Crafty Cops Nab Yobbish Youths' Oodles of Booze

The police’s war against underage boozing has taken another twist, with Newton Abbot the battleground, Newton Today reported here.  A few days ago, two PCs trawled the parks of Newton Abbot searching for underage drinkers, and they came away with quite a haul of confiscated alcohol.

The operation was launched as a result of complaints from the neighbourhood about antisocial behaviour, and it was apparently a success, with the number of complaints having dropped as a result.  The policemen claimed that the youths were angry but receptive to the words of advice they were given about the dangers of drinking.  However, it is quite hard to picture this without a few slurred swearwords being bandied about. 

Imagine a 15-year-old boy, who has headed to the parks with his mates and a not insubstantial amount of cider.  Imagine then a couple of hours later, with a now less substantial amount of cider remaining, the boy is confronted by two policemen, who take this cider away from him and offer some words of advice about the pitfalls of alcohol abuse.  In your imagination, what is this boy’s likely reaction?  Would the word “receptive” be the first to spring to mind?  I’ll leave it at that.

In any case the most disappointing aspect of this story is the fate of all the beverages that the PCs were able to take away.  Rather than being poured down the throats of the local constables after a hard week’s work, all the contraband will be poured down the drain.  In this era of spending cuts it is sad to hear that a considerable saving was not made in the budget of the Newton Abbot police force’s Christmas party.