The public failed to do its duty

From the The Argus, first published Thursday 22nd Mar 2007.

Recently, my husband, daughter and I travelled into Worthing. They waited in the as I went into a shop.

My husband parked the car in Buckingham Road. When I returned, he said two unkempt men had been acting suspiciously outside the church, feeling around the sills of the building's windows and trying to open the door.

After seeing the two men for myself, I suggested to my husband that he should drive around the block and then see whether they were still there.

When we came back around into Buckingham Road, we saw a dog with two black waste sacks next to it. The two men were still feeling around all the windows and the door, obviously trying to break in.

I decided to dial 999. The lady on the phone was very concerned and took my name. Within five minutes, three police cars and a police dog van turned up.

They caught the two men in the church and arrested them. We went and gave statements at the police station.

What I wish to highlight is that we were very impressed with the response from the police but were extremely disappointed with the lack of a reaction from the many other members of the public who must have witnessed the two men.

Buckingham Road is a busy part of Worthing town centre which leads to a multi-storey car park. This incident took place at 1pm on a Saturday. So why didn't anybody else report the incident to the police?