A Serious View Of Police Efficiency In The UK, With A Humorous Twist!

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On Wednesday, I was convinced there was a serious accident on the A272, owing to the glut of police, ambulance and fire engine sirens, in the early evening. Sure enough, there was an accident, but way out past the Horsham - Worthing main road, so emergency vehicles from this area probably wouldn't have been required. About an hour went past, and there were still vehicles moving up and down the Street in the village. I was due to go to the pub to sort out a dart team's registration, so I finished getting ready, met my neighbour and went off down. Whilst there, I was told of two dark guys who had been hanging about at the bottom of the church steps opposite the pub, presumably with weapons in their hands. In the light of so many recent stabbings and killings in the UK, England particularly, the police had been called... but wouldn't you know it? They arrived too late, and never did find these two guys. We have no police in the village, the nearest being some 41/2 miles away, and this was during the evening rush hour. Policing is bad these days and the government is still making cuts, despite increasing taxes. Now, here's the twist... I can relate this, because I've been in the village a long time and know what goes on regularly, but those who haven't been here too long, wouldn't relate it at all. Once a month, there are two or three door-to-door sales guys who come down in a mini-bus, spend the day trying to sell their wares, and then often go into the pub at about 4-4.30 for a drink and to wait for the mini-bus to pick them up. They each have a big holdall, and they each carry their mobiles in their hand at all times. At least one of them is a dark guy... a very pleasant guy, from Leicester. Normally, after a half hour or so, they're picked up outside the pub and driven back to the Midlands. Well, I think that these guys were mistaken for weapon-carrying strangers, when all they were doing was, instead of going in the pub as usual, they were waiting to be picked up at the bottom of the church steps with mobile phones in hand. Because they were apparently just "hanging about", they were mistakenly identified as trouble-causers, and the police were called by people who don't know them. I saw one of the guys knocking doors across the road earlier in the day, so I'm pretty sure I'm right!I'd like to ask what the policing is like where you live, and have you ever had any strange occurrences, or cases of mis-identity like this occur? Do you think this was a worthless exercise and a waste of police time, or a safeguard against a potential crime, and what can be done to improve public safety in the UK, or where you live? There are all too many violent crimes and killings these days, and all because of government cut-backs. We pay our taxes despite the cutbacks, so should we be allowed a say in our policing policies? Your views, please?