Mountaineerfan's Blog

Oh,I just couldn't walk away from this one without sharing.This is a perfect example of a government which forbids and even criminalizes you for defending yourself,yet makes no real effort to protect you either.Welcome to liberalville!

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By GRAEME WILSON,Deputy Political Editor

The Sun

7/16/08

3 hours for 999(Brit 911) cops to turn up

COPS may get three hours to respond to 999s – and THREE DAYS for “less urgent” calls.

The targets, to be unveiled tomorrow, were last night blasted as an insult to crime victims.

They are more than 60 times longer than those now used by some of the UK’s biggest forces.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve raged: “This shows this is an exhausted Government on its last legs.

“It has neither the vision nor the resolve to design and deliver the much-needed reform our police need.”

The targets were in a leaked draft copy of the Government’s new Green Paper on Policing.

Under a section on national standards, it says the police must “respond appropriately” to incidents. This includes telling crime victims when an officer will turn up.

The document says the target should be “within three hours if it requires policing intervention, or three days if there is less immediate need for a police presence”.

Neighbourhood police units will get 24 HOURS simply to return a phone call from the public.

Currently, the Met aim to respond to 90 per cent of urgent calls in just 12 minutes — and 90 per cent of non-urgent ones within an hour.

Greater Manchester Police has a ten-minute target for emergency calls and an hour for less urgent ones.

The Green Paper also includes proposals for a new “Police Pledge”.

This will involve sending every household the names and contact details of their local neighbourhood cops.

Officers will be encouraged to spend 80 per cent of their time out “on their patch”.

Forces will also be told to publish “local priorities”, such as tackling drug dealing or stopping gangs loitering.

Last night the Home Office said: “We do not comment on leaks.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1428
033.ece