Cop this! Three strikes for Lincolnshire Police

It's been a week of triple whammies for Lincolnshire Police - following the news that the force was ranked bottom of the list of 43 forces in England and Wales in terms of public confidence.
First came the news that the county force has dropped almost one in five investigations because there is no chance of solving the crime.New figures said 9,650 reported crime investigations were scrapped in the last 12 months - most of them burglaries, theft cases and offences of criminal damage.The force says all reported crime is investigated – but that it is not realistic to think that every incident will end in court action.A spokesman said all crimes were "professionally assessed" before a decision was made about the likelihood of catching the criminal."The category of a crime is wide-ranging, from minor theft through to murder and quite obviously we must prioritise," he said."We cannot devote time on protracted investigations of crimes which we have professionally concluded we have no hope of solving."That would be a disservice to the public and counter-productive to our efficiency."
The claim of professionalism pales slightly in the wake of the second item of bad news for the police.
A review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary named Lincolnshire as one of only four forces lacking the specialist skills and resources needed to manage murders, sexual assaults, and other serious offences, and said urgent work was needed to bring them up to national standards. "The public rightly expects their local police service to protect them from serious harm," said HMIC Denis O'Connor. The force was also criticised for failing to collect information and develop tactics to understand the threat of major crime. Mr O'Connor said: "Major crime has devastating impact on individual victims, their families, and the wider community. "This report shows that while the police response to homicide is improving, some forces are still failing victims and families affected by major crime, and must improve their services. "The public rightly expects their local police service to protect them from serious harm and respond professionally when tragic events occur. "While most forces can and do meet that expectation, some cannot. This needs to change."Finally we heard the news that police officers are lo longer required to be able to swim, following an inquest on a man who was knocked into a ditch near Spalding by a car and who was left in 18 inches of water for three hours before being rescued.The emergency services decided that it was to risky to use ropes and ladders to negotiate a 15-foot river bank. A police spokesman told the inquest: "I can confirm it is no longer a requirement to be able to swim. Officers used to receive life-saving training but this is not the case now."
Not that many years ago, Lincolnshire Police officers were required to learn to swim and forced to earn a bronze life-saving badge. But then there was also a time when they were required to be fit as well.Not only the police failed to engage in this particular case. Although the victim was thrown into the ditch, at that stage unconscious and suffered broken ribs but was not fatally injured.The car driver called for an ambulance and was told to stay in his car. A paramedic who arrived 10 minutes later could not find the injured man so called for assistance. A fellow paramedic subsequently spotted the body face down in the water but thought it was too risky to reach it and called for firefighters.Two crews of retained firemen and more than 10 police officers arrived at the scene, and started placing a ladder on the bank.But the fire group manager decided they should wait for a specialist water rescue team of firefighters to arrive from Lincoln, more than 50 miles away.
Between them these three episodes plaint the bleakest possible picture of Lincolnshire Police.
They write off crimes because they have no hope of solving them....
When serious crimes are committed they lack the skills and resources to deal with them....
And in a county which probably has more miles of water courses than most, they are no longer required to be able to swim, and possibly save the lives of people who end up in one of our many drains and rivers.
But they are quick off the mark when it comes to sitting around in our local supermarkets handing our crime prevention leaflets, or organising football matches and litter picks.
Disgraceful!

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