My first post here after lurking for a little while. Please be gentle!
As described in my latest Blipfoto entry...
http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2757789
...I spotted and filmed a van driver cruising along Ferry Road yesterday morning with both hands off the wheel, head down, typing something into his iPhone.
Wingpig and Mr. Wilmington persuaded me to report to the police. So, last night I wrote a detailed description of the incident, uploaded the video to YouTube, grabbed some stills from the footage clearly identifying van and driver, and emailed it all off to LBP.
I received a reply this morning asking me to attend my local police station to report the incident. To cut a long story and the subsequent email correspondence short, it became clear that the only way to report such an incident is by visiting a station to provide a verbal witness statement and burning the footage onto DVD. An incident would only be formally recorded at that point; nothing I sent to the police by email will be logged or acted upon.
So I'm here wondering what others think. I'm convinced (not least due to previous experience) that visiting my local police station will achieve no more than wasting an hour of my life.
Has anyone here reported something in this way and had a successful outcome?
Would my time be better spent writing some letters to officials suggesting that processes be but in place so that these things can be reported electronically?
Or should I just get on with my life?