Police in the South - Idiots!!

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vanny
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Post by vanny »

Or int he case of most of the up and down citroens;
'your ride height is to low and i cant seem to get my hand out now'
'that would be because the rear wheel is half covered to reduce spray and increase visibility of the tail gating police car!'
They are ALL power hungry, every last one of them! It all depends on if they are good at controlling the power hungry side! These days there is a nice split between law enforement officers, the oldies who generally know there stuff and know how to do there job, then there are the 'kid kops', power hungry children without a clue what exists in the real world, who seem to think the correct way to opperate the Ford Focus patrol car is to never let the engine drop under 6000 revs!
It really doesn't help that the job is getting more and more dangerous for them, though i suspect continually winding people up and being power crazy fools hasn't helped them one bit! I've only ever had trouble from one copper, who totally failed to handle a situation correctly, blocked me into a space and expected me to drive off into the middle of a road without being able to see. Tried to then give me some serious ear ache until i pointed out why i wasn't about to pull into traffic! Not bad for a Sgt!
I guess you always have to keep your fingers crossed and hope you get one with half a brain and little attitude!
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alexp-j
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Post by alexp-j »

To be honest if the PC had come along and said "Good evening Sir, we notice your car is running a bit low & we'd like to take a look"
Then I would have been in a much better frame of mind & the whole exchange would have been more civil. Rather than completely ignoring me when I said How can I help and just diving under my car.
Plus the guy blatantly doesn't care about crime prevention. If I thought a car was looking low I'd want to know what was in the boot!! especially if the car's heading towards Dover port, rather than picking & picking for non-existent faults.
If I was really up to no good, then we could well have been in Southern Spain by now with whatever's in the boot safely in tow!!
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Post by Stuart McB »

Think if you look at it like this this way then you may be able to have a full scale complaint with the Police complaints commission and / or the local Police force who stoped you, Professional review dept (complaints & disipline). If this PC had'nt looked under the bonnet would he have noticed the alleged leaky brake master seal? well the answer is NO, so you must ask your self, was he actuallu executing his duty or just beeing bloody nosey. The reason for stopping you was what....? having alow rear end No.... for having aleaky master brake seal. Hmmmm perceptive, maybe he's got the 'gift' of second sight. Sort the HORT form out and the seal then complain like no tomorrow, ask for the repair bill to be re-embersed by them. If you get no luck fill in the forms and make a foraml complaint. I did once with a CID copper stopping me on my way home at 0630 in the morning while he was on his way back to the nick and I got a written appoligy and then a meeting with the Local Police station Chief Supt where this CID officer made an apoligy in person to me. I was smug for months. That was over 8 years ago and I ain't been stopped since.
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Post by adamskibx »

Ive been pulled over a few times in my 3 and a half year driving time. Twice in my old Dyane and once in my first BX. In the Dyane the first time was for my exhaust looking too low to the ground (which it probably was). I really pissed them off without meaning too as they flashed me to pull over on an dual carriegeway so I pulled over instantly and what they actually wanted me to do was to pull over in a parking section further on- I was a bit confused when they just went straight past me!! I had to then drive back off the grass and get to where they were. In the BX it was because I pulled out of a road and a police car came round the corner at about 50 in a 30 zone so I had to accelerate dramatically as I didnt want to p**s the car off or make it brake too quickly (didnt know it was a cop car) until they pulled me over for going too fast. They also said that the most serious thing I had done was to drive with a front bulb out and how it should be a "straigt to court job"- I told them the truth which was that I had replaced the bulb an hour ago and couldnt understand why it had gone again (turned out the unit was full of water that I didnt notice when changing the bulb as it was dark) They searched my car and saw a replacement speedo in the back and joked (i think) about me clocking it! I actually changed the speedo and replace the numbers system witht the original to keep the miles correct as the other speedo had numbers in saying 267000 miles and it was from a 1.6 petrol! They are power hungry though in general. Ill admit they do an important job and the old ones are usually OK but I would never consider being a police man. It would be a comfortable job but I doont like the way you gain instant status, have power over people when you probably dont or at least wouldnt obey the laws yourself etc etc.
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Post by Stinkwheel »

Touching lots of wood here but.............
I've only ever been stopped by the police once, when i was 16 on my yamaha fizzie 50cc. I was not displaying l-plates and was doing about 40 in a 30, the guy was sound and just said dont be so silly and off you go. Happy me.
Considering The heap/unusual cars I've driven and Exceedingly diverse - and fast range of bikes its amazing I've not been stopped more.
Having said that i do have 6 speed camera points.
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Post by dillosk8ter »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Stinkwheel</i>

Touching lots of wood here but.............
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Me too!! tempting fate, I've never been stopped in 5 years of driving, perhaps its the low key cars: Pug 309 D, ZX Reflex, BX14?
Not even in parents sporty looking Leon.
My mates in 6th form were getting stopped loads a few years ago, sometimes several times a day.....the had Mk1 and Mk2 Golf Gti's......
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

The only time I've been stopped is during "tyre week" when the police organise road blocks and stop older cars to look at their tyre's tread depth.
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Post by BagStar »

I had an '86 XR2 for eight years from 1994, modied with full lowered and adjustable Spax, competition exhaust, K&N etc.. but looked bog standard apart from the ride height and more importantly, legal. I was stopped loads of times, 12 times in 6 weeks to be precise, but i was seeing a girl i worked with and was going to pick her up from her home and being followed by a panda car, when i stopped the car opposite her house, the panda pulled up behind, then put the blue lights on. My then girlfriend had seen this WPC put the lights on when she stopped.
This is how it went:-
WPC 'why did'nt you stop when i put my lights on before?'
Me 'you did'nt have your lights on and apologies but unless you give me a sign to tell me to stop, i don't have to'
Girlfriend then walks over and hears what the WPC said.
Girlfriend 'you only put your lights on when you stopped because you did'nt have them on coming around the corner'
WPC 'excuse me but this has nothing to do with you miss'
Girlfriend 'yes it has, you've just accused him of not stopping when you put your lights on, but he was already stopped and parked up'
WPC 'so ******** (me) is this your car'
Me 'yes, i've had it since 1994 and it's fully covered by modified insurance policy and as you can see it is taxed and it is also MOT'd for the next 11 months'
WPC 'so what are you doing around here?'
Me 'picking my girlfriend up'
WPC 'oh, so you are in with that lot then are you' with a 'you're a criminal look'.
Girlfriends brother was a Heroin Addict and a thieving scummy git, and this WPC tar'd everybody with the same brush.
Me 'and whats that supposed to mean?'
WPC 'i've a good mind to search the car and see what you've got inside'
Me 'feel free, and while you are doing that, i shall check your car for any faults that do not comply with the road traffic act'
WPC 'oh you've got a cracked bumper (plastic one), thats dangerous and i shall have to issue you with a form to get it made right within 7 days'
Me 'oh yes plastic is really dangerous when you have a crack in it'
WPC writes the form out and says:- 'right, there is your form and i shall be watching for your car'
Me 'you can look all you like, because by tommorrow morning love, you will be suspended and issued with a written warning once i've complained about you, and don't forget, i've got a witness, where's yours?'
At this point she got in the car and drove off. I went straight to the police station, and was seen by a inspector as part of the complaint. The WPC was never ever seen in that town again after that date. The reason for my complaint was, 'she judged and assumed i was a criminal because i was seeing the law abiding sister of a drug addict, and presumed i had some contact with him and his lifestyle. She also attempted to pervert the course of justice by stating i had failed to stop for a police vehicle when she gave no indication whatsoever for me to stop before i had parked anyway'.
I am a law abiding citizen, but the police mind set is this, 'Everybody is a criminal that just have'nt been caught yet'. And that bugs me. Not all of them are bad, but most are.
Oh, i was once stopped shortly after joining a motorway, and the traffic cop exactly said 'go on then, who's car is it'. Duuurrrrrrr. Prat.
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Post by alexp-j »

I have now jumped all the hoops for Mr Plod.
A cloth & a bit of white spirit, presto cleanest Pug brake reservior in the country! That was last Wed and not a drop of fluid is forthcoming. Just as I knew would happen.[:(!]
Anyway, I'm £5 lighter for getting the MOT stamp & I've ben to the police station to prove that Im not a scumbag with no MOT/Insurance. So it's all done.
except,
I had great fun penning a nice long letter to Kent Police this evening [;)]
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Post by Kowalski »

If you haven't posted that letter, make sure you mention the police officer who got off from speeding at 159mph.
Is anybody else disgusted by this?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shro ... 559173.stm
How can the courts attempt to prosecute any driver for any speeding offence when they let a police office off for joy riding at 159mph?
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Post by fastandfurryous »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Kowalski</i>

Is anybody else disgusted by this?
How can the courts attempt to prosecute any driver for any speeding offence when they let a police office off for joy riding at 159mph?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Actually, I agree with the judge on this one. The Police driver needs to be aware of what the car's limits are before being in a dangerous situation. I would rather he learns this at 2am on a deserted motorway than 4 in the afternoon on a dual carriageway, while persuing a fleeing criminal.
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alexp-j
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Post by alexp-j »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by fastandfurryous</i>
Actually, I agree with the judge on this one. The Police driver needs to be aware of what the car's limits are before being in a dangerous situation. I would rather he learns this at 2am on a deserted motorway than 4 in the afternoon on a dual carriageway, while persuing a fleeing criminal.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
although the thread isn't really about speeding:
shouldn't that sort of testing be done on a proving ground for police driver's when a new car is brought into the fleet?
Would you say that it was OK for Pug to use the motorways around coventry as high speed test tracks before releasing new cars to the public?
I think not[:0]
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Post by Sl4yer »

I think that if its dangerous for me to drive at 80 or 90 mph (which I don't consider to be the case, but the police and courts do), it can't possibly be safe for ANYONE to drive at twice that! Speed kills, remember! Or is it really the case that inappropriate speed kills?!
I got pulled on Christmas Day a couple of years ago. I knew the van was behind me. I kept to the limit, he dropped back then speeded up and pulled me. Said I was driving at twice the limit! I said I wasn't. He said I was, he had followed me at 55mph. I said I knew he was behind me, and I conciously only did 40mph (which was in fact the limit, not 30mph which Plod didn't seem to know). He explained that as it was the season of goodwill, he would only give me a producer. While he told me this, his teenage collegue looked over the car (my father's Laguna) like it must be the hottest in the town!
They didn't even breathylise me, which is what I thought they were after. What annoyed me most was the fact that they told blatant lies, and if they really wanted to, they could probably have done me because I had no witnesses!
I used to respect the police before this, but not any more. I know they're not all bad (I was gong to join not too long ago), but that really put me off.
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Post by fastandfurryous »

As an interesting little point... if this copper had indeed pressed the speeding charge, your best bet would have been to request a court hearing. The charge would have been thrown out, because the copper had no calibrated speed detection system (he was no doubt relying on his speedo) and also had no independent witness. Although there was another copper present, because he was in the same vehicle, and relying on the same (uncalibrated) speedo, then he is not independent.
You're quite correct of course.. it is inappropriate speed that kills.
160MPH, on a deserted motorway, by a highly trained, highly skilled police driver, in a vehicle which is maintained to an unbelievably high standard in my mind is not inappropriate. The only person the officer was putting at risk was himself.
Anyway... this shows the difference between general plod, and traffic officers.
On the way out of yeovil this evening I had to laugh. I had a Ford Focus plod car following me round the bypass. I was driving correctly of course, and I think the copper was considering pulling me over... after all, an eleven year old car might well yield some bald tyres, and maybe some other defects. He never got the chance though, as a rather knackered old Ford Fista overtook us both, and then swung round a corner without signalling... guess who the copper went after! had a good chuckle about that to myself.
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Post by alexp-j »

but this copper was not only doing excessive speed on the motorway. He also did ridiculous speeds through 30 zones & A roads[:0]
That's according to BBC Newsnight
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