[R.Soper]

I worked for five years as a police officer in Scotland, and it is very interesting to hear some of the arguments on this "thread."

Everyone i know in the police in the UK are sick of the system, the political correctness, posotive descrimination (sorry, not allowed to call it that, its called "affirmitave action," though i can't see what the difference is,) and how it seems the offenders have all the "rights" these days, while the people who have had the misfortune to be on the recieving end of the criminals actions get shafted by the system. They then crucified in court by defence lawyers, many of whom are milkiing the legal aid system on behalf of their unemployed client. I worked in a very big city, and we did not have any time to help normal law abiding citizens, because we spend all our time dealing with the career criminals which the courts do not seem to want to lock up. We were at "the beck and call" of some sections of society (often known as the chav's,) who do not (and have never + have no intention of,) make any contribution in the way of taxes, who expect you to wipe their backsides for them, and then are the first to complain about you if they percieve they are not being treated like royalty. It was these same people who seemed to me to use the bulk of NHS resources, would be the people assaulting either police officers, or nurses in A&E on Fri / Sat night, and would never be away from the welfare office. This particular section of society does see "the dole" to be used as a stop gap, to help them out of a tight spot, they see it as a way of life, and this attitude is passed down through the generations, and they effectively become dependant on these handouts, as they forget how to go out and work for a living.

I will try to stop ranting now, but it is the end result of spending the last five years of trying to work with the system, seeing these people abuse the system at the cost of the rest of society, and having to take their sh!t. In the end i needed a break from it all, as i was getting rather bitter and twisted (you may have noticed i still am,) and so moved to the Cayman Islands on a career break for a couple of years. Interestingly here in the Cayman Islands it is the opposite. There is no income support, and as in the UK there ARE jobs out there, so it forces the undesirable sections of society out there to work and pay their own way, rather than using public resources by way of the dole. There is no free medical care, which i am not sure if i agree with, but once again it stops these people from making A&E, and the NHS system their "second home," (no more meathadone prescriptions.) There is also much less in the way of human rights, which once again i am not sure i agree with, because it does mean the system (or lack of it,) is open to abuse by law enforcement officers,) however the general consiquence of this is people are afraid to get on the wrong side of the law, as if they do they get locked up. This means (even taking into account Cayman is a small island,) there is much less crime, and what also helps is the courts have a much more "zero tolerance" approach to offendors. I am not an advocate of locking people up and then throwing away the key, but there has to be a balance between rehabilitation and some sense of justice having had taken place on behalf of the victim.

There you are, for those who have been bothered to read this far, i have finally got it off my chest! And for those who may critisize me fot being a bit "right wing," i am no less a product of the enviroment i had to work in for five years, than the "chav's" are a product of their enviroment, which they have had to be brought up, and live in. I promise to shut up now!