Three hour wait for police after stab threat (From Croydon Guardian)

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Three hour wait for police after stab threat

9:46am Wednesday 16th July 2008

comment Comments (45) Have your say »

By Kirsty Whalley »

An infuriated mum said police took nearly three hours to respond to a 999 call after three teenage girls threatened to stab her.

And instead of a patrol car arriving at her door she received a phone call from the police station asking if the vandals were still there.

�I could have cooked these girls a three course meal in the time it took the police to call me back. I could be laying there in a pool of blood for all they know."
Claire Daws

Claire Daws, 28, from Duppas Hill Lane, dialled 999 at 3.45pm after catching three girls painting slogans on her garage door. When she confronted them they said that they would stab her.

She said: "My seven-year-old daughter saw three girls drawing on our garage door, they were probably only about 13-years-old. When I went outside to confront them they denied that they had done anything, even although I had caught them red-handed. The paint on the garage door was still wet."

She told the girls to leave which they refused to do. "When I said I would call the police, they said: Call the police, we'll stab you and we'll stab them too.'"

She said that the girls did not pull out any knives but she was worried that they would carry out their threat in front of her daughter.

She called the police and when they had not responded by 6.30pm she contacted the Croydon Guardian.

She said: "I could have cooked these girls a three course meal in the time it took the police to call me back. I could be laying there in a pool of blood for all they know.

"They eventually phoned me back three hours later to ask if the girls were still there. When I asked them why it had taken so long they said that they were dealing with more urgent calls.

Maybe those girls were bluffing and they did not have a knife but how can the police be taking knife crime seriously when they don't come to a defenceless woman who has been threatened like this?"

When contacted for comment, a police spokeswoman said: "The correct procedure here if a member of the public believes they have had a poor service is for them to get in touch and it will be looked into.

"You must understand that we cannot start giving explanations through the pages of a local newspaper about why officers were late turning up."

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
11:13am Wed 16 Jul 08

They would not have been able to stab her if she went back indoors. Had she been out and about with someone threatening to stab her, police would have come straight away. When they are inundated with calls, they have to prioritise and they can't be everywhere at once. It is possible that they were treating this as criminal damage, because of the garage door. Knives were not seen. Had they been seen - again it would have been classed as a higher priority case.

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ange, Wallington says...
11:31am Wed 16 Jul 08

In response to the naive comments made by Ms.Giles of Selsdon, 'police would have come straight away' is that why when my 2 female friends were shot at in Carshalton at 9pm in the evening, saw the shooter and his gun, it took the police 48 hours to respond to a 999 call? And yes one of them was hit and had the hole in her jacket to prove it, still they took no action at all. Like with most authorities what they say they do and what they actually do are sadly worlds apart, it's all about being seen to 'tick the right boxes'.

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A, Thornton Heath says...
11:39am Wed 16 Jul 08

If they had come and and checked on the situation it could have prevented a serious crime (yeah I know nothing happened this time but it could have)- and as for saying if she went back indoors they would not have been able to stab her - so we have to cower in or houses and let these nasty little hodlums run riot.
Another interesting insight from Anne Giles!

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tom, says...
11:43am Wed 16 Jul 08

we need more police on the streets its that simple. if the over paid MPs took a pay cut or just stoped wasteing what money they have there would be pleanty to pay for the extra police

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Worried, Anywhere but here says...
11:45am Wed 16 Jul 08

Anne Giles, you obviously dont live in the real world. Every comment you make, makes no **** sense! Police are there to protect us not phone 3hrs later to ask if the vandals are still there. Wake up from ur world of bubbles, laughter and fairytales

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Riaz, Purley says...
11:57am Wed 16 Jul 08

Looks like we need more police then doesn't it. Surely if there were police available they would have turned up? Perhaps Kirsty Whalley who wrote this article should contact Claire Daws and see if she has contacted the police or did she just call the Guardian so that they could sensationalise this story ?

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Lillian, Purley says...
12:05pm Wed 16 Jul 08

If police had turned up, which they should have done, and the girls were arrested i suppose The Guardian would be running a story about 50 police attending to arrest 3 schoolgirls. Why dont you get off your fat ar*e kirsty and do a days work instead of writting this rubbish.

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DDD, Croydon says...
12:41pm Wed 16 Jul 08

In reference to Ann Giles comments, its No wonder the streets are full of scum. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away, it's like a cancer - it will spread even further unless treated. With Knife crime being such a major problem, even talk of it should be taken seriously, then at least these kids may get the messege. If its in their heads to make the threat, there is a risk that they might just do it, so lets show them that even talk of knives will not be tolerated. They should have been arrested, The parents ordered to the police station, and forced to take responsability for their chidren or else face punishment themselves.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
1:01pm Wed 16 Jul 08

First of all, it is a little bit daft for someone to stand outside their home waiting to be stabbed. If there is a gang outside, you stay indoors and 'phone the police. The reason why police ring later is just to check that the gang is still there. If they are, they will then come. If they are not, then they know that things have settled down. We had a gang outside setting fire to something last year - police kept ringing to check that they were still there and they eventually left. I was happy with that. All they had set fire to were some plastic carrier bags. When I was threatened in a park by a man wielding a claw hammer, police were there in 5 minutes. Saying that we need more police is fine, but how do you recruit the right people into the force when they all know full well that they are going to have to a) risk their lives, b) deal with some very nasty people and c) deal with nasty comments from people on these web sites. I prefer teaching, personally. I only meet nice people. Also - the streets are not full of scum. I talk to every group of teenagers I come across and they are all very nice. The only time I came across a nasty bunch was a few days' ago, but then that's quite unusual.

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CLAIRE DAWS, CROYDON says...
1:49pm Wed 16 Jul 08

TO Riaz in Purley and other doubters Kirsty contacted me AFTER my 999 call was ignored. She called the next day after I wrote an e mail to the guardian out of sheer disgust. I may not have SEEN a knife but then they are not going to wave it around in the street are they? The fact is those girls were willing to cause damage to property so who is to say they would not have caused damage to me or my little girl? I had to turn my back to walk away. They could have struck then and there. Thank god they did not. I wrote to warn the people of Croydon not to get my face in the paper.To those who have been supportive thankyou kindly.

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carly, london says...
1:52pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Although I think maybe the police should have turned up considering they are supposed to be cracking down on knife crime & what not.
I can understand Anne's point of view. Obviously & luckily no serious harm was done & Miss Daws done the right thing in dialling 999 as anything could have happened. If it was me in that situation I wouldn't be too happy that my emergency call was dismissed & only received a call.
But at the same time, what might be important to me, may not be as important to the police. Not to say that any crime is unimportant, just that maybe there was something else stopping from a visit from the police.
They have their hands tied the poor b**tards & I do feel sorry for them.

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Mike, Croydon says...
2:28pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Hi Anne and everyone Mike here. The reality is that if the police dont have backup they wont attend a knife or shooting incident alone. I have called the police several times with knife related incidents, Man carrying knife, Man acting suspiciously at 1am in the morning snooping around, the police are scared, there is no doubt in my mind and alot of these situations they just dont like. I have always admired and trid to assist the police in anyway I can, the police are useless without the general public and they are here to serve us and protect us. The bottom line is that the government are the failure and the police are a casualty of this failure, the police need more personel and skilled training and empower them to take out the scum.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
3:05pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Hello Carly and Mike - nice to have you here. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't assist police. They sit and hide behind their curtains, never reporting anything. I would report anything I saw or heard, whether at home or out and about. In this story - what were the neighbours doing?

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RG, Surrey, Surrey says...
3:18pm Wed 16 Jul 08

My son was assaulted in a park by a group of children, and, I might add, their parents who were egging the children on - I called the police immediately and it took them several hours to come out to even speak to us, by which time the animals were long gone. The excuse, Sutton is a busy town and its a Friday !! It was 3pm on a Friday I might add.

I agree with Anne on this one, people ignore too much of what is going on around them. More police and more people with some backbone - not to mention parents who know where their children are and dont tolerate such rudeness to other people !! Oh if only I were Prime Minister !!

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Old Dragon, Battersea says...
4:11pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Only three hours ? The standard procedure as far as it works where I live is you get a phone call TWO hours after the initial contact to report whatever you are reporting - from a minor crime to a major one - to ask if the problem is still there. You answer in the affirmative and you get a phone call around every two hours until the problem does, in fact, go away of its own accord.

So a three hour wait - nice one plod. Nice to see you actually do turn up somewhere, even if it isn't here.

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carly, london says...
4:28pm Wed 16 Jul 08

To be honest, unless it was something I found really disturbing I wouldn't call the police. SO for a starters I know I dont always practice what I preach but it depends on peoples perception of 'suspicious'. What I may see as a drunk coming home from a night out may be seen as potential danger to someone else. Or a group of boys being loud going home from maybe playing football could be potential muggers.
It is just a persons take on things.
Also, in regards to Mikes comments about the police being scared & always needing backup. I think maybe it is because the polices' hands are tied & it has to be requested or the fact that they need the extra person/people as witnesses for maybe self defence from a dangerous situation.

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Worried, Anywhere but here says...
4:58pm Wed 16 Jul 08

ANNE GILES wrote:
Hello Carly and Mike - nice to have you here. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't assist police. They sit and hide behind their curtains, never reporting anything. I would report anything I saw or heard, whether at home or out and about. In this story - what were the neighbours doing?

But early anne you said this woman should have gone in her home so she couldnt be stabbed. So wouldnt that class as 'sitting in and hiding behind her curtains'???????

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peterg22, South East England says...
7:04pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Who is Anne Giles? Could we have a feature on her?

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A, Thornton Heath says...
7:07pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Well done for that observation worried, Anne would just like to point out that some of us work very long days and dont have time to sit hiding behind our curtains reporting what we see. But if we do see things happening we should unite as a community and stand up for our properties/families/
possesions.

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chanelle, croydon says...
1:27am Thu 17 Jul 08

my aunt had recently had her house robbed by a 8 strong gang in the middle of the night. She managed to call the police whilst they were still there tell them there were 8 men in her house and 4 females in danger.. the men were there a further 45 minutes before they left.. the police turned up 3 hours later asking if they were still there and could they take a statement.

When she asked why they had taken so long to respond, they informed her that her address had been put on low priority because of two previous call outs to the address, which they specified as a domestic violence issue and a 13 yr old with a 8 inch knife.

Why does this make it less of a priority? If they had of turned up in the 45 minutes after the call 8 gang members would now be in prison. As such they all had masks and gloves and she cannot identify them, so there is no case against the no suspects they currently have.

Great work met well done!

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Mike, Croydon says...
1:44am Thu 17 Jul 08

Ron, we are´nt going to get everyone to agree on everything. Anne brings the humour factor into matters with her contrarian views, no need to be unkind to her, she means well at the end of the day.

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Pancho, Croydon-North says...
7:00am Thu 17 Jul 08

I am appauled at the way the police spokesman states
"they were dealing with more important calls" what proof have they put forward that they in fact were responding to more important calls?
I would like to see a list of these so called important calls
and if they in fact exsisted in any way other than in a policemans press officer mind...lets have some proof?
The police in croydon are failing the people they are employed to protect...
and when was the last time that our Chief of Croydon Police came out and apologizes for his forces poor performance?
They act now as second class social workers...what could be more important to a a croydon resident & as for calling hours after to ask if the criminals were still there this responce ... beggers belief... a housewife being thretend with a knife by ferocious youths!!!!

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
9:00am Thu 17 Jul 08

Pancho - our Chief Supt. Mark Gore has nothing to apologise for. Police are doing very well in this Borough.

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sarah, croydon says...
1:11pm Thu 17 Jul 08

In this weeks paper there is a story of a man who has received a prison sentance for threatening to stab someone with a banana, so if the police can take this seriously and persist with taking him to court, why is this case different, obviously in the case of the banana, no knife was seen, it is all based on a verbal threat. This inconsistancy in the law makes it confusing and open for critisim.

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Bob Peel, Croydon says...
2:00pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Hello Pancho you seething old sód. You owe me a coffee and a bun.

The sad fact is that the call would have been graded at IR and put on the Computer which then prioritised (I hate that word) it. Once that process has started not a lot would change save for a call to say you had just been filleted by said schoolgirls.

CLARE DAWS; if you feel strongly enough about this contact Croydon Police and ask for the CAD number generated from your call. Then ask for the Warrant Number of the officer who generated it and make a complaint against that officer. I guarantee you will get some satisfaction out of this.

If Croydon Police refuse you the details, of which you are entitled, contact the IPCC and complain to them about the manner you are being treated.

Stir it up a bit but do via the proper channels. Putting it in the paper doesn't really do anything.

The problem is that policing is now accountable to ridiculous bodies such as the MPA and the spin-offs such as CCPCC run by mindless drones.

You could go to the CCPCC meeting at the Town Hall - contact Council for next date - where you may have access to Croydon's Commander Mark Gore. If, the chairman, Graham Speed lets you say anything. Pity the public get so little time, if any, because it's public money that funds it.

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Worried, Anywhere but here says...
2:14pm Thu 17 Jul 08

sarah wrote:
In this weeks paper there is a story of a man who has received a prison sentance for threatening to stab someone with a banana, so if the police can take this seriously and persist with taking him to court, why is this case different, obviously in the case of the banana, no knife was seen, it is all based on a verbal threat. This inconsistancy in the law makes it confusing and open for critisim.

Thats made my day! How pathetic and what a waste of money!!!!!!

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Book90, behind the front desk at ZY says...
2:52pm Thu 17 Jul 08

I laugh at some of the comments made here.

Despite what some of you think Anne Giles' first post was accurate; it was probably logged as Criminal Damage only.

Bob Peel is correct in his approach, whilst Pancho (Cisco Kid?) makes some relevent points.

What is missing from the rest is an understanding of what has occured here. None of you know the full facts of the case yet you assume what its about.

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George Dixon, under the blue lamp says...
3:02pm Thu 17 Jul 08

ANNE GILES wrote:
Pancho - our Chief Supt. Mark Gore has nothing to apologise for. Police are doing very well in this Borough.

They are indeed and it's all target based.

Which is why they're never available for proper policing.

And why Mark Gore tools about grinning like a cheshire cat.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
3:54pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Book90 - thank you. I do quite a lot for the police, as it happens. Trouble is - people on these sites read a story and start making all sorts of assumptions.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
3:57pm Thu 17 Jul 08

George Dixon - you have no right to criticise a man you don'tknow.Mark Gore works very hard. To say police are never available for proper policing is a load of old codswallop as well. All the teams I deal with a doing proper policing all the time they are on duty.

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Mo, Find out says...
4:12pm Thu 17 Jul 08

I see the old Anne Giles is just as annoying on here as she is on the CA..what a waste of space!

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
6:05pm Thu 17 Jul 08

I have a solution for you, Mo - when you see a post with my name on it, try closing your eyes. It might help.

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Mo, find out says...
6:47pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Oh don't worry Annie I do , and so do most others why what I have been reading good isn't it. I feel like a new woman now i know im not alone LOL..3 hours to wait is disgusting i suppose they were busy at you know who's house having a cuppa eh?

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sarah, croydon says...
7:26pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Mo- don't forget the cake! lol
Peterg22 - Please don't encourage Ann!
Ann - Maybe, because you do so much with the police and you are so friendly with Mark, you got preferential when you were a victim, just because we don't all have the time on our hands that people like you have, we shouldn't be treated any different!

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kev, says...
8:16pm Thu 17 Jul 08

The police are actualy very lazzy,bone idle most of them thay seek the easy option most of the time,thay are especialy fond of plain clothes dutys in parks and green spaces on nice sunny days.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
9:17pm Thu 17 Jul 08

What an imagination - Mo and Sarah. I never have cakes in the house, nor do I make anyone cups of tea. I work for a living and certainly do not have much time on my hands either. Whenever I have been a victim, I have been treated the same as anyone else. And, kev, to say the police are lazy is an awful thing to say. This evening, at around 7.30 p.m., the Selsdon Safer Neighbourhood Team were patrolling my little cul-de-sac in their car and, as the Heathfield and Sanderstead teams were not on duty, they were also covering their areas. Tonight, at 8 p.m., I was in the Town Centre, opposite a rather horrible looking bar called "Tiger, Tiger", when a police patrol car drove by. They drove by again at 8.10 p.m. I was impressed.

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George Dixon, Dock Green says...
9:34pm Thu 17 Jul 08

ANNE GILES wrote:
George Dixon - you have no right to criticise a man you don'tknow.Mark Gore works very hard. To say police are never available for proper policing is a load of old codswallop as well. All the teams I deal with a doing proper policing all the time they are on duty.

"And why Mark Gore tools about grinning like a cheshire cat"

That's not criticism Anne it's an observation.

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big ron, croydon says...
10:45pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Anne (A.K.A. Fingers), go and take your medication before you type some more rubbish.

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Mike, Croydon says...
11:33pm Thu 17 Jul 08

On the whole the police have a difficult job, but I do think that there is creative accounting and creative policing going on. The government are the ones who are ultimately responsible for any failings in the police, as there orders come from Gordon and his imps. We cannot always blame the police for the countries crime wave, it is a social problem, but I do believe we need more Police on the beat, Big Time, in the trouble spots.

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Mike, Croydon says...
11:52pm Thu 17 Jul 08

One other thing is that rather than us just complaining maybe it, would´nt it be alot better if we all tried to find and agree on a solution, rather than just venting and **** here. This is a social issue aswell.

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Pete, Croydon says...
1:43am Fri 18 Jul 08

We all need to be looking out for each other. I always look out for my neighbours in front and to either side, they tell me they are going away or leave me keys and when I am around I keep an eye out. Nothing to do with nosey neighbours its to do with security, we must all watch each others backs.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
9:49am Fri 18 Jul 08

Pete, Mike - excellet ideas. Whenever we go away, we give keys to a neighbour and ask them to come in and bring the mail in. There are neighbours who don't give out keys, but everyone should. Last year I was looking after someone's house - next door. The same day that they had left I heard a huge crash. I went in and a cupboard had come crashing down in the kitchen. There was broken crockery all over the place. I rang a relative, who came round and sorted everything out.

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Mo, no where says...
11:22am Fri 18 Jul 08

Give Her my keys is she having a laugh , bet she has a right nosy round..you wouldn't credit would you! hilarious ( curtain twitcher)

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
6:32pm Fri 18 Jul 08

I can assure you I have no interest in looking around anyone's property. I wouldn't have the time anyway. That is what Eastenders' mentality people do - read trashy papers and gossip.

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Su, Surrey, UK says...
4:34pm Sun 20 Jul 08

Clare Daws from Duppas Hill can't have been in fear of her life if her next telephone-call was not to the Police finding out where they were, but to the local-paper after three-hours!

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