Glad I Don't live in the Greater Manchester Area any more

A report on TV today said that Greater Manchester Police will not be recruiting any more officers in a bid to save money. They are said that there were officers coming up to retirement who won't be replaced. So we have a gap where officers retire and are not replaced, officers who are either off sick or on maternity leave. This seems to be the thin edge of the wedge and the UK will eventually finish up with police forces not able to do the jobs. Crime will inevitably rise as there won't be the police to investigate and also to police the streets. What the hell is happening. I thought that the front line wasn't going to be affected with spending cuts. Seems it is.

I'm glad I dont live there anymore as well. I left nearly 10 years ago because of huge gangs of teenagers running amok. If your property was vandalised or robbed they didnt even come to investigate it.

It got scarey.

I lived in Chorlton, Manchester, for three years in the 1980s. My house was the fourth along in the road. Of the other three, all had been burgled more than once and I was 'lucky,' in that mine was only burgled once. The police didn't actually come to take statements or examine the broken lock and window. They took details over the phone and gave me a crime number for the insurance company. I was so naive! I asked the children not to touch the places where the TV etc had been, the broken door lock and not to go near the window. I imagined they'd come along and dust for prints and make a list of all our property that had been stolen!

At that time, I was working at a local youth club, where we decided to do a quick survey. We asked the gathered young people to put their hands up if their house had been burgled and then went through - keep your hand up if your house has been burgled twice/three times/four times. At four times, around a third of the hands were still up.

That was the 1980s. So, what is it going to be like if they are seriously cutting the number of officers?

It's happening across all of the public sector (with NHS being 'least hit' from what I can see). Some employers are a bit more active and asking for volunteers for "voluntary severance"

I used to share a flat in a very rough area like that. Out of the block of 6 flats, ours was the only one that never got robbed. Maybe that was because my flatmate used to keep large snakes and let them roam about the house. They weren't dangerous, but I guess any intruder wouldn't want to hang around long enough to make sure.

My mum's flat got burgled once and the robbers had to lock themselves in the toilet to get away from the dog - he bit them both and wouldn't let them out of the house again. They were cowering in the loo when we came home, pleadng with my Dad to call off the scarey dog. ( It was a wee Cairn Terrier!!! )

The Famous Grouse wrote:I used to share a flat in a very rough area like that. Out of the block of 6 flats, ours was the only one that never got robbed. Maybe that was because my flatmate used to keep large snakes and let them roam about the house. They weren't dangerous, but I guess any intruder wouldn't want to hang around long enough to make sure.

My mum's flat got burgled once and the robbers had to lock themselves in the toilet to get away from the dog - he bit them both and wouldn't let them out of the house again. They were cowering in the loo when we came home, pleadng with my Dad to call off the scarey dog. ( It was a wee Cairn Terrier!!! )

The area where we lived was not one that was thought to be rough. It was one of the 'better,' areas, but right next door to Moss Side, although there is no way of knowing if the burglaries were carried out by marauders from the blocks of council flats over there. A man who tried to sell me a better burglar alarm said that the average burglar was a young man in his 20s, stealing to fund a drug habit. When the salesman was in my house, a friend was there with her brother, a young man in his 20s, out of his head on something, but a product of the most expensive private school in the area. Maybe it was him!