Dave Liquorice wrote:

But if you don't report they don'y know that they should be doing
something. If you report and get a crime number they have to do something
otherwise their stats start to look bad...

I wish that was true.

I have a strong desire to believe in law and order, however, my limited
experience with the police offers little comfort:-

1) House break-in. Well, sort of, the neighbours reported a suspicious
"drugged up" individual entering my house, whilst I was in. They were
told that "we're changing shifts, so no-one can come down at the
moment". I never got a visit from the police, having chased the wacko
out of the house. The neighbours came around to explain the police
statement sometime after I'd gotten rid of the guy.

2) Car break-in, stolen stereo/MP3 player. I went to report it to the
police station, simply because I thought the police would be interested
in knowing where crime was taking place. The response I got was largely
one of indifference from the desk sergeant, I honestly think he hoped
I'd just walk away. He eventually offered an crime number "for insurance
claim purposes" - which I didn't want or ask for (or use). Several days
later I received a letter from them offering counselling services to
victims of crime. But that was about all that happened. Ho-bloody-hum.

I'd like to respect anyone working to better society, however, as others
have said before, I think police spend more time chasing targets than
criminals.