a month or so ago, i made a report at woodstock police station that my
car had been sideswiped, possibly at a parking garage in rondebosch. at
the end, the person taking down details told me that woodstock couldn't
give a case number - only rondebosch station could. i thought this odd
as, a week earlier a young chap had reversed into my car at starke
ayres. i'd reported that accident at woodstock and been given a case
number. i was under the impression one could make reports at any
station. anyway, i was told the docket would be sent to rondebosch in
about "a week or two".
i waited a few weeks or four, and called rondebosch. i was asked to
'phone the next day as the female officer who knew where the book was
kept worked until 4 pm. i did so; the report wasn't on the system,
they hadn't received it.
on friday i rang woodstock and a senior officer said he'd call me back.
having not heard from him, i went to the station today, and after an
animated exchange between two men about "a loose piece of paper that
easily gets lost, we don't make a record of it" i got frustrated and
stormed out.
i've always had good and caring service at woodstock, and been surprised
at the disappointed reports i've read on this site. but today i saw
different. my case was treated with utter disinterest and scorn.
but the careless attitude a policewoman displayed to a young woman
reporting something shocked me. after being at the counter (for at
least the several minutes since i'd arrived), with the officer talking
to her occasionally, and then to her police colleagues, the young woman
sat down in tears. i tried to comfort her, offer help, my bottle of
water. the policewoman ambled about, eventually gesturing she should
follow her to the detectives' office. what happened to treating victims
in a state of trauma with kindness? and calling a trauma counsellor?
i made another report at rondebosch station this afternoon. they
laughed when i told them what had been said at woodstock. it seems
woodstock has earned a changed reputation. and not just with me.
--
"The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that
our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous
example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only
guarantee of morality." -- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher.
--
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