"... and they are not closed yet"
Not officially. But there isn't a single cop based in our local station now, and this has been widely reported on local forums and sites calling (quite rightly) for a review. however, media stories that they will be closing are probably more likely to be ned information source.
but there is a difference in attitude of ne'erdowells knowing there are no cops based nearby. They'd probably have got away with it before anyway, but they're more likely to actually try their luck if they think there aren't cops about where before there might have been.
Strangest comment was someone on Twitter explaining, after posting a link to my photoblog after the event, that posting online about going away places can indicate the house will be empty (only I was out yesterday, Mel was still home) and that if you wakl and cycle from home then you're more likely to know your neighbours than if you drove by in a car (erm... I do and I do). Besides, these guys aren't that organised, it's opportunistic stuff.
Garage windows now have chicken wire behind them; there are a couple of new tower bolts on the door as well, but getting beefier versions tonight. The biggest impact is psychological though - one break-in is a freak occurence, but twice and it starts to eat at you. Mel's already indicated she doesn't want to be left alone in the house, and various possible entry points (no matter how improbable, like a tiny skylight in the roof) have to be bolstered (locks and so on as well to be purchased tonight).
It really doesn't matter that nothing was taken this time if you start to feel unsafe in your own home.
And there's one forensics unit now in our fabulous unified force. Which means they take email notifications from incidents, check through them each morning, then work out which ones to go t. The cops themselves have been 'trained' in basic forensics, i.e. to check a scene of a crime and work out if there would be useful forensics or not. They've been told not to overload the forensics email system. Our garage has been declared (twice now) as a forensics no-show (one of the cops got excited when seeing blood on an old rag in the garage, but that was from me drilling my finger on Saturday night...).
Meanwhile the neds carry on, knowing they can get away with it, and even if they are caught they actually admit to the crimes (usually with a smile and a laugh), get sent to the juvenile reporter, and... Well, that's anyone's guess. They basically don't care. There's little anyone can do in the face of such apathy towards the system. Turns out on the road a few minutes from us a couple of bikes were taken from a garage 3 or 4 weeks ago, and a taxi driver who lives on the street mentioned in passing that his cab was broken into a few weeks back.
It's not necessarily causation, but definitely correlation, but the thefts of all sorts in Porty and Duddingston seem to have gone up alongside all the reports of the local station closing. I've lived in the same house for over five years, which is long enough to see one hell of a spike in recent months.
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