Peckham Rye was, I thought, quite quaint. It is only ever the British Transport Police and their only job is to look after the ticket inspectors when they're on one of their random spot checks (our taxes pay for this because Southern are too tight to pay for oyster readers or properly manned stations). I have never in three years using Peckham Rye seen an actual Met police officer at the station or round the area, which must prove that the biggest crime problem Peckham Rye has is fare dodging! (all off topic I know...)

[Jeremy]

Not true, British Transport Police cover all sorts of crimes that take place on public transport and related premises.

[PeckhamRose]

I was on the free bus the other day and as it turned the corner (just managed), it arrived at a bus stop and TfL folk came on accompanied by 2 police officers per door. Caught five scoundrels, too. How smug were we that day.

[Timster]

Apologies for any unintended slight of British Transport Police or the excellent job I am sure they do, the point was you only ever see them at Peckham Rye station when Southern want them there to do spot-checks on whether people have a valid ticket.

[MadWorld74]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Possibly unpopular this but here goes:

>

> Even it was a more serious attack, would phoning

> the police have achieved anything? Not to

> denigrate the police - I'm assuming that resources

> being what they are they may have taken at least

> 5-10 minutes at which point whatever was happening

> would have been over and everyone dispersed?

>

> When people were attacked when I was growing up,

> calling the police would be the last thing anyone

> would have done - you either dealt with it or

> someone (adult) intervened

>

> (and that's not meant to sound callous tothe girl

> who was being attacked - I've been there. I jost

> don't think "phoning the police" would have done

> anything)

This isn't the 70's SMG. An 'adult' intervening means the 'adult' gets stabbed. These 'kids' do not have any respect for their superiors (lol) anymore.

[SeanMacGabhann]

it doesn't "mean" that at all. It's entirely possible, granted, but the fear of it remains higher than the risk. If these kids don't have any respect it could have something to do with the amount of cowardice we show.

Plus people have a rosier view of the 70s than my memory

[MadWorld74]

maybe the 70's was a bit generous then SMG...maybe your memories of the 60's is a fairer asumption.....;-)

[Jeremy]

I dunno, I think times have changed... I don't have juvenile knife crime statistics to hand, but it seems likely that they would support this view.

[RosieH]

I think it can come down to conscience and reflex. I was horrified recently in KFC (I know, I know) to see a man start to physically attack a woman who had been begging. He punched her and kicked her while the entire clientele looked on, they actually gathered round to watch. I intervened, which I'm not saying for some kind of approval, but to make the point that it was the decent and may I make so bold as to say HUMANE thing to do. I couldn't not.

I know that a gang is a different and there's a greater fear factor, but if you genuinely think someone's in danger of getting hurt does it really behove any of us to do nothing.

There've been a few comments about animals on this thread which I'm genuinely staggered, and frankly appalled by. If no one gives a stuff about kids except to say let's lock 'em up, and walks on by when they see something disturbing, then where are these kids supposed to learn respect?

[Sue]

RosieH Wrote:

If no one gives a stuff about kids

> except to say let's lock 'em up, and walks on by

> when they see something disturbing, then where are

> these kids supposed to learn respect?

xxxxxxxx

Well said, RosieH

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

RosieH - that is exactly the kind of thing that gets on my nerves.

People in this country with comfortable lives who are more concerned about whether someone fails to pick up dogsh!t or jumps red lights on a bike than They are about the things that brutalise other people's lives and then They turn around and blame the brutalised for the resultant attitudes and inability to be like Them.

The brutalisation of others in poor countries that make Their luxuries affordable isn't given any thought, but the resultant movement of the brutalised to our 'civilized' country to try to survive is condemmned and They are unsympathetic as these brutalised foreigners are further brutalised by our immigration system and forced back to live in poverty/war/brutalisation so our 'free-trade' can continue unabated.

Cause and effect.

Get off your high horses and get you hands dirty.

Speak to these scary teenagers and you may just find they are not actually that scary after all, just scared kids who have been abondoned by the 'moral' majority.

If you do nothing when you see inhumanity being inflicted on others, but wall yourself off from the slime others have to swim in, then don't be surprised if it grows and floods your keep anyway.

[lard]

Lighten up Francis :)

Nobody knows the ins and outs of what went on here, so talking about brutalised foreigners may be a little at a tangent.

For the record, I agree that teenagers aren't really as scary as they like to make out, and talking to someone is generally the best form of action. In reality the chances of getting attacked when you just talk calmly to someone you don't know is pretty small. Certainly more chance of getting knocked down etc.

I can certainly see why some people are not keen on "getting their hands dirty" though too. Especially when they didn't ask for the slime, don't act slimy themselves just go about their life in a moral way, and don't believe the slime should be there in the first place.

[Doodles]

Seems to me we have two choices when confronted with something we don?t like, either try to make it better or pass on by.

Passing on by and moaning about it later is pointless and boring.

[Ted Max]

It's a shame you are denied the platform for this sort of sensible advice on the Tweenies.

[microbite]

MrsClive3300 Wrote:

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> sorry I started this thread and then didnt check

> back till now! no i didnt call the police. I think

> from what I saw it was them fighting each other -

> not 'end of year screeching' to be honest (i know

> this is going to be very unpopular) i would rather

> they were fighting amongst themselves and not

> attacking the rest of us, I too think they are

> animals and wish they could all be locked away so

> i dont have to see them

I think you are right, it was an unpopular thing to say, and more smacks of the "well as long as they are stabbing/knifing eachother and not me" kind of mentality I hear from tw@ts up in the city where I work! and even though they were fighting amongst eachother and posed no threat to you at the time, and you would have been quite willing to sit by if they did some real damage to eachother without bothering to call the Police, you still wished for them all to be locked away so you don't have to deal with the kind of youngsters our messed up society are now producing. Unbelievable.

I was on the train on the way to work this week, a large bunch of hooray henry teenagers got on the train and were being quite obnoxious and disruptive (as teens can be) loud and quite frequently using bad langauage, no-one paid them any attention, there was no raising of eyebrows and even some passengers chuckled at quite a lot of what was being said, the usual things boys speak about when enmasse, a few days later the scenario was repeated but this time a smaller group of lesser privilleged I shall say to keep from argument, teens got on, and while they were quite loud at times, the noise was quite contained and they hushed eachother up (rarely seen I know) to stop upsetting the other passengers, there were nothing but contempt filled scathing looks directed at them, tuts and raised eyebrows, there was none of the "well we were young once" mentality going on, and I found myself wondering about it all, this has no bearing on what the original post was and was merely an observation of some members of society today.

[PeckhamRose]

It's a good point to make, microbite, and I was not impressed by Chav's reaction, although the points she makes are valid b ut out of context. I applaud RosieH's point and echo it. We hear of the rare occasions when innocent people trying tobreak up a fight are themselves killed or attacked. But it is rare. I just abhor bullying and will without thinking (and that might be my downfall) do anything to try and stop it when I see it.

[samstopit]

I witnessed a man being mugged (hit over the head with a glass bottle and his wallet taken by a group of lads) at rush hour (6.30pm) at Peckham Rye station 8 years ago. He was screaming 'help me' with blood running down his face as dozens of commuters walked past averting their eyes.

I dialled 999 from my mobile phone and told the Police what I had seen and also the road that the boys with the guy's wallet had run down; and that some of the boys were still waiting at the station for the next train to come in (I heard them talking quite openly about waiting for the next train).

The Police told me that there was nothing they could do because it happened at the train station which made it the responsibility of London Transport Police. They were very concerned about my safety and stayed on the line until I got home but had no interest in taking any of the details that I offered them.

Sad to say it but there is no point phoning the Police if you see a group of girls fighting outside the station. They would not be in the slightest bit interested. No doubt if I had dialled the London Transport Police instead (anyone have their number to hand?) they would have sprung into action ...

[Horsebox]

samstopit,

British (not London) Transport Police should respond to any 999 call on train/bus/tube etc - these calls are routed through to the local police force.

Either 8 years ago the policy on this was drastically different or you were fobbed off.

(Or you're making the above event up, but I'm just throwing that in here for good measure).

Did you not think about making a complaint?

[samstopit]

Why on earth would I make it up?

These kind of calls are recorded so I don't think they would have fobbed me off. I hope policy has changed drastically as you suggest.

I was thoroughly freaked out by the whole thing and it didn't occur to me to complain.

[Jeremy]

I've also dialled 999 following a mugging - actually on a station platform. The regular coppers turned up and arrested the lads, the British Transport Police then took over the case and were responsible for taking statements and prosecution. This was also a few years ago (maybe 1995).

I understand samstopit's frustration, but I do not support his view that there's no point calling the police.

[samstopit]

Jeremy that is reassuring, I have renewed faith in being a good citizen! (PS I am a lady!)

[microbite]

Don't get me wrong, for obvious reasons I would not get involved if I thought my life would be threatened, or I was in danger of being attacked (I too am a ladybite), but it would not stop me from going around the corner and calling the Police out if a member of the public was being attacked, it just would not sit very well with my conscience, that could be my daughter/son/family member being attacked.

[Jeremy]

Apologies Ms samstopit!

[vivienne]

Brendan Wrote:

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> They?re just feral children. It?s what happens

> when there is no family structure or discipline

> they revert back to a pack of vicious animals. As

> animals go humans are quite horrible sans the

> benefits of our social constraints.

Anyone here over the age of 40 who is old enough to be these childrens parents or even grand parents if youre over 50 should feel the responsibility of this situation: discuss