Photo credit:
Moon Boots Gun attack on K2 bus.
The bus was turning in to Berrylands Road from Ewell Road in Surbiton when it came under fire from a pellet gun at about 5.15pm Friday.
One pellet slammed through a large side window, shattering the glass and showering an elderly woman with glass.
A passenger said the bus driver pulled over and hit his alarm but the police did not turn up for more than 40 minutes. By the time they arrived, another K2 bus passed the stop and most of the passengers left before they could be interviewed.
Read more:
Wimbledon Guardian 
Comments
i was on this bus and the police didnt take 40 mins they were there in like 25 mins, still a long time i know. the bus driver didnt even see the window untill i told him ( jack hollingsworth) i asked if they wanted a comment from me and my freinds but they said no and that we can go.
They had to do a Health and Safety audit before being allowed out into the real world and obviously a shooting would be deemed very hazardous to attend.
Police receive information over their radios from a central call centre. When the bus driver pressed his alarm, this alerts a TfL operator who interrogates the driver as to the problem. Assuming the driver was in his seat, his message would have been typed and passed via computer to either a Transport Operational Command Unit operator or a Central Communications Command (999) operator. Either of these police staff would have dealt with the information given to them, ranging from 1) criminal damage bus window, to 2) Firearms incident, shots fired at bus passengers. Given the information at 1, the response would be downgraded as a low-level crime (officers are tied-up with wife-beaters, drink drivers and drunken revellers in Kingston at that time)... or 2, ordered to wait at an RVP for armed officers to attend - probably from central London. Both mean long delays.
You'd be surprised how much time passes between an incident occurring and a beat officer actually being told about it. When they are, they will move heaven and earth to ensure they get to the scene of the crime in good time... Sometimes this means a police car crashing and (very, very rarely) officers or the public being injured or losing their lives. So, think about it before you criticize the officer on the street. They're doing their job as best they can. Lobby your MP to force the Government to value the police rather than erode their powers whilst piling more work and responsibility on them. Easy.
99% of officers would attend such an incident immediately, ignoring all health and safety concerns... but face the sack if it goes wrong. So what would you do?
Vote conservative
Further evidence of the shocking inability of local police to attend to problems in this area. As I have said elsewhere in this site, it seems to be well know to local residents that the often don't turn up when called to such incidents!
Nice. Burglaries are down, shootings on the increase.
Post new comment