The Policeman's Blog

If the logo is anything to go by, then SOCA (Serious and Organised Crime Agency) should be a roaring success. As it happens I’ve got a couple of jobs that I’m writing up especially for SOCA, in the expectation that they’ll take them on. These are:

- A case of bullying at St John’s School in which the female IP has been sent abusive text messages from different pupils in different form years (ORGANISED). Mother is very upset and may well have to withdraw her child unless the bullying stops (SERIOUS).

- A theft of credit card and it’s subsequent use to the value of £2,000 in various locations around the country and the internet (ORGANISED). The IP is still receiving paperwork in relation to transactions he has never carried out (SERIOUS)

I don’t seriously expect SOCA to take on this work, I’m just making the point that SOCA is just the kind of thing that ambitious police officers love: surveillance, drugs, plain clothes, nice cars and serious villains. Unfortunately, it’s just the kind of thing that most victims of crime will never see the point of; all they want are a few more coppers on the streets as opposed to in the office. The Mail reported yesterday that 60% of muggings are not reported because the police aren't interested. Charles Clarke responded by saying, "Clearly we need to ensure that the service is equipped to deal with future challenges. This is why we have established a Serious Organised Crime Agency." I predict that while SOCA may, from time to time, put large amounts of guns and drugs on the table, it will have no interest in or effect on muggings.

One of the senior people in SOCA is going to be Lt Gen Sir Cedric Delves. Gen Delves fought in the Falklands with the SAS where he remained undetected for 10 days in an observation post overlooking Port Stanley behind enemy lines. This achievement will mean nothing in the British Police though, where many people have remained undetected for years in offices inside police stations.

On the bright side though, the rise of SOCA may provide some amusing anecdotes as IPs ring up to see how their particular case is progressing, only to find out it’s being investigated by me: “Oh, but I thought it would be dealt with by the serious crime people…”

Newtown custody on a Saturday night, over at The First Post. By the way, UK Cops has received almost £2,000 from the Sin City articles (chariddy, don’t like to talk about it…)