I seriously wonder how many of you really understand what the police have to do to get a result. I'm not talking traffic violations here or parking tickets. You regard the people you see walking around in uniform as 'the police'.
In inner city areas, where drug dealing is rife and murder commonplace, the specialist units and the CID have to resort to all kinds of distasteful tactics to put the bad man away. No doubt, if made public, these tactics would offend the sense of 'fairness' of quite a few ordinary, law-abiding folk. But we live in a sophisticated world and, imo, the ends have got to justify the means to a certain extent.
If you report Joe Bloggs for dealing and he isn't nicked within five minutes, it's probably because he's way down the chain and justice is best served by leaving him exactly where he is. Similarly, if you waste a police officers time with very low-level violations, he will have less time to deal with the stuff that really matters.
I know that the things that matter most to all of us is the stuff going on on our street. I also know that people will say that more officers on the beat,dealing with minor transgressions, would make us all feel safer. But you have to be realist here. Resources are finite. Criminals are becoming more reckless (because of the penalties meted out, but that's a different thread) and more clever and decisions have to be taken on where the money is best targetted.
I know it's hard, but life is hard, and I cant see it getting any easier.