This is a genuine complaint to Greenock Police Force from an angry member of the public. A true email sent to the force, lengthy but brilliantly written.....
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Dear Sir/Madam/Automated telephone answering service,
Having spent the past twenty minutes waiting for someone at Greenock policestation to pick up a telephone I have decided to abandon the idea and try e-mailing you instead.
Perhaps you would be so kind as to pass this message on to your colleaguesin Greenock , by means of smoke signal, carrier pigeon or Ouija board.
As I'm writing this e-mail there are eleven failed medical experiments (Ithink you call them youths) in Mathie Crescent, which is just off Mathie Road in Gourock.
Six of them seem happy enough to play a game which involves kicking afootball against an iron gate with the force of a meteorite. This causes an earth shattering CLANG! which rings throughout the entirebuilding.This game is now in its third week and as I am unsure how the scoring systemworks, I have no idea if it will end any time soon.
The remaining five failed-abortions are happily rummaging through severalbags of rubbish and items of furniture that someone has so thoughtfully dumped beside the wheelie bins. One of them has found a saw and is setting about a discarded chair like abeaver on ecstasy pills.
I fear that it's only a matter of time before they turn their limitedattention to the caravan gas bottle that is lying on its side between thetwo bins.If they could be relied on to only blow their own arms and legs off then Iwould happily leave them to it. I would even go so far as to lend them the matches.Unfortunately they are far more likely to blow up half the street with themand I've just finished decorating the kitchen.
What I suggest is this - after replying to this e-mail with worthlessassurances that the matter is being looked into and will be dealt with, whynot leave it until the one night of the year (probably bath night) whenthere are no mutants around then drive up the street in a Panda car beforedoing a three point turn and disappearing again. This will of course serve no other purpose than to remind us what policemenactually look like.
I trust that when I take a claw hammer to the skull of one of thesethrowbacks you'll do me the same courtesy of giving me a four month head start before coming to arrest me.
I remain your obedient servant
???????
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Mr ??????,
I have read your e-mail and understand your frustration at the problemscaused by youths playing in the area and the problems you have encountered in trying to contact the police.
As the Community Beat Officer for your street I would like to extend anoffer of discussing the matter fully with you.Should you wish to discuss the matter, please provide contact details(address / telephone number) and when may be suitable.
Regards
PC ???????
Community Beat Officer
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Dear PC ???????
First of all I would like to thank you for the speedy response to myoriginal e-mail.
16 hours and 38 minutes must be a personal record for Greenock Police Station,and rest assured that I will forward these details to Norris McWhirter for inclusion in his next Guinness book.
Secondly I was delighted to hear that our street has its own Community BeatOfficer.
May I be the first to congratulate you on your covert skills? In the five or so years I have lived in Mathie Crescent , I have never seenyou. Do you hide up a tree or have you gone deep undercover and infiltrated thegang itself? Are you the one with the acne and the moustache on his forehead or the onewith a chin like a wash hand basin? It's surely only a matter of time before you are head-hunted by MI5 to look for Osama.
Whilst I realise that there may be far more serious crimes taking place inGreenock, such as smoking in a public place or being Christian without due care and attention, is it too much to ask for a policeman to explain (using wordsof no more than two syllables at a time) to these ****s that they might want to play their strange football game elsewhere?
The pitch on Larkfield Road or the one at Battery Park are both withinspitting distance, as is the bottom of the Greenock Dock, the latter being the preferred option especially if the tide is in.
Should you wish to discuss these matters further you should feel free tocontact me on . If after 25 minutes I have still failed to answer, I'll buy you a large one in Monty's Pub.
Regards
?????????
P.S If you think that this is sarcasm, think yourself lucky that you don't work for the sewerage department with whom I am also in contact !!!
