Howard Crackle

When I had a mobile phone snatched by a biker, I gave the police precise GPS details of its two UK locations, including Google maps pictures of front doors. The police refused to go to the addresses or investigate. This was maddening. The officers said they were not allowed to act on GPS locational data - and also that there are so many street crimes that they can’t cope. But they did want to visit me to take a pointless statement and offer me victim support, when what I actually wanted was my phone back. It is now in Algeria. The police are significantly under-resourced but there is also an issue about how the existing resources are being deployed. The Home Secretary says she will give the police the power to act on location data. But it is unclear when this will happen, and why the police can’t even now simply go to a property and knock on a door as a warning to the thieves that they are being watched. And as for the failure to use cctv images, don’t get me started. Of course thefts and crimes such as the one I experienced are trivial compared to many that go unsolved. Which is why what is reported below will resonate widely. PS I am not being funny but I thought the most counter-intuitive aspect of the Louise Haigh case is that a decade ago the police took an interest in where her phone might be