So, once it cooled a bit this evening (about 11.00PM) I go for a walk around Lake Ginninderra – and get to see a quartet of 20-somethings trashing the Foreshore development: tearing out surveying pegs and throwing them into the lake, and so forth. One of them saw me and yelled out that the developer had screwed them over (of course, even if true, the developer will just pass the costs on, so the ACT will end up paying for the damage they inflicted).
Yay, what to do. Ring 000? Hardly – the last 2 occasions I rang 000 were (i) when my front door had been kicked in and my flat trashed: the twerp on the other end complained about me using the line for something so minor, and (ii) after a wifebasher saw me and decided that attacking me with a cinderblock was the best way to remove a hostile eyewitness: the police took 4 weeks to respond to that incident, and when they did were as concerned with covering up their incompetence as with dealing with the perp.
So I won’t be ringing 000 ever again. Surprise surprise, I don’t have either crimestoppers or the direct police number in my phone, and adding a redirect from 000 to those numbers is too hard for our enlightened defenders.
Of course, there’s a police station just the other side of the Belconnen Mall, so I walked up to make a report. (For anyone foolish enough to do this, be warned that there are three buildings claiming to be a copshop in central belco: however the centre on Benjamin Way is a training centre, while the building on the corner of Lathlain and Nettlefold is an admin centre. The actual copshop is also on Lathlain, but on the corner of Cohen Street).
So wandered in – open building. Unmanned counter. No bell. No phone. Intercom system, but off/broken and/or unattended. Clearly someone behind the ‘oneway’ glass, who is equally clearly not on the phone nor interviewing anyone, but nonetheless uninterested in finding out why someone might want to talk to the police.
So gave up. What, if anything, is needed to get these idiots to do their jobs? No, I am not prepared to give one a blowjob. [shrugs] It’s purely academic now, I really can’t be bothered pushing this any further, it’s just not worth the effort.
Loading ...
What’s Your opinion?
What does it take to get our Keystone Cops to do their jobs?
Vandalism definitely shouldn’t go to 000. However, when I called 131444 for vandalism in progress (kids keying a car in the street) I was told the number was only for emergencies too. Officer gave me another number which kept me hanging on for 5 minutes without answer (at 2 AM you just end up hanging up). Phone book and police website does a REALLY poor job at directing you to appropriate phone numbers for non-emergency calls. After 000 and 131444 its really hard to decide what number to call after that especially if there is a non-emergency but time-critical call to be made.
I regularly see things that seem worth reporting but only if you can/could get the information through very quickly. Examples include, hoons doing doughnuts at the local traffic lights, kids wrecking garbage bins on a summer night, large group of drunks moving through the hood breaking stuff. All these things don’t warrant calling an emergency number but the police don’t care one iota if this kind of information is 10 minutes old (which it will be if you call other numbers). I understand that these sorts of events will not rate a police response on a busy night but on most nights one supposes that there must be police nearby who’d appreciate an exact location and time for some general policing duties. Timely information must be THE MAIN factor in police being able to find and possibly convict perpetrators of minor crimes but there seems to be NO NUMBER to call to get an adequate response.
The manner of police answering 131444 or station numbers at night is really one of “what are you bothering me for?” but one is sure that the police would be around if you said, “There are drunk kids lifting postboxes on my street NOW, I’ll give you 2 minutes to send a car round or I’m heading out with my baseball bat!”
You are incorrect in almost everything you posted. 000 is for life threatening emergencies only.
The new Belconnen police station on Benjamin Way is not yet open, opens at the end of the month or so. I don’t know how you could mistake the Winchester Centre for a police station and the building across the road from it (opposite Shell) which is used by the AFP has no signage to indicate what it is so I’m not sure how you mistake that for a police station either.
If you’d called 131444 at the time you saw this occur then depending on other priorities the police could have caught them in the act or in the area.
You want action from gthe police?
1. Buy some pop gun ammunition from Belco mall.
2. Attempt to buy a donut.
3. After the 6th cop shows up, say “No, really, that’s not necessary, I’ve already got all the help I need.”
http://the-riotact.com/explosion-at-belconnen-mall/62169
Are you taking the piss, or are you just dense?
000 is for life-threatening emergencies. The wifebasher incident may qualify (more information needed) but someone having kicked in your front door and some kids vandalising and damaging property definitely do not.
Like harvyk1 said, if you need police attendance, but no-one is at risk of death, call 131444.
And maybe stop ranting about police incompetence until you learn that.
You rang 000 because your flat was broken into and you think the cops are the twerps??!!
Time to wake up to yourself. No wonder they can’t respond to the important cases when they have people like you wasting their time.
I am too lazy to programme the police number in my phone. I don’t know where the police station is located. Someone elses fault. Derp derp.
Oh I can certainly “top” that…sadly.
Probation violated, by an idiot, on parole (who pled guilty to assault on a minor). Same idiot then tried to run me over with his car. This was less than 6 months after the same situation in Wanniassa where the man was killed. I relayed that to the police when they tried to tell me that I could be charged with damage to private property for hitting the window to distract the driver so I could get free. Nothing happened so I went for a DVO thinking stupidly that police would enforce any breaches.
DVO violated. Cops called immediately (131444). Told “no one is in Tuggeranong to deal with it”. Two hours later called to make a statement by said ‘cop shop’.
The next morning I enquire as to what happened as I was HIGHLY concerned for the wellbeing of myself and my children. The response – NOTHING. This is despite the person confirming to police that he breached it and then told police that he had had a second person stalk us (myself and kids) for several weeks, also in violation of the DVO.
Several weeks and a Commonwealth Ombudsman investigation later, it was proven the cops DIDN’T investigate it properly and yes he should have been arrested and breached for the DVO. Cops were told to apologise, but it will be a cold day in hell before I get that.
Triple Zero is for life-threatening or immediate-danger emergencies only.
(Hence the “Do you require police, fire, or ambulance?” question when you call…)
Call 131 444 for police attendance in all other instances.
The 000 phone lines are reserved for life threatening emergencies. Whilst it is terrible that someone would enter your home you were in no immediate danger. But someone else in the ACT may be while you’re on that line.
In regards to attending the station, how do you know what the officer was doing behind one way glass. I’d guarantee he/she wasn’t sitting there with their feet up.
It isn’t that difficult to remember six numbers (131444). Nor is it too difficult to be patient. The world doesn’t revolve around you.
Well if a blowjob is off the table youve really painted yourself into a corner…
Why on earth would you ring 000 over people throwing survey pegs in the lake? Surely you would put up the bat signal in such an emergency…
I notice your story does not have any pictures. I think you may have been lazy. Does your phone have a camera? If its a minor incident don’t bother seeking help from the gunmen. Take photos and post them with your story. Bearing witness and sharing the information may get better results. Which begs the question …What result did you want?
If I have ever needed to contact Tuggers police I just call 12456 (or is it 12455) or look it up on the internet using my phone – came up straightaway last week and the person who answered was actually able to put me through to canberra Connect as they determined that I needed to speak with Animal Services about a fierce looking stray dog that had just wandered past – in my defence it was a public holiday and didn’t know if Animal Services would be available.
On the actual subject matter – I do agree though that the police seem to come across as a little negative when reporting minor incidents, but suppose that they need to get across that they are not going to prioritise such t hings over something more urgent.
If I was you I would inform Belco police of your experience.
Rather than addressing each point, I’ll just blanket the issue.
You’re an idiot.
Whilst I’ll agree with you about how lazy some coppers are, the 000 number is not the contact number to use. 131444 is the correct number when you need the coppers, but without the flashing lights.