tenthofjune

“The youngsters of today have no respect for the police” is a phrase which is often heard today, yet West Midlands Police recent petty actions against a group of children playing hopscotch have done little to build that much needed respect.

According to the BBC, they have “asked parents in Spring Street in Halesowen to remove chalk markings after complaints about them.“. The police refer to these chalk markings as ‘low level crime’, and by tackling that “they could prevent more serious problems developing”. What?! I can hear the warnings now: “Don’t let your daughter play hopscotch Mrs Smith, the next thing you know, she’ll be into prostitution!”.

What they have actually done is the opposite, as this sort of action will cause the children to lose respect for the police.

Yesterday, an accident caused the M61 to be closed northbound between junction 6 and 8 (there is no junction 7). Not surprisingly, chaos ensued on the surrounding roads, including the A6 and A6027 and while that is to be expected, this was further compounded by the total lack of any police presence to direct traffic.
When was the last time you saw a police officer directing traffic? Do they still do this? Are they still trained to do this?