Crime on the ladder

I recently witnessed some criminal behaviour on one of the ladder roads ... I won't give details but let's say petty crime certainly nothing violent etc. but not a victimless crime either.

I did hesitate a bit ("the police have bigger priorities", "by the time they get here he'll have gone and they'll never catch him", "even if they catch him they'll let him off with a caution" etc.) but I phoned 999 to report it anyway.

The 999 call-handler took my description (probably quite accurate in terms of colour of clothes, height, hair-colour, etc. as I could still see the man while making the call) and asked if I wanted an incident number - thanks but no, you can take it from here! I honestly thought I'd hear nothing more.

Imagine my surprise when less than 5 minutes later a PC phones me back! To say they have "apprehended the suspect" and would I mind giving a written statement...

OK, I give a statement and chat to the PC. It turns out:

- the number of incidents in the area has been relatively high recently so there are PCs on standby and dedicated to responding as quickly as possible to this sort of report (see above, they must have been on the scene in less than 5 minutes). Interestingly this includes daylight hours - everyone assume crimes are committed after dark but many burglaries and other crimes happen in broad daylight (presumably after many people have gone to work).

- crime is relatively high but the police think that probably 70% of the crime in this area is committed by maybe 10 people - but they need 999 reports, statements, evidence to arrest and convict them.

- the man they arrested on this occasion was "known to the police" - probably one of the 10 people as mentioned above. String of past offences, possibly in breach of parole. In other words however petty the crime he probably won't get off with a caution this time.

I'm not sure what will happen next - the PC said I would be informed of the outcome.

I'm just posting this to (a) encourage everyone to report if they are victims of crime, even stuff that may seem petty, as the more reports the police get the more resources they will put into responding to it and (b) encourage you to report as soon as possible if you witness crime or even suspicious behaviour, you might initially think like I did that it would be a waste of time, but the police could respond a lot quicker than you think!

Cheers