West End Central Police Station is getting to see more of me recently.
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| Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Do Nothing! |
I went there last Friday to point out the cars parked full on the pavement in New Burlington Street
I decided a different approach was called for, so I ended up registering a complaint for which I got a number and a leaflet explaining what should follow.
For the rest of Friday evening nothing was done, in fact it got worse with scabs still parking full on the pavement and Taxi Rank, running their own rolling rank while touting. Clipboard Johnnies stood on the pavement, accompanied by touts, who in turn milled with the punters at all surrounding establishments.
I went back to Savile Row Police Station on Tuesday.
I was able to show them the extent of the problems caused by the touting and dangerous parking in New Burlington Street
This time, after some convincing, two Community Assistance Officers were sent to investigate.
Armed with big smiles and all of 5'2'' tall, they set out to deal with it.
To their credit they did manage to persuade several parked cars to move and by the time the officers reached the top of New Burlington Street
The two officers then returned to the Police Station 'mission accomplished', still armed with the smile. I watched with amazement as the touts immediately returned and parked back on the pavement still in the full view of those two 'mission FAILED' officers.
Last night, Thursday, I went back and the problem in
In the Police Station, I am told there is no one to deal with it at the moment. Outside the Station there are about ten parked Police cars but no Police Officers.
I was assured that the extent of the problem is well known to them and they will be dealt with in due course.
I was assured that the extent of the problem is well known to them and they will be dealt with in due course.
I can say here that the problem in
Police are often seen to drive/walk along this road and not take any interest or notice of the crime happening along their path. To my knowledge, many other Taxi drivers have complained to this Police Station with little or no result.
My own complaints there date to the time when I took photos of Rickshaws outside Hamleys and started a competition in Taxi called 'Who can spot more'?
Which was won by a photo showing 12 Rickshaws and a Horse and Cart?
Well, Savile Row Police, things are not well on your patch. In fact, things are bad, very bad. Public are at risk and Taxi Drivers are not happy.
My request to you is to do some proper pro-active policing and not hide behind empty or false promises.
We are watching you and judging you by your action and results.
....Simco
Before the shouts of Demo start appearing,Why should we lose 4 hrs pay just to be ignored,And lets be fair it dont inconvenience the Old Bill standing around does it,So what we need is something legal that inconveniences the Old Bill and also shows them,If they dont start doing thier job,we will keep this up until they do.As TAXI Drivers we are known for our honesty of handing things in that have been left in the back of the cab,So far we have used common sense,I mean hand in a say a laptop,But what about a dirty comb or a biro pen,Well we use a bit of common and just throw them,But if we stick to the rules,If its found in the cab it must be handed in,So thats what we should do,We all have old coats,shirts, gloves,etc that we dont want or need,So I reckon a quick trip to West End Central,with a big smile and a I found this one old shoe in the back of me cab,Can I have a reciept please,I would have chucked it but the law says I must hand it in,Only sticking to the law guv,Very soon the nick would be full of rubbish,And there would not be a thing they could do about it,You could always add sorry mate I know this rusty nail is of no use,but if I dont hand it in I am putting my bill on the line.Reciept please,It wont take them long to realise its easier to move the touts than it is to say have 100 items of lost property handed in everyday.It would even liven up every other nick,in case they are targetted next.
ReplyDeleteSimco is a one man, representative group styled caped crusader.
ReplyDeleteIf only there were more like him we would have a future
There ain't.... And we don't
If touts are about Simcoman will find you faster than a scabs sat nav ! Simcoman the Caped crusader Taxi drivers super hero,,,, your doing a great job simcoman ,,TC14
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, what do you expect
ReplyDeleteCharing cross police are worse they actively go out of their way to victimise taxi drivers as do the officers in fulham,Chelsea and earls Court. In fact most police officers wouldn't give a cabby the time of day.
They can't enforce the law properly as the courts can't handle the work they all ready get
I watched a police stop program last night where a driver taking two small kids to school was pull over for using a mobile while driving
In his car he had a collection of class B drugs and to top it, no insurance
He got a £100 fine and 6 points
That's less than I got driving over tower bridge at 28 mph
Taxi Ranks are not being looked after and enforced if any unauthorised vehicle parks on it. Rather than doing the job required by the relevant authority we just get excuses. The more we complain and demand the more time and effort is wasted on excuses.
ReplyDeleteThat's my impressio when dealing with anyone.
Simco
I like the idea of the lost property 'dump in' include rotten fruit, dead cats,LTDA Diaries and any other unwanted tut.
ReplyDeleteI am sure we could organise a queue and a TV crew to record the day in Savile Row, its humorous and gets the point over. Simco your the man!
What about that bloke driving around in the white CCTV car , maybe we could get a couple of retired cabbies to apply for the job and we could top their wages up .....
ReplyDeleteIMO,The Police,and authorities are safe in the knowledge,that if ever there is confrontation we will always back away,Not because we are scared,But we have to much to lose,The touts are safe in this knowledge as well thats why they invite confrontation.
ReplyDeleteWe have tried every peaceful solution only to be ignored.So what next???.
Within 5 years what is left of this trade,will be so dire,we just wont be able to earn enough to pay the bills,Homes will be reposessed,as will cabs,Marraiges will break up,Then the pressure cooker that is building will explode,and there will be blood on the streets.
Only then will the Police and authorities be forced to act.Is this really what anyone wants.
The only way I can see this being averted is if all of us act now,And get the balls "SIMCO" has,Maybe not confront but complain,Drive them mad,We have all had customers that push you to the limit,And you will do anything to get them out your cab,At times even knock money off the fare,You just want them out.So maybe theres the answer,In theory theres 25,000 complaints can be made everyday.And like west end central you will be ignored,But if you take the officers number,And then go even further,if no action is taken.make a complaint that has to be investigated,[after all your reporting a crime]They will soon get the message.Or why not do what we do now and sit back and leave it to someone else.I mean in a few years you will have plenty of time to sit back and wish you had acted.
A mini cab office in crickelwood broadway used to park their cars in the bus lane outside the galtymore , causing gridlock day and night , London transport crickelwood bus garage, made many complaints to the police as the the 32 and 16 buses were unable to use the bus lane and bus stop , you had to sit behind cars turning right in to chichelle rd, even the mighty London transport couldn't get the old bill to get their finger out 15 years ago....
ReplyDeleteLike Simco I get frustrated that I can't get on a rank because of illegally parked touts
ReplyDeleteSo lets pick a rank and try to get on it Just keep driving around a small block until you can "put on" Repeat this process for a different rank the next night and so on
Who's got the stomach to wait in a police station reception not knowing when you will get seen