Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 10:31 AM BSTIt gives me no pleasure to say that there would have been 5 American cops there within minutes. When you call, they come.
BOOM-!
I'm sure mistakes and bad things happen with the Police over there too, silly to pretend either countries coppers always get it 100% right.
they probably would be there within 5 minutes to be fair
but if the guy involved was black they probably would have shot him about 8 times before even bothering to arrest him
Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 10:31 AM BSTIt gives me no pleasure to say that there would have been 5 American cops there within minutes. When you call, they come.
I hope that scumbag is being kicked in the teeth at this very minute.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 15 2011, 12:11 PM BSTI'm sure mistakes and bad things happen with the Police over there too
Of course, but our cops seem to take their jobs more seriously and the public seem to have more trust in them.
A serious question just popped into my head and maybe one of you can answer it. What happens when a person in Tinyvillage, UK, calls 999 and says, "There's a man with a gun kicking down my door"? Can the police muster an immediate armed response or is a case of "Only Henry and Joe are armed but Henry is on holiday and Joe is eating donuts on the other side of town"?
I imagine the response here would be more overwhelming in terms of firepower but you know how the saying goes: "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."
Quote: lofthouse @ October 15 2011, 1:31 PM BSTbut if the guy involved was black they probably would have shot him about 8 times before even bothering to arrest him
That's a cheap shot but it's somewhat based on an unfortunate truth. African-Americans make up less than 13% of our population but commit more than 50% of our murders. Gun violence is rampant in their community and cops will always react with overwhelming force when confronted by an armed criminal.
Quote: zooo @ October 15 2011, 2:22 PM BSTWhat a disgusting piece of crap.
Fixed it for ya.
Quote: sootyj @ October 15 2011, 3:15 PM BSThttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ-ldcnhsLY
Not one of their better pieces.
Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 3:31 PM BSTFixed it for ya.
Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 3:31 PM BSTOf course, but our cops seem to take their jobs more seriously and the public seem to have more trust in them.
'More seriously', obviously neither of us can actually know that without making a gross generalisation.
As for trust, depends who you're talking to; though perhaps over there people tend to defer more easilly to authority figures. Which is obviously an assumption I have rarther than a fact. As is most of this lil' chat! 
I saw a couple of underage kids drinking beer at a train station in England. A female cop yelled at one of them for pissing on the station and he just turned around, gave her the finger and said something like, "F**k off, c**t!" and she just shook her head and walked away. In the States they'd have wound up in jail with numerous criminal charges.
I don't know where on earth you go when you come to England, but you manage to see the very worst possible stuff. I've never seen anything like the things you have and I've been here my whole life!
I guess you need to spend more time at train stations and pubs 
I can't remember what station I was at; my daughter was with me so it was somewhere between London, Portsmouth, Bath, Cheltenham and Oxford.
Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 4:41 PM BSTI saw a couple of underage kids drinking beer at a train station in England. A female cop yelled at one of them for pissing on the station and he just turned around, gave her the finger and said something like, "F**k off, c**t!" and she just shook her head and walked away. In the States they'd have wound up in jail with numerous criminal charges.
You really seem to think it's some sort of cartoon hell hole over here!
It's really not! It's fine.
Quote: zooo @ October 15 2011, 4:44 PM BSTI don't know where on earth you go when you come to England, but you manage to see the very worst possible stuff. I've never seen anything like the things you have and I've been here my whole life!
Quite. I think Dabutt goes looking for trouble! If anything, the Police are often disliked for being heavy handed, or jobsworth-y, rather than just letting off pissing, sweary people! I've seen people arrested for less when out.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 15 2011, 4:52 PM BSTI've seen people arrested for less when out.
Come to think of it, one police woman threatened to arrest me for being sarcastic a few years back!
Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 3:31 PM BSTA serious question just popped into my head and maybe one of you can answer it. What happens when a person in Tinyvillage, UK, calls 999 and says, "There's a man with a gun kicking down my door"? Can the police muster an immediate armed response or is a case of "Only Henry and Joe are armed but Henry is on holiday and Joe is eating donuts on the other side of town"?
Well, it wouldn't happen much in tiny villages; maybe in a big town.
No idea how many guns they have in these small local stations.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 15 2011, 4:52 PM BSTYou really seem to think it's some sort of cartoon hell hole over here!
Not really; I've always enjoyed my visits immensely. But I've only spent about a month or so there in total and it's the honest truth that the only 2 times that a stranger has tried to pick a fight with me took place in English pubs.
Our societies are similar in most aspects but tolerance for underage drinking and public intoxication is much lower on this side of the Atlantic. I suspect that it's because of your pub culture (which I thoroughly enjoy); most Americans don't live within walking distance of a drinking establishment so we tend to do most of our boozing at home.
Quite. I think Dabutt goes looking for trouble!
Couldn't be further from the truth. I'm probably the least confrontational person on the planet.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 15 2011, 5:00 PM BSTWell, it wouldn't happen much in tiny villages; maybe in a big town.
The place where that psycho cabbie shot all those people last year wasn't all that big, was it? We might have different ideas of what constitutes a "big town." I picture a place with 250,000 or more people when I think "big town." I grew up in a community of about 100,000 and consider it a small town.
Quote: DaButt @ October 15 2011, 5:18 PM BSTThe place where that psycho cabbie shot all those people last year wasn't all that big, was it? We might have different ideas of what constitutes a "big town." I picture a place with 250,000 or more people when I think "big town." I grew up in a community of about 100,000 and consider it a small town.
Well, that was over most of a county, driving from place to place rather than one in a single small town. It was up in Cumbria (where I'm originally from) which is mainly rural and not generally known for gun stuff. That was really way out of the ordinary.
The place in Cumbria I lived in as a teen had a population of around seven thousand.
Oh no, Betty Turpin's died! Coldpot in the Rovers tonight. RIP Betty 
Was she still in it?