So why don't we call the police?

**Fragony** · 03-27-2007, 09:15

Or the cliniclowns?

Well this guy can tell you. As you know the PS3 has hit europe, at midnight the shops opened and people were lining up to grab there nice and shiny playstation. It is not unusual that these things atract those that like shiny but hate paying for it, it is just a matter of waiting untill a suffiently weak specimen leaves the store, hit him on the head and run of. Well and that happened. Poor guy stumbles into the shop, bleeding and all that, and what does a good shopkeeper do? Call the police of course! Not only that, he felt sorry for the guy and gave him a new ps3.

Ok, guess what happens next.

1) police catches the guy after a heroic chase
2) police catches fever and is even more useless then they ussualy are
3) police fines shopkeeper because he didn't ask permision to open shop at 12

Any dutchman will know the correct answer, how about you

**CountArach** · 03-27-2007, 09:22

Oh God... Assuming it is number 3... That is just aweful...

Fight the establishment!

**Fragony** · 03-27-2007, 09:33

Congrats

I heard some countries have a policeforce, here we have dissobedience-tax. I can rape an entire boychoir and win a two week holiday at the state-resorts, but never eat a croissant in the train if you know what's good for you

**BDC** · 03-27-2007, 09:40

Originally Posted by Fragony

Congrats

I heard some countries have a policeforce, here we have dissobedience-tax. I can rape an entire boychoir and win a two week holiday at the state-resorts, but never eat a croissant in the train if you know what's good for you

Damn right too. Those crumbs are hard to clean up, but the choir will be fine after mere decades of councilling.

**Adrian II** · 03-27-2007, 11:55

Never eat a croissant in The Netherlands tour court if you know what's good for you. And Italian boys' choirs are a lot more seductive. Maltese police will actually run after a robber, pity they can't afford ps3's over there. Ah, the grass is always greener...

*smacks Fragony*

**CountArach** · 03-27-2007, 09:42

Originally Posted by Fragony

I heard some countries have a policeforce, here we have dissobedience-tax. I can rape an entire boychoir and win a two week holiday at the state-resorts, but never eat a croissant in the train if you know what's good for you

*adds to list of things to do*

The croissant you sick minded people...

**Geoffrey S** · 03-27-2007, 11:04

Word. Also, never fart when being searched.

**Cronos Impera** · 03-27-2007, 11:25

Disobedience-tax? What is that?

**Husar** · 03-27-2007, 11:47

What a weird decision is that?
Sounds like they took the easy way out because sitting in their chairs all day long made them unable to chase a criminal.

Originally Posted by Fenring

Besides, the robbery shows one of the reasons why it isn't a good idea to have an open shop at night.

Robberies can also happen at daytime. The bad thing here is that robbers get away too often while policemen are busy following regulations and filling out forms. If the stolen things aren't worth a million, they often give up early anyway.

**Kralizec** · 03-27-2007, 11:35

Any but the most clueless of shop-owners know that there's pretty strict regulation here on when you can run your store. As far as I know there's nothing to suggest that the police made no effort to catch the robber.
A non-issue.

Besides, the robbery shows one of the reasons why it isn't a good idea to have an open shop at night.

**Andres** · 03-27-2007, 13:57

Originally Posted by Fragony

3) police fines shopkeeper because he didn't ask permision to open shop at 12

Well, it's not because A commits a robbery that B can open a shop without permission... Both are infractions.

As for priorities, it seems like the Belgian police force has the same priorities as the Dutch one...

I even have first-hand experience : a 50,00 € fine for driving 10 km's too fast on an empty highway on New Year's Eve

**Louis VI the Fat** · 03-27-2007, 14:21

Yearly, two million traffic accidents result in 120,000 deaths and 2.5 million injured people in Europe.

Damn right the police should clamp down on speeding and drunken driving. They're the number one cause of mortality for people under the age of 35.

I'd give it much, much higher priority. It's a carnage of such mind-bogglingly high numbers that it resembles a civil war between reckless men who think they have a God-given right to establish their machoness everywhere and everybody else.

[/rant]

**InsaneApache** · 03-27-2007, 14:28

Are these the Policemen you're on about?

**Andres** · 03-27-2007, 15:06

Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Yearly, two million traffic accidents result in 120,000 deaths and 2.5 million injured people in Europe.

Are they caused by speeding an sich or by reckless driving? There is a difference imo. I don't see how driving 10 km's too fast, at night, on an empty highway can cause any danger (and I wasn't drunk that night, it was before I went out, after the party, my wife drove, sober).

Off course, it's easier to catch somebody who is speeding than somebody who drives dangerous, i.e. passing somebody on the right, cut somebody on the highway, not keeping enough distance at moderate or high speed, using the mobile phone whilst driving, fatigue (which can result in falling asleep whilst driving) etc, etc...

I agree 100 % on the drunken driving though.

**Louis VI the Fat** · 03-27-2007, 17:36

Originally Posted by AndresTheCunning

Are they caused by speeding an sich or by reckless driving? There is a difference imo. I don't see how driving 10 km's too fast, at night, on an empty highway can cause any danger (and I wasn't drunk that night, it was before I went out, after the party, my wife drove, sober).

I don't know how the numbers break down into different categories. But I think the number of traffic accidents that are truly an 'accident', as in an unfortunate string of events that nobody could've prevented is rather small.

Imagine for a second, that all airbags were removed from cars. And in their place a steel spear would be attached, connected to the bumper and aimed at the heart of the driver. How many accidents caused by cars would occur under these circumstances? Quite a few less, I'd imagine.

Now, I realise that a reasonable flow of traffic is a necessity for a functioning society, but I think the balance is swung too towards indulging motorists right now. The most frustrating thing is, that what really is happening on the streets, is a war of macho terrorists against everybody else.

It is the biggest, most deadly war that's waged on the planet:

Road traffic accidents—the leading cause of death by injury and the tenth-leading cause of all deaths globally—now make up a surprisingly significant portion of the worldwide burden of ill-health. An estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year, and as many as 50 million are injured

With numbers ranging in the millions, you wonder if the invention of mororised transport isn't going to have an evolutionary effect. Misplaced bravoura and testosteron may well exterminate its proponents.

I do not know your driving style, Andres. Maybe you're a respectful, safe driver. And I understand your frustration with getting this ticket.
There is one thing though: when a road appears empty, usually it turns out it was indeed. But it's also true that most who've caused an accident were also quite convinced that the road was clear.

/ Sorry for hijacking this thread. It is simply one of my pet peeves. Too often I've heard that the police should prioritise and be less concerned with writing traffic tickets, and that they should fight real crime instead of motorists. When, in my book, traffic violations are far more important than petty theft.

**Adrian II** · 03-27-2007, 17:43

Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

The most frustrating thing is, that what really is happening on the streets, is a war of macho terrorists against everybody else.

Dear Louis, are you advocating a war on motorism?

**Crazed Rabbit** · 03-27-2007, 15:05

Originally Posted by AndresTheCunning

Well, it's not because A commits a robbery that B can open a shop without permission... Both are infractions.

As for priorities, it seems like the Belgian police force has the same priorities as the Dutch one...

I even have first-hand experience : a 50,00 € fine for driving 10 km's too fast on an empty highway on New Year's Eve

Is that a 50 euro fine for going 6mph over? Sheesh! I guess they needs to pays for theirs donuts.

Here in the US, speeds are generally set too low on roads in the country, leading to rampant speeding often unchecked by cops. Of course, tis not the speeders so much as idiots at intersections you need to worry about.

Crazed Rabbit

**Csargo** · 03-27-2007, 20:15

Originally Posted by AndresTheCunning

Well, it's not because A commits a robbery that B can open a shop without permission... Both are infractions.

As for priorities, it seems like the Belgian police force has the same priorities as the Dutch one...

I even have first-hand experience : a 50,00 € fine for driving 10 km's too fast on an empty highway on New Year's Eve

Hard to believe he wasn't sleeping Andres.