A mishandled burglary 1 – my complaint to Bedfordshire police

Dear Team

I struggle to describe the horrendous job Bedfordshire Police made of dealing with my recent burglary on the xxxxx – crime reference xxxxx.

My son rang me while I was in the car driving home, in a state of panic. He had rung the police on 101 who had said they would come, but they didn’t. He kept ringing that evening as initially we left everything where it was so as not to disrupt the scene of crime. Eventually they said they were not coming so we made the house secure as best we could and cleared the rooms so we could go to bed.

The next morning I took the day off work and tried to ring again. The operator came across as unbelievably obtuse. She obviously thought my son was the homeowner. Assumptions were made throughout. At no point during our phone conversations with the police did they ascertain whose house it was, who knew what had been stolen, our ages and our level of vulnerability or offer even the briefest of conciliatory platitudes about how horrid it all was. I never realised how important that verbal comfort is. Nor did they offer any advice.

When I tried to pin down when they were coming or make an appointment that suited me as the home owner, the operator kept saying ‘it’s not policy’, but when I asked what the policy was, where it was written down or how the general public were being made aware of this, she could not answer. Several times I had to ask the woman whether the police made a log of calls. She seemed quite dim. I was not able to change the appointment that had been made with my son for later that evening.

When I said I wanted to make a complaint she was desperate that I do this over the phone at the time. I found this quite extraordinary. My house was in complete disarray. I was in shock. Eventually I got an address from her.

The scene of crime officer turned up in the morning. I had missed his call, but when I tried to ring back he did not answer. He told me he was not allowed to answer the phone on duty. He was actually quite sweet and very thorough, coming to the profession late in life. For example, he gave my lodger rubber gloves and asked her if she wanted to clear her clothes away before he went in to her room.

The policewoman rang in the afternoon to try and change the evening appointment by which time I had made other arrangements. She arrived early, obviously because it suited her rather than me.

I am not sure what the point of her visit was. She had a desultory look at where they made a point of entry. When I told her my insurers were refusing to accept a claim because they had entered through a window without window locks she told me about how a similar thing had happened with her dog and horse. I don’t doubt she was trying to be nice, but it was inappropriate bringing the focus on her rather than me as the victim. I am sure she said something like, ‘is there anything else I can help you with today?’ which was so chirpy and crass in the circumstances she was the last person I wanted to talk to for any longer. It was depressing.

At no point did she make a list of what was stolen or take any statement.

The difference in the service offered after the burglary 3 years ago was shocking. Ironically I drove past a huge poster in the centre of town which says something like ‘there have been 2,014 burglaries in this area since January 2016 – be safe aware’. You might as well advertise, ‘burgle at will. We are incapable of stopping theft’.

They took my spare car key and a set of work community house keys. I have had to have my car key reprogrammed so if they gain access to my car, they can’t drive away.

I am left, not irrationally, but overly fearful they will take the car, come back, grab me in the street. I am becoming an age where recovery is slow. I was not even given the number for victim support. Do they exist anymore?

A week later I read the card she left – the CARE one. Totally ironic in the circumstances. She didn’t talk through any of this. When she emailed me the crime reference number she wrote

Hello,

I hope all is well with you and you are finding no more chocolates!
The thief/thieves left a trail of chocolates around the house. This was creepy and disturbing to me – not a joke.

I don’t want staff to be punished. They were rubbish, but they have been recruited and trained by your system.

I could do a better job of comfort and advice myself. As an organisation you should be ashamed.

What outcome do I want?

I want a written answer addressing my issues as below:-

What is this policy outlining what you will or won’t do in answer to burglaries? I am cc’ing my MP in as I think this should be in the public arena and sent out with the annual report we get with our community charge bill. I want a copy of it for reference.

I would like the promotion and siting of that ridiculous poster to be questioned. When I went on gocompare to check out alternative contents insurance – only 4 companies would quote. Do you think such publicity helps?

What relationship/arrangements do the police have with pawnbrokers locally and nationally? Last time when I was burgled I was advised to visit all the local pawn shops and when I did identify a piece identical to one I owned, the police went in and investigated where it had come from. I have pictures of jewellery pieces after the last burglary.

Finally I would like a bunch of flowers as an apology for being on the receiving end of the woefully emotionally inept staff you are employing in front line customer service.