Allotments 4 All

A very nice young police officer came to see me this afternoon.  However, within a few minutes it was obvious that she didn't have a clue what allotments were! I had to explain that the land was owned by the Council etc. etc. and that I was not employed by the Council but did it voluntarily.  It seems strange to me that people don't know what allotments are, especially in Birmingham which has 117 sites, more than any other local authority in the country.

She doesn't hold much hope that the thieves will ever be caught but she will ask for the Crime Prevention people to contact us, so that's a good thing.

She apologised for the mix-up.  We had somehow been added on to something which had happened on the motorway.   ???

Quote from: Squash64 on February 21, 2011, 17:30:29
1,   A very nice young police officer came to see me this afternoon.  However, within a few minutes it was obvious that she didn't have a clue what allotments were!

2,   She doesn't hold much hope that the thieves will ever be caught but she will ask for the Crime Prevention people to contact us, so that's a good thing.

3,    She apologised for the mix-up.  We had somehow been added on to something which had happened on the motorway.   ???

So to sum up,

1,    nice but dim?

2,    admits that the police seldom catch and prosecute burglars?

3,    police admin is atrocious?

Well that was worth waiting for then wasn't it ??? ??? ??? ????

Your visit from the old bill was nothing to do with it being splashed across your local rag,  :( what does our resident copper think of all this.     :-\ :-\ :-\

QuoteQuote from: colt on Yesterday at 22:03:24
So sorry to hear about the break in guys. If you want some kind of deterent try these.

http://www.airsoftworld.net/pyrotechnics/blank-firing-devices/alarm-trip-mine-12g.html

Thanks for that, it looks........er.........interesting!   Shocked

Have you ever seen one?

I have, a guy that used to be on our site had them setup and shown me how they worked. I was very impressed and if I started having problems would not think twice about getting one. I am not sure if they legal or not but there are loads of places that sell them.

Quote from: tonybloke on February 21, 2011, 18:01:59
So to sum up,
1,    nice but dim?

2,    admits that the police seldom catch and prosecute burglars?

3,    police admin is atrocious?

You've got it in 3 Tony.  ::)

how frustrating Squash!

I'd still write a letter.......

Quote from: 1066 on February 22, 2011, 08:34:42
how frustrating Squash!

I'd still write a letter.......

No promise for including allotments in patrols, at least checking that the gates are secure?  They must be patrolling the stadium regularly I imagine. 

Our local filth admit that there's very little chance of catching a thief, but they do wander round the site occasionally, and that may do something to deter some of the ladies of the night at least. When we had someone with a grudge going round vandalising committee members' plots, they did at least go and hassle him, which contributed to ending the problem.

On our site we had a multiple break in. About 12 to 15 shed doors forced open but nothing taken. They were back last weekend to do the rest of the sheds but nothing taken.

Well, not totally true. I was the only one with things nicked - sulphate of potash/ammonia, liquid seaweed, bug killer sprays & such things - even rooting powder. However, they left the tomato feed & slug pellets which were on the same shelf.

Sorry to hear about your break-in too Marcitos.  It's hard to understand why thieves take some things and leave others - yours don't grow tomatoes, or have a slug problem and ours don't take sugar but do have cats?

About 3 years ago the local police set up an 'Allotment Watch' scheme with the local bobbies having keys to our site.  They said they would drive around after dark but I'm not sure if they ever did.  The PC who co-ordinated it has since moved so nothing happens these days. 

As Galina knows, we are next door to the Alexander Stadium which has massive building work going on at the moment in preparation for the Olympics as some of the teams will be training there.

We give the community plods a key for our gate and they lost it, :(  two of them wanted to take a short cut through our site to surprise someone in the flats who had been revving his car on and off for a while, they asked me to open the gate, so I asked where's their key and I got that community plod tesco bag carrying mobile to the earole look, what key,  ??? anyway I let them in and out again, we give another key out and still I've never seen them on our site, they had promised to keep a presence after thefts, they wander past the fence on the park  3 or four times a day with their tesco bags in tow, it wouldn't hurt to pop in and be seen by the public and lottie holders once in a while.    :( :( :(

Heard on LBC that Boris is starting a scheme buy one get one free for police.  Has ET come back???

Another allotment site about a mile away from us was broken into on Sunday night and guess what the thieves stole - cat food!  They caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage and stole a broken clock and cat food.

Quote from: Squash64 on March 09, 2011, 05:54:02
Another allotment site about a mile away from us was broken into on Sunday night and guess what the thieves stole - cat food!  They caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage and stole a broken clock and cat food.

It looks like a pattern is emerging here, may be the police could consultant one of those forensic psychologists who could help catch the culprits. ;)

What with the cut in policing we will be lucky if we ever see a copper under all of that paperwork  >:(

Quote from: pumpkinlover on March 09, 2011, 06:15:19
It looks like a pattern is emerging here, may be the police could consultant one of those forensic psychologists who could help catch the culprits. ;)

They need to look for a hungry, tea/coffee-drinking, cat-loving, diabetic (didn't take the sugar) clock-collecting (stole 2 of ours) ready-meal user (stole our microwave) who isn't interested in gardening (left all the seed potatoes, fertilizers, tools etc.)

That should narrow it down a bit shouldn't it!

What's your local take away like?...do they deliver food in time?..what's the food like? As long as the cats don't start dissapearing..  :-X

Having been on the committee for over 15 years people still try to tell me things on site... (now I'm not) we had a break in last week and sheds were forced but nothing taken... plotholder thought this was strange... I asked him did he keep a rotovator or power tools in there... he said no... forgot to ask him about the cat food!!  :-X

Must be desperate times.. ::)