Letter: Police guilty of over-reaction (From Lancashire Telegraph)

............... and when it goes booooooom, what then? You would be quick to critise and malign the police then for not doingmtheir job. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. There is no suiting people like you at times!

and whats your experience then?

What exactly are they meant to do when they find an explosive device in a shed? Put in in their pocket and drop it off at the station when they are passing?
.
What would you do when you receive a report that someone is pouring a liquid into a bag and their is a subsequent vapour emerging from within? bearing in mind that later on that day the same police force arrested 6 people in relation to terror offences?

HelmshoreBoy wrote:
............... and when it goes booooooom, what then? You would be quick to critise and malign the police then for not doingmtheir job. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. There is no suiting people like you at times!

and whats your experience then?

It didn't go boom, the chances of it going off after all this time are slim. secure the possible affected area, and let the bomb squad do their job, they are the experts. No follow up story to say if the grenade was live or ornamental, If it was live is there an investigation? err no As for the M6 coach, the police were right to isolate the coach, however, why on the hard shoulder with the people still on board? what if it had blown up, life's lost unnecessarily. Why not run the coach straight to the nearest point of isolation, then get the people off and segregated. once the alleged offenders are secured, allow the other passengers to gather together, There was no need to have people sat out in a chalked of area for all those hours. why was the motorway closed for so long? not needed. Sadly if a determined terrorist is going do their worst on public transport. The chances of stopping it are almost nil. I would expect anyone seeing liquid being poured into a bag with vapour coming out to report it. I would expect the police to dispatch proper experts immediately to establish the real risk. I am afraid the police seem to be running short on serious experienced officers, but we can lose 16000 and still maintain a credible force. I think not. the older police officers will be the first encouraged out of the door, then any replacements will be inexperienced and have a degree. we have only to look around at the quality of service being offered to the public from, The NHS, Benefits, council services. we can not afford to lose the experience of the public sector to the cheaper low paid private sector. we all know cheap is not good.

If I had found a grenade or indeed any explosive device in my shed then it would have been the occasion for intense curiousity, much like that I showed when in the sixties I found ammunition which an uncle had brought home in a kitbag from the war. Then, there was such fun to be had from detonating the rounds by dint of shooting at the cap with an air rifle. Calling for official assistance was as far from my intentions then as it would be now.

mavrick wrote:

HelmshoreBoy wrote: ............... and when it goes booooooom, what then? You would be quick to critise and malign the police then for not doingmtheir job. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. There is no suiting people like you at times! and whats your experience then?

It didn't go boom, the chances of it going off after all this time are slim. secure the possible affected area, and let the bomb squad do their job, they are the experts. No follow up story to say if the grenade was live or ornamental, If it was live is there an investigation? err no As for the M6 coach, the police were right to isolate the coach, however, why on the hard shoulder with the people still on board? what if it had blown up, life's lost unnecessarily. Why not run the coach straight to the nearest point of isolation, then get the people off and segregated. once the alleged offenders are secured, allow the other passengers to gather together, There was no need to have people sat out in a chalked of area for all those hours. why was the motorway closed for so long? not needed. Sadly if a determined terrorist is going do their worst on public transport. The chances of stopping it are almost nil. I would expect anyone seeing liquid being poured into a bag with vapour coming out to report it. I would expect the police to dispatch proper experts immediately to establish the real risk. I am afraid the police seem to be running short on serious experienced officers, but we can lose 16000 and still maintain a credible force. I think not. the older police officers will be the first encouraged out of the door, then any replacements will be inexperienced and have a degree. we have only to look around at the quality of service being offered to the public from, The NHS, Benefits, council services. we can not afford to lose the experience of the public sector to the cheaper low paid private sector. we all know cheap is not good.

Its all very well passing such innain comments with the benefit of hindsight, but you still have not mentioned what experience you have in dealing with an actual serious, potentially life threatening incident.

May I venture to suggest you have absolutely none, as you cower behind the screen of your computer.

If you were as good as your printed word, you would be out there doing it. I doubt if youv'e got the hairies to do it in any case.

So few of us correspond using given names. I have always used mine and confirm that it's an odd feeling to be quizzed and occasionally insulted by 'enoonmai' and fellows, but the prevailing feeling is that I am better entertained as Graham Hartley than I think I would be if I was 'Mister Earthly' or somesuch invention.