I agree with Burger, for possibly the first time.
I have been following this rant against the police for some time and my blood has been boiling for most of that time. As most of you know I work for the Met and am in the fairly privileged position of being a party to a lot of what goes on the organisation. I would just like to say that the average person has no real idea what a fantastic job our officers do, often behind the scenes, under immense pressure and subject to almost constant carping from members of the public. I imagine that sounds really parochial but quite frankly I don't give a toss.
People will commit crime - this is not the police's fault. They have HUGE conflicting priorities set for them by the government, the Mayor, local councils, the media, etc. The overwhelming priority is dealing with violent and organised crime and terrorism, and inevitably some things are going to be lower down on the list for dealing with. This doesn't mean that no-one is arsed about it, just that resources have to be prioritised.
That said, when complaints come in, such as from residents of the Bridge, they have to be acted upon. Imagine if you made complaints to an authority and no-one bothered to follow them up, despite repeated requests. The police have done what they are paid to do, what YOU pay them to do, as Burger says, but they are not immune from adverse media publicity. If you feel strongly enough about needing to park on the pavement and stunt across a public highway then create a media fuss. Why not? See how far you get.
You also talk about lack of consistency of enforcement - well request a copy of each of the boroughs Policing Plans. What is a policing priority for one Borough will pale into insignificance in another Borough. That is not inconsistency, that is prioritisation. Live with it. It will never change.
I rarely get angry about things, and am an easy-going person, but the injustice of this cynical and uneducated view of what the police do or do not do has me in tears of frustration. We are such an easy target when a relatively small number of individuals are inconvenienced - spare a thought for the number of times they risk life and limb trying to make the capital a safer place for everyone.
