Sixteen Hours?

It took Suffolk Constabulary in Lakenheath, England sixteen hours to respond to the scene of a gang attack on a US airman. Airman 1st Class Chris Flatau was attacked and beaten with a brick outside his rented home when he went out to investigate a gang vandalizing the home. He required stitches at the base hospital. When Flatau and his wife (also in the service) called the Suffolk Constabulary, they were told the police were too busy and they would send someone around the next day.

The Suffolk authorities must have been otherwise engaged - committing crimes takes up a lot of time, you know.