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can a pcso help?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Home, Law & Money
Had a bit of an incident on Saturday when out with my boyfriend meeting my uni friends at the train station. A group passed us as we were walking back from the train station and shouted something rude about my boyfriend's height. I automatically turned my head to see where the noise was coming from and at that moment another group walked past because the girl shouted 'Look at me like that again I'll f-ing glass you'. My boyfriend assumed they were speaking to him so answered back and it became obvious she was directing it at me. 'I'm gonna f-ing glass her in the face'.

So that was nice.

Returned to train station that evening because my uni friends were heading home and of course she was there sitting on the bench with her friend on the same platform we needed to wait on. Stood a distance away and of course she recognised me 'Oi shorty' etc. Started asking stupid questions like they do but I wasn't answering so my boyfriend and uni friend to stop her coming over kept convo going by just giving her one word answers. She said if my boyfriend was cheeky she was gonna 'f-ing slap me' and 'I wouldnt want to mess your pretty face up anymore than it is'. Yeah I know doesn't make sense.

I'm not used to this. I'm tiny, have never been in a fight. I'm a wuss (gentle??) It's really shaken me up because everytime my boyfriend comes back from work on the train. She's there. Between 6-7pm- she's there. Last time with 8 other friends male and female. She recognises him because she just stares but doesn't say anything. I got the bus back today.

My mum and friend reckon I should report it to the local PCSO. But what can they do? Sure she's threatened me twice, and made it clear she remembers us but she hasn't hurt me yet. Oh and the train station is like a ghost station. It's completely unmanned. The only way for me to leave the train station is over the bridge and walking past the bench that they sit on.

opinions? again it has shaken me up. not used to this.

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Do you know why she's sitting there at the same time on the same days? Is she just looking to cause trouble? I don't think the police would do much (regardless of rank) but you could still report you've had abuse in the past and its a reoccurring problem. That way, if she ever decides to be more than gobby, you have records of it. I know its not the best solution but the police would normally just move somebody along, or give them a quick chat. But since the train station is unmanned its probably not a priority. Unless others have complained about her before.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    JavaKrypt wrote: »
    Do you know why she's sitting there at the same time on the same days? Is she just looking to cause trouble? I don't think the police would do much (regardless of rank) but you could still report you've had abuse in the past and its a reoccurring problem. That way, if she ever decides to be more than gobby, you have records of it. I know its not the best solution but the police would normally just move somebody along, or give them a quick chat. But since the train station is unmanned its probably not a priority. Unless others have complained about her before.

    Yeah it seems to be at the same times everyday because my boyfriend keeps seeing her there with her friends. They just seem to hang out there. I'm just angry because it's made my boyfriend feel protective over me that he wants to be there with me each time. I was fine getting the train home in the dark and walking back around the corner and now I'm not. I only thought of the local PCSO because I heard they were there to tackle anti-social behaviour. A record of it is a good idea.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey clementine, this sounds like a really horrible situation and of course you don't want to feel unsafe in your own neighbourhood :no: You don't deserve to be threatened like that at all.

    There's some useful info on Directgov on how to deal with anti-social behaviour: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/crimejusticeandthelaw/crimeprevention/dg_4001652

    It certainly includes what you've described - these are the main points:
    You can:

    *talk to your neighbours to find out if they're affected as well
    *if you feel comfortable doing so talk to the person causing the problem; they may not realise how it is affecting you
    *report the problem to your local council's anti-social behaviour coordinator
    *call your police force's non-emergency number
    *tell your landlord or residents’ association about the situation
    *contact your local neighbourhood policing team, or attend one of their regular meetings

    It doesn't sound like the talking to her option would work but the others are worth thinking about.

    It's good you have people looking out for you, if you and your boyfriend can stick together for a while and do your best to ignore her, hopefully she'll get bored eventually. It's lovely that he wants to protect you so why not let him for a while until you build your confidence back up.

    Let us know how you get on if you do decide to report it. Big hugs and stay strong!

    *hug*
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    May as well talk to the local PCSO about it. Honestly though, the police generally don't bother themselves unless there's a crime with a decent amount of evidence - these days even if you are assaulted or burgled they generally just give you a crime reference number. I don't know why, but my experience with police has been massively underwhelming.

    But definitely try anyway, you might get lucky and have a really nice PCSO who can help :) they could get in touch with station management and say there's been complaints of anti-social behaviour late at night so you need to have security guards late in the evenings or something... may as well try.

    Hope you get it sorted, I know how horrible intimidation can be! x
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It depends on the force area you live in, some PCSOs in some areas have very little authority, others including myself can make arrests and issue fines to people who behave like they did above.

    Technically the people above have at east committed a Section 5 public order offence by causing harassment/alarm/distress/disturbance to another person. Now whilst I wouldn't just go and issue fines based just on what you've said, the very least I'd do is attempt to identify them, warn them, and then keep an eye on them and try and witness the offence myself. There are also other powers available in order to remove them from the area.

    If at any point they put you in fear of your safety it becomes a Section 4 offence (putting someone in fear of violence) which is more serious. Whilst a PCSO (depending on area) could temporarily detain a person they saw committing the offence, it would have to be dealt with by a PC.

    I'd suggest reporting it, these people sound like idiots who are trying their best to make the lives of law abiding citizens miserable.


    All of the above really does depend on where you live. For instance, ShyBoy's example of burglary victims not being visited, in my force if you call us to say you've been burgled you get a visit within an hour, if not sooner. Some forces provide an absolutely shocking service, others are really good. Luck of the draw I'm afraid.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    All of the above really does depend on where you live. For instance, ShyBoy's example of burglary victims not being visited, in my force if you call us to say you've been burgled you get a visit within an hour, if not sooner. Some forces provide an absolutely shocking service, others are really good. Luck of the draw I'm afraid.

    They have visited I should be fair - but Leicestershire Police took 72 hours and was just a crime number, North Yorkshire police was the next day (reported 4pm, came lunchtime next day) and again just a crime number - he did take a cursory look at the entry point but just said 'yea they've just forced it off, wont get any fingerprints off that' and they take a statement / list of the stolen goods, which we just got back on insurance. Was all pretty easy.

    Just never seems a genuine effort to actually catch the bad guys but maybe it's because the cynical part of them knows that in 9 out of 10 cases they don't have much of a chance unless there is lots of good evidence left at the scene (e.g. CCTV / they leave their wallet behind).
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You should get a visit within an hour, CSI visit before the end of the day (it's upto the CSI tech to decide if there is any forensics, not the cop), house to house enquiries conducted by local PCSO, security/crime prevention visit by local PCSO (if you want it) and then you've got the behind the scenes stuff as well (trying to track down the goods, speaking to contacts e.t.c.)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thankyou for the replies :)

    i'm taking everyone's advice and reporting it. i emailed my local pcso this morning (no phone number available that i could see). i got an automated response back but it said that they will respond asap so just waiting on a reply. i don't want any action taken and i doubt they'd be able to anyway as she hasnt actually done anything other than threaten and i dont even know who she is. but i do want to ask him to log it so that if it does happen again or it escalates it can be dealt with. i think it'd be interesting to ask if this kinda thing happens a lot where i live. i have heard people say the area is rough but there are areas of every town that are 'rough'.

    i'm getting the bus back until i've spoken to the pcso and when i do get the train my boyfriend will be with me. it just scared me when my boyfriend said last time she was there with 8 friends and they all just stared at him. hmm.

    but i am now carrying my rape alarm! though i have doubts it'd do much because it sounds like a really loud car alarm and who is gonna come out of their house for that?

    and jo thanks too :) it has really knocked my confidence weirdly about being out and about by myself especially at night. but i'm heading to the local leisure centre tomorrow to see about yoga classes in a bid to calm myself down.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just an update: My local pcso came round today. The reason it took so long was because he had been on leave but I was in contact with another pcso during this time at the office. He seemed to have a good idea who this girl actually was and if it is who he thinks it is, he knows her mum and also knows that she doesn't want to get into any further trouble. He didn't tell me why but I can guess. He's also going to check out the CCTV at the train station. He said he couldnt promise anything but is going to speak to the people he thinks it is, see if they own up after mentioning the CCTV. But he said unfortunately a lot of girls round here just like an arguement and most likely wouldn't act on anything. But I'm to ring him again if anything else happens or if she threatens me again ring 999 on the spot.

    he was nice and didn't even mind when my kitten attacked his balls. bit embarassing but oh well
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    clementine_the_tangerine wrote: »
    Just an update: My local pcso came round today. The reason it took so long was because he had been on leave but I was in contact with another pcso during this time at the office. He seemed to have a good idea who this girl actually was and if it is who he thinks it is, he knows her mum and also knows that she doesn't want to get into any further trouble. He didn't tell me why but I can guess. He's also going to check out the CCTV at the train station. He said he couldnt promise anything but is going to speak to the people he thinks it is, see if they own up after mentioning the CCTV. But he said unfortunately a lot of girls round here just like an arguement and most likely wouldn't act on anything. But I'm to ring him again if anything else happens or if she threatens me again ring 999 on the spot.

    he was nice and didn't even mind when my kitten attacked his balls. bit embarassing but oh well

    That's really good.

    Kittens always do that sort of thing when you really don't want them to don't they?! Mine used to try to get in the handbag of the crisis team nurses. Kittehs are the best though!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    haha :D they seem attracted to 'the professionals' dont they? my mum's cat, when he was a kitten attacked my brother's social worker. he was sat there flicking his pen around while he was talking.. think he regretted it!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That sounds really promising! Glad you got a somewhat positive result in the end :) hopefully fingers crossed that girl won't be bothering you or your boyfriend again!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I get "attacked" by animals whenever I'm in uniform. I'm told it's the reflective strips on my uniform....?

    Anyway, I'm glad you had a good response.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kittens are cute! Sounds a bit akward though that they went for his balls! :lol:

    Really glad that they are helping you clementine_the_tangerine and thanks for the update.

    Yup, don't hesitate to dial 999 if you're ever in trouble - but hopefully you will never need to do this. Hope things get better for you now and let us know of any further progress. :)
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