Stopped again.
- Thread starter Wayland
- Start date
The police man did actually say "We catch a lot of crooks coming out of Liverpool on this road".
I didn't think it would be wise to comment on that as I couldn't tell which side of the Mersey his accent came from. :tapedshut
I didn't think it would be wise to comment on that as I couldn't tell which side of the Mersey his accent came from. :tapedshut
That`s exactly it, ever since ships have docked in Liverpool it`s been one of the main UK hubs for illegal imports and exports. It always has and probably always will be.
I spent 3 happy years there and it`s got to be one of my favourite cities in the country. The majority of scousers are great people and second only to the Irish for their humour.
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I seriously don't think what comes through Hull or Harwich is any differant. I have had conversations with people that were involved in the importing and transport of illegal drugs. They would use police/customs profilling against them. A bunch of mostly black teenagers in chav mobile or rastas and hippies in a plain white van would drive near the mondeo with the nice middle age couple. The consignment would be in the mondeo that would would rarely get stopped as they would be to busy looking at the more obvious van or chav mobile. A punter i knew from working in casinos, Mafia Frank was only caught when he got stopped because his boot looked overloaded, he had over 100 kgs of cannibis resin, being transported from hull to stoke. He was quiet middle aged, driving a middle range not new car.
Yes, policemen in Liverpool do catch lots of crooks
Just like the police in Manchester, Birmingham, London etc. That's their job.Maybe I'm being overly defensive. I just think the idea that Liverpool is 'notorious' is something of a myth. Scousers are thieves yeh yeh ha ha. Crime figures in liverpool are better than the big city half an hour from where wayland was stopped.
Trying not to go on a rant but it's something that irks me and something I think is worth talking about.
I wonder if the fact that Liverpudlians have a unique accent that is only found in the city limits rather than the surrounding region (such as geordies, lancashire etc) has a bearing on it. I can't think of another city in the uk actually that has a distinctive accent that is peculiar to just the city. Maybe scousers are viewed with suspicion for this? I've been turned away from campsites for the sole reason that my accent betrayed my Liverpool origins. Site owners have actually said 'Scousers? No chance!' Where does this kind of prejudice come from? It makes you feel crap.
In fairness I don't think Liverpool has helped itself. A willingness to take the mick out of itself in the theatre and television with shows like Boys from the black stuff and Bread has left many people believing that the city is really like how it has been depicted.
As a result of this negativity about them and their city many liverpudlians feel somewhat isolated from the rest of their country. There is a banner held at one of the football grounds that says 'We are not english. We are scouse'. I don't think this helps but a lot people feel this way in liverpool. Would you not feel the same if your own country hated you?
Tried not to go on a rant.
Failed miserably.
I think most people who actually know Liverpudlians would agree with you.
I've known plenty and lived with one for a few years, great people, but the stereotype does stick, just as it does with the Vikings.
As is often the case, people don't let truth stand in the way of a good story.
I've known plenty and lived with one for a few years, great people, but the stereotype does stick, just as it does with the Vikings.
As is often the case, people don't let truth stand in the way of a good story.
The reputation is well founded. For this reason.
The peeps in the bad areas run round in gangs/crews whatever and each has its own territory. A few weeks ago someone interviewed some of them. They asked them if they signed on, they said no because the jobcentre was in another gangs territory and if they went there they would be shot, simple as. That is why crime is high 80% of the people who commit the crimes cannot get any money any other way. Its the same with jobs etc cant work because cant get to work without the very real chance of someone having a pop at them. Its gang culture and unavoidable if you live there unfortunately. Some other cities are the same just maybe not as infamous/notorious.
The peeps in the bad areas run round in gangs/crews whatever and each has its own territory. A few weeks ago someone interviewed some of them. They asked them if they signed on, they said no because the jobcentre was in another gangs territory and if they went there they would be shot, simple as. That is why crime is high 80% of the people who commit the crimes cannot get any money any other way. Its the same with jobs etc cant work because cant get to work without the very real chance of someone having a pop at them. Its gang culture and unavoidable if you live there unfortunately. Some other cities are the same just maybe not as infamous/notorious.
Xylaria's got a point. If all of the crooks conformed to the stereotype they'd be caught immediately, wouldn't they?
Saying that, last year I got offered a plasma tv at a motorway service station by two guys in a white panel van. I shopped him to the patrol car that came in 2 minutes later and they went off looking for them.
Saying that, last year I got offered a plasma tv at a motorway service station by two guys in a white panel van. I shopped him to the patrol car that came in 2 minutes later and they went off looking for them.
Not really HB.
Wayland's coppers were part of an experienced team and not your average high street plod.
As someone else pointed out, if they had found a 4" folder it would have been a wee bitty different.
Your first two sentences and your last sentence completely contradict each other. The reputation is well founded? Other cities are the same? So which is it?
Crime is a problem in all cities. It is hyped by the media in Liverpool's case because it fits the stereotype. You must know the media feed the people what they want to hear, right? It comforts people to hear of crime in Liverpool because it makes them feel better about the crime in their own area.
Yes all cities have crime but gang culture is more prevelant in some than others.
Places like Liverpool Nottingham Manchester and Birmingham have different criminal cultures to places like Leeds etc.
Yes the probs are just as bad in the other cities and the reputaion would be well deserved also, but they do not necessarily have the reputation that Liverpool does.
I did not contradict myself though maybe i didn't explain it as fully as i could
I'm trying to get to the bottom of WHY Liverpool has this reputation. I'm not denying it has a reputation.
Mancunians are not viewed the same as scousers, neither are people from nottingham, birmingham. Why do people prejudge scousers? I refer you to my second post for my theories.
Mancunians are not viewed the same as scousers, neither are people from nottingham, birmingham. Why do people prejudge scousers? I refer you to my second post for my theories.
I do not know why it has a bad rep only that it does. Something will have happened at some point to someone with influence in some way most probably.
Media hype?
Shambling Shaman
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I've only been stopped once (apart from walking home at three in the morning, which I consider normal).
It was in the days of currency restrictions under Wilson. I was living in Germany and had just popped over to pick up something. I was unshaven, dirty jeans etc. On handing back my passport on leaving the country, the passport officer said loudly, "Have a nice trip!". I thought that that was very nice and friendly, then three paces further two plain clothes asked me to step aside and demanded how much money I was carrying (limit was 50 quid in those days). So, it seems that the fuzz in those days were aware of the tricks that xylaria talked about.
I was shocked when the Met admitted that they targetted "blacks". Not only because it's an admission that they do racial profiling, but being a Londoner, it seemed so obviously brain-dead to me.
If the police have these weird profiles of criminals, it's no wonder they're giving bad advice to government. The problem with bad profiling is that it is self-fulfilling - one doesn't catch the others - one doesn't even know that a crime has been commited since so many "crimes" are no-victim crimes - and the rest of the real crimes just go as unsolved.
These no-victim laws are bad laws - we should join with the countryside movements and others and fight them.
BTW - I'm living in Belgium, and they discovered recently that they could get on very well without government - there was nothing but a caretaker administration for some months - and the country did splendidly! The early settlers in the North American colonies (Pennsylvania) refused to form a parliament despite their British Lords' demands (William Penn) since they knew they did not need governing.
But, as has been noted above, the media have an agenda to increase the general feeling that people need government - and strong government. When all you need are local laws decided by the community and enforced by their own elected police force who are answerable to (and paid by) the local community - and no one else.
OK - that was my rant
(we all need a good rant now and again - but not too often)
It was in the days of currency restrictions under Wilson. I was living in Germany and had just popped over to pick up something. I was unshaven, dirty jeans etc. On handing back my passport on leaving the country, the passport officer said loudly, "Have a nice trip!". I thought that that was very nice and friendly, then three paces further two plain clothes asked me to step aside and demanded how much money I was carrying (limit was 50 quid in those days). So, it seems that the fuzz in those days were aware of the tricks that xylaria talked about.
I was shocked when the Met admitted that they targetted "blacks". Not only because it's an admission that they do racial profiling, but being a Londoner, it seemed so obviously brain-dead to me.
If the police have these weird profiles of criminals, it's no wonder they're giving bad advice to government. The problem with bad profiling is that it is self-fulfilling - one doesn't catch the others - one doesn't even know that a crime has been commited since so many "crimes" are no-victim crimes - and the rest of the real crimes just go as unsolved.
These no-victim laws are bad laws - we should join with the countryside movements and others and fight them.
BTW - I'm living in Belgium, and they discovered recently that they could get on very well without government - there was nothing but a caretaker administration for some months - and the country did splendidly! The early settlers in the North American colonies (Pennsylvania) refused to form a parliament despite their British Lords' demands (William Penn) since they knew they did not need governing.
But, as has been noted above, the media have an agenda to increase the general feeling that people need government - and strong government. When all you need are local laws decided by the community and enforced by their own elected police force who are answerable to (and paid by) the local community - and no one else.
OK - that was my rant
(we all need a good rant now and again - but not too often)
It's possibly something to do with the Welsh connection... It seems like the Welsh are one of the few minorities in Britain it's still regarded as OK to be prejudiced against.
hey hey hey, calm down calm down!!
Don't have a problem with this kind of thing at all. I'm all for friendly banter. Southerners are soft, northerners don't wash, geordies like fighting, yorkshiremen are tight. I love all that It's when it's really prejudiced to the point of hurting someone's feelings. Someone could say something like 'Liverpool is full of thieves and benefit cheats' or even make a joke about wheels being nicked off cars and there will be some nodding their heads in agreement. And then there is the people who are from Liverpool who then have to say 'hang on are you saying that because I'm from Liverpool I'm dishonest?' Why do we have to defend our character just because some people think it's ok to make negative generalisations?
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