Zombie and UFO queries are wasting police time, warns chief

www.telegraph.co.uk...

A police chief has hit out at cops being forced to answer "bonkers" questions from the public - such as how many werewoves, vampires and zombies have been investigated.

So far this year Police have logged queries about witches, ghosts, demons, wizards, Big Foot and UFOs.

Chief Constable Ian Arundale is annoyed at officers being forced to spend hours answering "bizarre" queries instead of being on the beat.

So far this year his officers have also logged queries about witches, ghosts, demons, wizards, Big Foot and UFOs.

The rural Dyfed Powys force in Wales is legally required to spend up to 18 hours finding the information needed to answer each request.

Mr Arundale said: "We find ourselves not only dealing with the legitimate inquries but also the bizarre which are time-consuming and take a while to deal with.

"We have to make 20 per cent cuts yet cannot touch a range of statutory obligations such as Freedom of Information.

"It is worrying that we are spending on that and not beat and service delivery."

Officers throughout the force spent 240 hours this years finding the information as part of the Freedom of Information Act.

One question was if there had ever been a recorded trace of Big Foot in the Welsh countryside and how many sightings of zombies had been recorded.

They have also been asked to find the star signs of car thieves and the owners of the cars they steal.

Dyfed Powys Chief Constable Mr Arundale has lobbied local MP Simon Hart to press for changes in the law.

Mr Hart, Tory MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said: "Frivolous requests are costing a fortune and wasting police time.

"The Freedom of Information Act is a useful tool which I have used myself and which has undoubtedly improved the transparency and accountability of many public institutions,

"The Act has undoubtedly improved the way public bodies work and account for themselves,

"But I am concerned it is also being abused by people making vexatious, petty and sometimes downright bonkers requests.

"It is a worry to me that it could be turning into a bureaucratic monster that is a burden on police time and resources.

"It is time to be looking at introducing more stringent rules on the number, length and nature of requests allowed."

I have to say that this article is a little amusing. I know if I was a police officer I would rather be investigating UFOs or Bigfoot instead of something like violent crimes. I know that it may take up some of police officer's time, but there are legitimate reports that need to be investigated. If police do not take reports serious, we may miss actual REAL information regarding these subjects.

I'm sure some people do make odd request due to the Freedom of Information Act, but they could avoid some of the request if they would release information on a regular basis regarding these topics, and people wouldn't feel the need to ask so often.

maybe that's a way to keep these tirants off the streets

we should ALL file silly FOIA acts

just kidding yo.

article made ma laugh though.

how many recorded zombie sightings?
the starsign of certain thieves?
evidence of Bigfoot on the countryside?

LOL

I love how the chief lumps UFO's into categories of things that do not exist. Part of the "giggle slide" factor. Drives me nuts.
I'm sure Travis Walton wished his police had of had nothing better to do then believe in, and investigate ufo reports.

Originally posted by isyeye
I have to say that this article is a little amusing. I know if I was a police officer I would rather be investigating UFOs or Bigfoot instead of something like violent crimes. I know that it may take up some of police officer's time, but there are legitimate reports that need to be investigated. If police do not take reports serious, we may miss actual REAL information regarding these subjects.

You wouldn't make a very good police officer then. Violent crimes are certainly more important for police officers, and no community would rather their police force spend time on UFOs or Bigfoot. Violent criminals pose a real threat to the community, and victims deserve justice. Solving real crimes and capturing real bad guys should be the top priority of police, as should preventing criminal violence and protecting innocent people. The paranormal stuff is interesting, but the police shouldn't be worrying about stuff that's interesting and weird and harmless until they've put a stop to serious crime and captured all the bad guys.

I know paranormal activity should be investigated, but it's not the job of the police. I'd like thorough, official investigations into that stuff as much as anyone, and I don't want important information going undocumented or reports not being followed up on, but it's clearly not appropriate to get police to do it. Maybe if we changed their mission/job description and gave them resources for paranormal investigations specifically that would be a good idea, but that's not the situation now. No laws are being broken, people are just seeing weird stuff.

On the other hand, I don't support any attempts to dismiss Freedom of Information requests because they seem patently absurd, because I don't think anyone is qualified to classify inquiries as absurd prima facie. Perhaps the police should maintain an accurate and up to date briefing summarizing what records they having related to paranormal reports. Then, instead of spending 18 hours doing research, they could just respond to the queries with a copy of the brief.

reply to post by OnceReturned

Perhaps the police should maintain an accurate and up to date briefing summarizing what records they having related to paranormal reports. Then, instead of spending 18 hours doing research, they could just respond to the queries with a copy of the brief.

That's exactly how I feel. They could save themselves alot of unneeded work if they would just release briefs on these topics.

In no way am I disregarding the importance of our officers investigating violent crimes, I just know that personally, it would be a hard aspect of the job if I had to do it. I'm happy that there are people in the world that can do this job. Police officers around the world have my respect for the hard job that they do.

I know paranormal activity should be investigated, but it's not the job of the police

I do feel that if a report has been made to the police about paranormal activity, it should be their job. Unfortunately there are not many local resources to go to when things that appear paranormal happen, and in most cases local police are the only option.