Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Siege of Kobergrad
It's hard to recall in these humid, hot days, the horrors of the Winter 2012 & Spring 2013. I will go into this later. This sequel illuminates the absolute failure of the Tottenham Police. The Haringey Labour Party boasts of its success keeping Tottenham Police Station open 24/7; in fact there is no value in Tottenham Police Station being open 24/7 or at all. Tottenham Police Station is merely a magnet to incite rebellion and loony behaviour. Having a police station in Tottenham is the equivalent of the UK having a military base in e.g. Crossmaglen N.I. at the height of the troubles. Further, it is from the Tottenham Police Station that the dreaded CO19 group fanned out, about two years ago, apparently with instructions to kill Mark Duggan, a young father who had no criminal record and was simply driving down the road near my house. The failure to arrest anyone for his murder reminds me too of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, where again no criminal prosecution was launched, (apart from a health & safety case: how pathetic.)
All this is by the way to me describing my experiences at Tottenham Police Station when I tried to report a crime. The Siege was over but this was a sequel.
About 6 weeks ago there was a knock on the door and some gentlemen stood there claiming to be from a firm called "Piper". They said they had come to measure my door, as a preliminary to replacing it. They asked me if I had specified the type of door I wanted. I said I had, that I had filled in a form, but they said they hadn't received it. As they were finishing their measuring another man turned up.
The "Piper" men went off; the new arrival came inside the house, as the door was still open, and said he had some bad news for me. He said Homes for Haringey had discovered serious problems with my house - there was a humidity problem in the upper story and in the loft. He said I needed a dehumidifier to be installed by him which I could hire for a £500 returnable deposit. I said "no thanks" and he went. Before leaving he took my land line number.
About half an hour later someone claiming to represent "Piper" phoned. They said the door wouldn't fit, it had to be "planed down" and this would cost £300 and they would come for the money shortly. By this time I was getting irritated. I said I had not ordered a new door and did not intend to pay for one as I was quite happy with the one I'd got.
I should emphasize that "Piper" are bona fide agents for Homes for Haringey. Piper had promised me a new door months ago but it had never arrived, still hasn't arrived. Thinking over about these events I concluded I was probably targeted to be a victim of fraud.
The next evening I went to Tottenham Police Station to report a crime, in this case attempted fraud. There was 1 officer on duty who seemed extremely tired. When I told him about the incident he gave me a leaflet and told me I needed to go online to report it.
I'm afraid I haven't done so, because, if I go to a butcher to buy some meat and then the butcher refuses to sell me the meat on display but tells me instead to go to another butcher 500 yards away, I wouldn't buy anything. I did my duty as a citizen, I went to the Police, the Police at Tottenham merely tried to shuffle the responsibility away to a machine.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Tottenham Police Station is merely a magnet to incite rebellion and loony behaviour. Having a police station in Tottenham is the equivalent of the UK having a military base in e.g. Crossmaglen N.I. at the height of the troubles.
William, as a born and bred Crossmaglen man I appreciate the main point of your analogy. However, I take grave exception to one element of your comparison: No part of our rebellion against the military base's warlords [e.g. II Para, Marine 45 Commando, King's Own Scottish Borderers, or even our Welsh Guards cousins] could be construed as "loony behaviour". Just imagine Dad's Army had failed and Adolf had set up his military base on Duckett Common.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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William these fraudsters need to be stopped. The policeman on duty may have been tired but you shouldn't be put off. If you don't take it further, the fraudsters will get away with it and they may target some folk who will hand over the money demanded.
It's our duty to report crimes, partly to help protect our fellow citizens.
I also happen to believe that is our duty to report public institutions that may be failing. If the Regulators are also failing, we need to report those too. We need to keep on reporting and questioning until thing improve.
It behoves all of us.
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I understand your feeling that Tottenham Police Station is a waste of space or worse. It certainly wasted your shoe leather going there on this occasion and it seemed only to provide a focus for the anger and dissatisfaction which triggered the riot and looting following the killing of Mark Duggan.
Its horrible to think that perhaps elderly and vulnerable council tenants are at risk from someone like this and might be just paying up completely unaware they're being conned. I think Homes for Haringey should also be told so they can warn all their tenants whose homes are being refurbished to watch out.
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