I went into town over the weekend and was kind of shocked to find that the place was absolutely crawling with police. I mean ‘more policemen (and also, presumably policewomen) than I’ve ever seen in one place ever before in my whole life‘ kind of crawling.
I saw the first couple of patrol cars right up at the Magistrate’s Court, which of course isn’t a particular surprise, because whenever they have prisoners brought in from remand centres to appear before the Beak, the security is always high.
Then I spotted a ’secure holding cell’ van plus an ordinary police van in Cathedral Square, and thought maybe the police had been holding an open day or something - you know, like the recruitment drives the armed forces have sometimes in town centres, complete with uniformed members of the army, or air force (not much call for the navy this far inland) and those large touring exhibition trailers.
But I was headed for the market right at the other end of town, and as I drew near, I was amazed to see about half a dozen mini-buses, crammed to the gills with police officers in yellow vests, plus three or four of those manically barking estate wagons that pass for K9 units these days.
There were vans and minibuses in side streets, noses pointing onto the main road, there were dark blue police transport buses parked on the side of the road, and more headed up the street towards me - and there was a sizeable knot of yellow-jacketed uniforms huddled together on the pavement outside Tesco, all looking over at the other side of the street.
I took a few pictures, and no-one arrested me, so I headed round the back of Tesco, to the market, and did my shopping, and they were all still there when I got back.
What on earth was happening? There aren’t really any high street banks anymore - well, okay, there are one or two, but not down this end of town - so it wasn’t likely to be an armed robbery. It could perhaps be a hostage situation? Maybe some bastard had holed himself up in the City Library, with six young mothers plus their assorted offspring and a sawn-off shotgun?
Or - here’s an idea - maybe they’d discovered a terrorist plot to blown up the city centre, and were about to swoop on a band of desperate ruffians once they’d all plucked up the necessary courage?
Or perhaps there was a drug factory in the shop on the corner?
Or three hundred illegal immigrants in a stolen lorry, all armed to the teeth with poisoned daggers, Kalashnikovs, petrol-driven chainsaws and cheap perfume?
No. None of the above. Nothing so exciting!
When I approached a young officer (who looked about fourteen years old, by the way), and asked him what was going on, this is what he said:
‘It’s Leeds United. They’re playing Peterborough this afternoon, and they’ve brought a few thousand fans with them’.
Sheesh. And I never knew that was a crime.
So, what do you say, folks? Is this kind of enormous pre-emptive operation a good idea, or a complete waste of precious police time?
I know what I think.
Typical policing levels for our travelling fans I’m afraid and given our ‘previous’ as they say, it’s hard to say otherwise.
Our away games are usually played at noon or even earlier to try and ensure less liklihood of trouble from drunken fans.
All very sad.
(thank you for not mentioning the result !)
Silverbacks last blog post..Meat Is Just So Fresh Here.
I don’t know about all that (I assume you’re talking about soccer??), but I do know that you sure do have brightly colored police vans and cars!!
How do you not get a headache looking at them?
Angis last blog post..Friday Freak Show: I Heart Brainless Idiots
I would have thought a major crime did go down or was about to go down…. or we had been invaded somehow if I saw THAT MUCH police activity any where near my home.
Wow.
Cool photos though….
meleah rebeccahs last blog post..I Need To Know
Well, my first thought was that they opened up a new Dunkin Donuts in the middle of your town….
Mr. Nighttimes last blog post..The would-be-Empress has no clothes.
We used to live very close to Gillingham Football grounds and every Saturday the shopping area would start to fill up with police. That was always the sign for shoppers to make their way home as quickly as they could. Shops would all close and shutters would go up. It is very sad, and I’m afraid my answer would be to ban the sport!!
All this trouble has made me hate football. I think it’s sad, as I saw Arsenal play when I was young, and it was so much fun. Personally, I don’t consider football as a sport any more. Not in the true sense of the word.
You always find posts that start me off being Victor Meldrew ;O)
Babs - beetles last blog post..Only Mo would do it!
Haha my father used to say ‘you know you’re getting old when the policemen look younger than you!” I can’t say I blame them, I remember watching a Luton/Chelsea game years ago and the damage done by Chelsea fans to Luton town centre after the game was palpable. I’m never sure whether a massive police presence is a deterrent or a provacation. I’d have put them in the stands in plain clothes! Or you could stop serving alcohol and deny entry to intoxicated persons!
Bainos last blog post..Patagonian Compromise
Good grief! All that for a game!? Do you guys get that serious over football? Here it’s just an excuse to eat and drink and get a little bit fatter.
Peace - D
RiverPoets last blog post..The Ingenuity of my Men
Silverback - Yep, very sad. And I really don’t understand it. They must just be spoiling for a fight no matter what the cause.
I’ve been to a Raiders Vs Broncos game in the Coliseum in LA, and not only a grudge game but in a rough area. I remember seeing a couple of mounted police at the ‘Black Hole’ end of the field, and half a dozen police cars lined up outside, but absolutely no trouble at all. And one of my sons was in a Broncos’ shirt! He said they went a bit quiet in the bar when he walked in, but they were very good natured.
Surely that’s what it’s supposed to be like?
And of course I wouldn’t give away the score!
Angi - Yes, soccer. I only remember hearing about one incident at an American Football game - it was the Cleveland Browns, I think, people were starting to throw beer bottles onto the field. An official got hit, and one of the players, and they just upped and walked back into the locker rooms. Good for them!
Yeah, they are bright, aren’t they? But they only give you a headache when they put the sirens on.
Meleah - I know! I was convinced something major was up! I don’t go into town very often on a Saturday, and the last time I did on a game day, clearly Peterborough United weren’t in the Premier League! There were policemen hanging around, but nothing like this number!
Mr N - You know what? I didn’t even think of that! LOL!
Babs - Do you remember a while back they really thought they’d cracked it? There was a huge reduction in violence. So sad that it seems to have started up again.
Victor Meldrew! Funny! I don’t see you that way.
thought maybe Bob T Bear had locked himself in Tescos hahahalove Sandy
sandys last blog post..Wake me when it’s Monday !!!!
Baino - Luton had some of the worst fans at one time. They did try to take things in hand though, in fact I believe the move to stamp out violence was started by them. I think they just banned people for life and started to try to encourage families. OH thinks that they actually played a few games with empty stands - just the teams on the field and no audience.
I’m inclined to think a huge police presence is almost a provocation. It gives thugs a target, sadly. I dont’ know what the answer is.
River Poet - Yes, sadly some do get that serious over football, although I’m sure some are ‘professional thugs’ who just go the game for an excuse to kick a few heads.
It’s taken very seriously by many people though, even if they never go to a game. An awful lot of people watch on TV. Coverage is pretty much wall-to-wall in the footie season.
Sandy - Bob T Bear? You mean the blogger?
No, he wasn’t in Tescos. I know, cos I went in there for a loaf of bread.
Wow, I would tend to think that much police presence would sort of be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don’t know any sporting events that get that bad here, not even when hated rivals play each other. If you’ve been to a Broncos / Raiders game, you’ve already seen about as bad as it gets. (Not only are they division rivals, but the Broncos coach has never forgiven the Raiders owner for firing him and cheating him out of some salary._
Ruth Hull Chatliens last blog post..Seeds Among Thorns
No offense, soccer bores the snot out of me…I like “real” football (in the American sense) MUCH better!
I always forget your sirens sound different…
Angis last blog post..Stupid Politicians And The Stupid Things They Stupidly Do
I guessed what this was about as soon as I saw the photos! It was just the same here when Leeds came last season. Talk about over reaction by the police. Great for their overtime…lots of sitting around doing sod all and getting paid extra for it.
J.Js last blog post..They all had the time of their life….
Well I went to the actual game and walked past the same police on my route to the ground.
The whole game and day passed without any real incidents from the fans, so either the police did their job, or the Leeds fans are not really that bad. Most of the Leeds fans I talked to seem to be good natured, which seems to be the way these days, I used to watch Manchester City 20 years ago when I was at Uni, and it was a lot more agressive then.
And no one mentioned that the POSH won 2-0
My God - its really exciting in Peterborough - particularly in your imagination! Maybe you shouldn’t have questioned the baby policeman - I liked some of your ideas better!!!
Kates last blog post..Sunday dinner???? Make mine a pie!
Oh, I believe it, Jay. I lived in Edinburgh for about a year, and became familiar with the reputation of the soccor fan. My Scottish girlfriend’s husband and friends got so drunk, they climbed the pole to steal the Scottish flag;
tho we’ve had our share of boisterous behavior at sports bars here!
petra michelles last blog post..Sharing Popcorn with God
*laughing* …soccer… Where’s my earl grey?
petra michelles last blog post..Sharing Popcorn with God
Ruth - Yes, I heard about that! Al Davis is infamous, is he not?
And that would be my concern, that the massive police presence would anger some fans and become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Angi - No offence taken - soccer bores the snot out of me too! Give me American Football any day!
JJ - Exactly! It would bore me to stand around all day doing nothing, but they looked quite happy. I guess many were Specials, and it might seem quite exciting to them. LOL!
Drew - Good game was it?
I’m inclined to think the fans aren’t so black as they’re painted, but what do I know? I never go to soccer games. I’ve never felt unsafe in Peterborough on game days though.
Kate - LOL! Well, I think I prefer the lack of drama to any of my suggestions, thanks!
Petra - Ah well, you know what it’s like then - though if I remember rightly, Scottish fans had a terrible reputation at one time. No idea what they’re like now.
Boisterous behaviour is one thing - stabbings, and kicking of heads is quite another.
Yeah…you had every right to be a little *freaked* out. Goodness!
Now if that had happened here, I’d have thought the local doughnut store was having a bit sale!!
Oops… BIG sale…
Chicken and egg….we don’t have the levels of football hooliganism we used to….but if the police backed off the level of thuggery would soon return to it’s old levels. I say just ban football and save the waste of police time and money! I doubt that would be a common opinion tho! ;o)
gemmaks last blog post..Best weekends and best friends!
Meleah - ‘Goodness’ is about what I thought myself!
Jeannine - LOL! Doughnut sale! Perhaps I should have said that to the young policeman - ‘Is it a doughnut sale?’
But would I have escaped the handcuffs … ?
Gemma - I agree, we wouldn’t know for sure unless we withdrew all the police and then we might regret it, I guess.
I think we should bring back the stocks and supply the public with rotten fruit.
How funny!
I was just talking today with one of our security guards and he told me that with the new security procedures in place, they were now telling new employees that if there was ever an incident of someone shooting people outside, they should never pull the fire alarm. I thought “Pull the fire alarm? But that sends everyone outside!” :O
Apparently people think of these, seriously non-common sense things, and it has to be brought up. So extreme security for a game? Yeah, I’m completely unsurprised.
JTs last blog post..It’s just another manic Monday
JT - Well, your story doesn’t surprise me, either. The things people think up to cope with ordinary situations that we’ve been coping with perfectly well all these years … the mind boggles.
I think it’s all down to litigation. Someone, somewhere, fell down a step because they were scared by the fire alarm going off, or spilled hot coffee on themselves, or walked into a door. You wait till someone gets trapped somewhere and hurt because the alarm didn’t go off and they were relying on the security personnel to get everyone out. Then they’ll issue new instructions.
Or would that be ‘old’ instructions?
Wow, here’s hoping a REAL crime wasn’t happening somewhere else…. talk about a prime time to hit a bank.
Maureens last blog post..I’m Pessimistically Optimistic
Maureen - Exactly what I thought myself!