Police to pose as burglars in the middle of the night in bid to cut break-ins.

Police to pose as burglars in the middle of the night in bid to cut break-ins.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Cold-calling police are to pose as burglars to drive home their safety message.

Householders whose homes are an easy target could be woken in the middle of the night by officers trying windows and doors.

The initiative, code-named Operation Golden, is being launched in a bid to cut break-ins.

(visit the link for the full news article)

At last, the chance to smack a copper and get away with it.

I know this is an idea that is meant to help the public but c'mon. What hair-brained idiot thought this one up?

Now there's nothing wrong with informing people how to keep their homes secure, but posing as burglers in the middle of the night is taking things just too far.

Like the article says, how many elderly people are going to be scared out of their wits by the people who are meant to protect and serve them instead.

The idea of leaving cards on door handles is fine, as long as it doesn't arouse suspision if done at a rediculous hour, but trying door handles and windows is just tempting fate and I imagine, would cause more grief in a neighbourhood than anything else.

Dogs will be barking like crazy, sleeping families will be roused into a worried state, I also think many homeowners will be reaching for blunt instruments, knives and who knows what.

Why can't they just concentrate on daytime visits to get their message across or is this a ruse to get more of the taxpayers money from OVERTIME?

And if I was a burgler, what better way to cover my ass than dress in a fake police uniform while trying all those doors and windows in the pitch black of night when anyone disturbed would cower inside and probably accept the burglers false identity without questioning too much.

This can't turn out well imo and it's only a matter of time before either something goes seriously wrong whereby a pensioner dies from shock or a member of the police force ends up in hospital and a homeowner is on an assault charge, or the programme gets scrapped.

I hope the latter, and instead, a more responsible attitude to informing people of the dangers of burgleries is implimented.

www.dailymail.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Are they trying to create fear on purpose, I know if I heard someone trying my windows or doors late at night and caught them, I wouldn't believe them if they turned around and said "oh, it's ok were the police, we are just in disguise!!". They wouldn't get time to show their warrent cards.

Can we now dress up as "terrorists" then, just to test the Police aswell?


[edit on 11/2/10 by ROBL240]

If ANYONE is trying to get into my house without my permission in the middle of the night, I have something for them! Here's how it will go down

-Cop breaking in
-Me smashing my bat over his head before he has a chance to tell me he's a cop
-In the unlikely chance he has a chance to tell me he's a cop, I still smash his head because I sure as hell don't believe him

end of story!

-E-

Also, dogs can't tell the difference between someone dressed up as a burgler and a real intruder! What happens on the day a poilce officer opens a door or window & gets savaged by a dog? I guess that'll be the dog owners fault for allowing their 'dangerous animal' to protect their home from intrusion.

Anyone trying to get into our house at night & catches me alone, will be subject to the self defence tactics taught to me by my lovely, long haired & rather big & scary boyfriend. If they come round in the dead of night & he's here, then lets hope they took note of their running training! He would NOT take kindly to this if he was on his day shift, having to be up & out for 5am.

I have a fear of people breaking in during the night, and as a female I am not about to take the chance that the person trying locks & windows is a police officer & not a man intent on raping or murdering me, I wouldn't beleive him even if he told me he was a poloce officer. I'd act now & ask questions later. I can't afford to take the chance.

Also I think there is a hidden state agenda here, another means to gain access to private property. Maybe while they are 'lecturing' you, they'll be looking for drugs for personal use, any weapons (even your kitchen cutlery is fast becoming illegal), undeclared 'addons' for council taxation etc. Who knows how this idiotic idea could be abused.

[edit on 11-2-2010 by The Chez]

Well, they're more than welcome to cross the pond and give it a go on my property. They're also quite welcome to foot their own medical bills should they survive the ordeal.

What a joke.

It's like they're just completely admitting that even the local authority is capable of conducting undercover black-ops to scare people. "Oh we're just doing it to reinforce the safety of the citizens." Right. I have an ocean front condominium in Las Vegas I want to sell you. Real nice view.

[edit on 11-2-2010 by SyphonX]

This has to be one of the most retarded ideas this government has come up with....and that say's something!....I can safely say that if I heard someone trying to get into my house in the middle of the night they wouldn't even have the chance to speak, let alone pull out a warrant card and no doubt I would end up in court for defending my home and assaulting a police officer.....seriously...whatever next??

ha\hahahaha wow, what a dumb idea!

i can really actualy deffinitelly see some police getting stabbed and injured badly!

england is a crazy place, if you dont have some sort of personal protection close to your bed then you should! ... paraniod i know lmao..!

man, i really hope they dont try that stunt here, first the dog would be goin tits and probably bite him/them ... and he is a big staff ... LMAO, so that woudl be a bad start... then, if i was to hear the dog fighting with a burgalar, i for one would be very happy, id be reaching for me malkie chib and also going tits on the intruder!!

And im sure, if i was to wake up and see an intruder fighting with my dog, that any legal team would agree that the first thoughts would be "he is trying to hurt my dog, then hurt me - I must protect us both" WIN

i hope they try it here actualy LMAO

I thought they had to have a Search Warrant before even stepping foot inside your property anyway? I can see a lot of law-suits following on from this, unless their only reason is to see how much "maximum force" people are willing to take. Will it just be the 1 officer or 10 of them waiting round the corner to see if you step out of line?

I have two young daughters living with me.

Try that at my house and you'll be reading about it in the papers.

Probably the dumbest idea i've heard since....actually i've too much to do than go through the whole list but you get my drift.

CX.

Whats so wrong with this tactic guys, I personally would sleep better knowing there are police patrolling my neighborhood, All this is back to basics community policing, (feet on the ground). They are giving good notice of there intentional operation so no need to get spooked.

Originally posted by MysterE
-In the unlikely chance he has a chance to tell me he's a cop, I still smash his head because I sure as hell don't believe him

Why do I get the feeling that any chav burgler that reads the article will be saying 'I'm a police officer!' if the get rumbled.

If in doubt swing for the head... Blood comes out of the carpet so long as your around in the morning.

reply to post by foxhoundone


patrolling neighbourhoods is all good, thats whats known as being " on the beat", which according to their latest ads, all cops should be doing 80% of the time anyway! (even if that in the real world is just them driving about in cars, which has gone up an insane amount lately)

sneaking into peoples houses in the middle of the night to teach them a lesson and scare them...... man, thats just really stupid and dangerous! People are not themselfs when stuck by fear, and combine them with that "woken up early and fast" near drunken daze where all normal rules of courtesy get thrown out the window, id say their plan is almost suicidal... ESSPECIALY as they dont know who might be in the house sleeping!

Not sure where this "genius" idea might be taking place but if you try to break in out here in rural Texas,you'll probably become a statistic of the negative sort.

"I feared for my life and was in immient bodily danger" holds a lot of weight when an intruder is shot/killed here,many times charges against the home-owner aren't even filed.

I'm suspecting there is more to this story,perhaps a drill to see HOW people react to being home-invaded and if/how/with what they might defend their lives and property?

I'm thinking it might have to do with de-weaponing the common folk in the long run.

Originally posted by MysterE
If ANYONE is trying to get into my house without my permission in the middle of the night, I have something for them! Here's how it will go down

-Cop breaking in
-Me smashing my bat over his head before he has a chance to tell me he's a cop
-In the unlikely chance he has a chance to tell me he's a cop, I still smash his head because I sure as hell don't believe him

end of story!

-E-

The end of the story would be you in Prison. If the police had managed to enter your house, it's because you will not have locked it properly. So the policeman who you just battered over the head didnt break into your house. So now you have a dead policeman lying on your floor. With the murder weapon in your hands

Any cop that gets critically injured from this stunt absolutely deserves it. Seriously.. how dare they even do this?

What's with the poster who said, "No reason to get spooked, they announced their intentions." (?!) Right, so now any burglar with a monkey's intuition will take advantage of this announcement. What a boneheaded move, seriously. People will be complaining about "burglars posing as coppers" for at least 3 years after this.

What kind of crazy Orwellian nonsense is this?


Are you sure this isn't just some kind of dry British humor?


If they did that in the states do you know how many officers would accidentally be shot and killed?


This is just completely brain dead. Now they're paying the police to act like criminals and even tell you about it up front. Seriously, what in the hell?!?

reply to post by woodwardjnr


What kind of backwards thinking are you trying to impose? People aren't allowed to attack a burglar if their property wasn't "sufficiently secure"?

How far do we want to stretch that, exactly? "He didn't have tungsten plated steel door beams on his property, so we were able to easily breach his doorway with plastic explosive. Clearly, he should go to prison for attacking an intruder in his insecure home."

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
If the police had managed to enter your house, it's because you will not have locked it properly.

So is it required that you lock your house at night? I've lived in plenty of places where the front door was always unlocked 24/7 - it had to be... Try walking in through that door and out again with the telly, I don't care what your wearing you would be lucky to still be able to walk!