Unhappy with police response to vandalism

Vincent Sweeney, of Leagrave, is unhappy that the police did not come out to see him and collect the CCTV footage he had of the vehicle being vandalised at the weekend.

He said: “I caught it on CCTV, they smashed up the windows, the van was parked at the back of my house. It happened Friday night, I was away, when I returned on Sunday I called 999. When they eventually called me back they asked me to tell them what happened over the phone, I said no they had to come and see me and get the CCTV.

“When I complained about the response to the office they said they had tried to call me for the statement but I had hung up, I did because I want them to come and see me and get it. I am unhappy with what has happened and what if these kids now think they can get away with more serious crimes.”

A spokesman for Beds police said: “ We prioritise our resources based on what risk there is to life, whether the crime is still in progress, and the type of offence that has taken place and resources are allocated accordingly. In this case as there was no immediate threat to the victim, response officers were not deployed. In cases like this, our Crime Bureau would complete a crime report with the victim over the phone. Where a victim has CCTV for a crime such as vandalism, we would arrange for a CCTV pack to be sent to them, and ask them to complete it and return it along with the CCTV footage. Asking the victim to supply CCTV in this way instead of sending officers to collect it means our officers are able to use their time more efficiently to tackle higher level of crime”.

Call 101 with any info.