Crime, Crime and More Crime

[Spirit]

I have recently been reading the Orcadian which seems to have far fewer crimes in it than the courier and groat but drink ,drugs and boredom must affects them the same as folk in Caithness.

[katarina]

It's not just youngsters that commit crime. What's the excuse for the adults that commit crimes?

Because they can?

[scorrie]

In a lot of local papers such matters would not even rate a mention.

Such things are just as much a part of life as getting wet when it rains.

And that is the worrying part. Before long, even the most serious crimes do not warrant a mention or it is on page 15 in a tiny column. Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney's toe is on the front page (latest brain scan picure ;o) )

We are becoming increasingly immune to any sense of shock over the worst possible atrocities and are expected to accept the smaller crimes with a shrug of the shoulders. Perhaps this is the way it is but should it be that way?

The trouble is, how many people would be willing to contribute to the resources needed to tackle crime more thoroughly? Many moan about the Police needing to do a better job but the bottom line is that they would rather spend the money on retail therapy in Tescos et al buying things they probably don't need and will, often, rarely use.

This has been a Partly Political Broadcast on behalf of the Local Raving Loony Party. Keep it Bagpipes and Bobbies 24/7

[Whitewater]

And that is the worrying part. Before long, even the most serious crimes do not warrant a mention or it is on page 15 in a tiny column. Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney's toe is on the front page (latest brain scan picure ;o) )

The trouble is, how many people would be willing to contribute to the resources needed to tackle crime more thoroughly? Many moan about the Police needing to do a better job but the bottom line is that they would rather spend the money on retail therapy in Tescos et al buying things they probably don't need and will, often, rarely use.

This has been a Partly Political Broadcast on behalf of the Local Raving Loony Party. Keep it Bagpipes and Bobbies 24/7

The police are as sick as we are about all the crime locally, they catch people who are guilty, but are sick of seeing fancy lawers get them off or if they are found guilty, they get hardly any punishment, maybe a piddly little fine or very brief custodial sentence. It hardly seems worth their while bringing them in.
The childrens panel is just as hopeless, "be a good little boy or girl and do'nt do it again or you will be back here for another half day of school and a good talking to"

Where is the deterent? what can we do to improve things? form vigilante groups? That is what it is coming to.

The "Human Rights" brigade have seen to it all, they have removed all the deterants for punishing the bad boys and girls at school, we have to suffer cheek and abuse and are not allowed to do anything about it. The human rights people have served the criminal community well, it is such a pity that they have not paid more attention to the rights of the victims,who through no fault of their own have their rights infringed upon daily, and sadly in many cases their rights are removed permanently.

It is a crazy world, and I'm afraid it will get much worse before it gets better.

[Venture]

Judging by some of the sarcastic remarks on here to my original post I can see now why people get annoyed at some of the comments that are posted in reply to someones thread. There's nothing funny about crime. For all you people who think I go around with my eyes shut and my ears plugged, no I wasnt surprised. I was just making the point that crime in the area is on the increase. Im glad I wasnt reading about rapes and murders and only petty crimes, but even petty crimes can cause the victims a lot of stress. We dont live in a city we live in Wick and as far as Im concerned (and Im sure many others feel the same) it is becoming a worrying situation.

[Bingobabe]

A school has been broken into, house set on fire, windows smashed and phones stolen,cars vandalised, what do you hear that is a lot worse? are you saying this is non important crimes?.

I dont belive i said they were non important crimes just that i have heard worse.For example people being severly beaten but to afraid to go to the police or someone being bottled at the weekend.Also i forgot to mention murders rapes child abuse that happens all over the world.So please reframe from putting words in my mouth or on the keyboard in this case.

[JAWS]

Does not sound like you care too much for the community you are living in Jaws.
If your house was broken into would your attitude remain the same? such as life!
It is true crimes committed like we've recently seen do not get a mention in a lot of local papers. We are living in a small community in caithness it is also disheartning to read of such crimes wether they matter to you or not.
People are being murdered, raped, mugged on a daily bases should we residents of caithness put aside our break-ins, arson, theft and say it is like getting wet when it rains. We better not mention in our local paper of such crime after all worse things are happening in the world.
And before you say it Jaws, yes, i care about what happens Everywhere.

I do care, and I hope whoever has done the things are caught but lets not pretend Caithness is the Crime Capital of the North of Scotland.
Where I lived prior to coming here the average number of car stolen within a fifteen mile radius, and area about the size of Caithness, was about 2500.
If you were lucky they only did a bit of damage to the locks and ignition. If you weren't, they burned the car out to destroy any evidence. I don't think anybody has any idea of the number of cars broken into or vandalised because, unless there was an insurance claim and the Company wanted a Police Incident Number people didn't bother reporting it.

A lot of people didn't bother reporting muggings in certain areas because they were never going to get their stuff back and nobody was likely to be caught.
I was lucky enough not to have my house burgled, but that was just good luck, many neighbours weren't that lucky.

If you left a cycle unlocked and unattended for even a few minutes it was novel if it hadn't wandered off all on it's own when you returned.

When I go to a cash machine I don't have to check to see who's hanging round just in case and there is nowhere I need to avoid walking round when it's dark.
When you go out for a quiet drink in mid-week and end up in hospital because the "local worthies" have decided that it's time to wreck the place to convince the owners that they should contribute to their protection racket you begin to understand what serious crime is about.

When was the last Bank Raid in Caithness or the last Security Van held up?
By comparison with even quiet areas elsewhere, Caithness is a Crime Free Zone and lets not pretend otherwise.
Yes there are a small number of problems but lets not pretend that the place is over run with thugs and criminals.
Keeping a sense of perspective does not mean not caring, there is a huge difference between the two.

[weefee]

i read the paper yesterday and there was a very serious crime which no one seems to have mentioned, the fact that a registered sex offender aged 26 had intercourse with a 14 year old.....the girls family knew this man, knew of his past ie that he was on the sex offenders register and still let their daughter see this man.....the fact that this girl has known this man for over 10 years, (from when she was 4, he would have been 16) does this not suggest some sort of grooming? This is very serious.....wether or not the girl consented should not matter, the fact is that this man, an adult, should have said no, this girl has been let down by her parents and various other agencies.......and probably other girls will be let down again, when he tells some other family...."oh, it was all a misunderstanding" or "yes the girl was consenting" the fact is he now has two instances of sleeping with underage girls and is a probably a predator to others......

[pultneytooner]

Bought a Courier today hoping to catch up on all the local news. I couldn't believe how much of today's paper concerned crime. We had the signs at John O'Groats stolen, South School broken into, cemetery house set on fire, bicycle stolen, mobile phone stolen, cars vandalised, windows smashed and all this information only took me to page three. Throughout the rest of the paper there were about 15 court cases as well as a shed being set on fire. What's happening to our town? Is this a sign of things to come?

Sorry to say, venture, but it's not a sign of the times as these things have been happening for years.
I remember both the high school and the south being broken into years ago also a lot of shops aswell.
Every generation has it's criminal elements, always has done and time doesn't change that fact.
Soft policing doesn't work, time for some zero tolerance.

[donss]

Sorry to say, venture, but it's not a sign of the times as these things have been happening for years.
I remember both the high school and the south being broken into years ago also a lot of shops aswell.
Every generation has it's criminal elements, always has done and time doesn't change that fact.

You're right there: Don't tell me that there was no crime in the past... Just go have a look at old copies of the 'Groat in the library: Local crime was just as prolific, if not more so, in the past as it seems to be now. Nothing new, and no real increasing trend as far as I can see.

[fred]

You're right there: Don't tell me that there was no crime in the past... Just go have a look at old copies of the 'Groat in the library: Local crime was just as prolific, if not more so, in the past as it seems to be now. Nothing new, and no real increasing trend as far as I can see.

I don't know what them school kids are coming to though, I blame the parents, let them get away with murder they do.

[connieb19]

i read the paper yesterday and there was a very serious crime which no one seems to have mentioned, the fact that a registered sex offender aged 26 had intercourse with a 14 year old.....the girls family knew this man, knew of his past ie that he was on the sex offenders register and still let their daughter see this man.....the fact that this girl has known this man for over 10 years, (from when she was 4, he would have been 16) does this not suggest some sort of grooming? This is very serious.....wether or not the girl consented should not matter, the fact is that this man, an adult, should have said no, this girl has been let down by her parents and various other agencies.......and probably other girls will be let down again, when he tells some other family...."oh, it was all a misunderstanding" or "yes the girl was consenting" the fact is he now has two instances of sleeping with underage girls and is a probably a predator to others......

The other one I couldnt believe, was the 65yr old man who had a 7 year old girl in his bedroom and had her trousers off. Why is this man still walking the streets in Thurso?

[Billy Boy]

The other one I couldnt believe, was the 65yr old man who had a 7 year old girl in his bedroom and had her trousers off. Why is this man still walking the streets in Thurso?

worse still there's another one that live's 100 yard's from him and he's probably got police protection

[JAWS]

I don't know what them school kids are coming to though, I blame the parents, let them get away with murder they do.

Now fred, you know you are just exaggerating a simple case of youthful high spirits! After all, boys will be boys!