A mate of mime had two parking tickets stuck on his motor this past weekend one at 5:30 am on the 13/11 and the next at 4:15 am on the 14/11 (2 in under 24 Hours) at a time when cars in the same street are being vandalised etc. Don't ask him for an opinion on the Police Force for at least a year or two.

Or hanging around in unmarked Type R's waiting for some muppet to assume the worst and start driving like an idiot...

:sofahide:

Or shoveling sand on oil spills or handing out producers, judging from the size of most traffic cops they dont seem to do much running about.

As for the link the ****** should be hung. The death penalty should be reinstated.

i have been pulled over a lot in the past by coppers, why? because they wanted to

one night after college(evenin class that finished at 9:30 that i went straight to after work that i left home for at 5:30) one of my head lights blew, i got pulled over, frisked, the car thoroughly(sp) searched for drugs/weapons and accused of being a thief, "why else would you be driving round at night an dark/dirty cloths with tools in the car?", because i'm a sparky on his way home you pillock. i even got pulled just sitting outside my gf's house with her next to me, copper pulls up, asks for my details and licence then asks what i'm doing her then just buggers off. coppers are an absolute nightmare round here

The other night I was talking to a friend in a car in front (parked off the road) and then grunted at to be asked where is my intended location? I guess they are trained to try and make you feel small and intimidated.

agree in many ways but political meddling does not force a camera operator to hide behind objects to catch more speeders - political meddling tells them to be visible!

That is the sort of behaviour that has lost a lot of my respect for the police!

Ah' date=' but many (if not most) camera operators these days are civvies. If you pop along to Pistonheads or 5ive-o you'll find quite a few trafpol who have a much more common-sense approach to speeding.

i have been pulled over a lot in the past by coppers' date=' why? because they wanted to

one night after college(evenin class that finished at 9:30 that i went straight to after work that i left home for at 5:30) one of my head lights blew, i got pulled over, frisked, the car thoroughly(sp) searched for drugs/weapons and accused of being a thief, "why else would you be driving round at night an dark/dirty cloths with tools in the car?", because i'm a sparky on his way home you pillock. i even got pulled just sitting outside my gf's house with her next to me, copper pulls up, asks for my details and licence then asks what i'm doing her then just buggers off. coppers are an absolute nightmare round here[/quote']

Agreed, but I don't mind being pulled over by the police and checked out. If one time that gets some crack dealer / rapist / drunk driver off the roads then thats fine. Annoying but the police are in a damned if you do situation.

Pull you- you get annoyed

don't pull the criminals- you get annoyed!

I have no problems with the police pulling people with illegal fonts, lights whatever. For a start they shouldn't have it and know it (but people have no respect for any authority anymore), and who knows what else a simple stop might bring up?

As said on here the police are being meddled with by government who should know better, and screwed by the courts who give offenders a slap on the wrist. It's not always their fault! And anybody who could clear up a road death then tell relatives about it deserves their salary, and I would find it quite insulting that people are suggesting they just go around handing out tickets. You may not have had a good experience with the police but they will still be there when you need them.

Only if it's in traffic!

I think the political interference that's happening with the police force has lost them a lot of respect. Many of my relatives were policemen' date=' but I've certainly lost a lot of respect for the police force, mainly because they've been interfered with by central government. I don't have much respect for how their priorities have been set, or for how they deal with crime in our area. And I don't have any respect for how they treat motorists, with all the lies about speed.

I know this isn't the fault of the police, but unfortunately it's them that take the blame. The sooner politicians stop meddling, the better.[/quote']

But it is not all political meddling. Part of the problem is that society has been condemming policing for so long that the public have a core belief that police are inept and bigotted. The press attack on almost a daily basis and people now complain because, for example, police cars park on yellow lines. Ambulances are ok, as are fire engines but not police cars oh no. They must park in a car park, go and execute a drugs warrant and march the arrested persons through the town back to the cars. I mean otherwise they will end up on the front page of the daily ***** under the heading "corrupt cops have double standards" and "hippocrites in blue" condeminning the cops has become a self fulfilling prophecy. We have wished them ill for so long we now believe every word of the criticisms and have a biassed and selective media feeding this predudice.

Believe or not the cops do work hard, unbelievably hard, and get nothing but abuse. When nurses discuss waiting lists (down to poor resources) with patients the patients sympathise and feel sorry for the pressure that they are under. When the police are run ragged on shifts and have to priritise calls because there is no else working they end up in the daily **** with OFFICERS being personally blamed for what is clearly a chronic lack of resources. Not to mention the abuse (really) they get when the person reporting a crime happened to have had a speeding ticket the previous week.

It is not all government meddling, it is now how we now see our police and we are treating them accordingly.

See standards dropping in schools?, behavious of kids getting worse? I do. Since we began to openly and constantly criticise and domoralise our authority figures society has gone to the dogs, I am old enough to know that it did not happen the other way around.

The police deal with mountains of cr*p every day, a "filter" that we take so much for granted and for those of you not in the know I promise being a cop for a day would be an eye opener for you.

B T W speed enforcement by traffic cops is the only kind the staff have any control over. The vans and cameras are run by quangos and have more input from the council than police. Predictably though, who gets slagged off?

The vans and cameras are run by quangos and have more input from the council than police. Predictably though, who gets slagged off?

I've seen mobile units (Cleveland) operated by people wearing hi-vis gear clearly marked "POLICE"

If that's not a uniformed officer, then what is it ?

But it was just the body armour and handcuffs thing wasn't it..... :P

Furry Handcuffs

i've been the victim of crime a few times and the police haven't got anyone for any of it, i know its not all down to them as they need leads and certain evidence but what i get annoyed with is the amount of resources they put into doing people for speeding/seatbelts/phones etc when that money could have put more bobies on the beat which in my opinion is much more important as we need a police presence again to remind people that the police are actually about and if you do wrong you'll get caught/done for it and maybe people will stop acting illegally so often. the 10-15 coppers, 8 units and god knows how much moneies worth of equipement to do people for no seat belt or 34 in a 30 is ridiculous when people are getting robbed/raped/murdered and nothing comes of it

Furry Handcuffs

Harder to clean than the genuine police issue ones though

I know a lot of people who have been burgled in the last few years.

Not one of the burglars has been caught, though.

I also know an awful lot of people who have been done for speeding, myself included. It's things like this that sour people's opinions of the police.

Harder to clean than the genuine police issue ones though

Only Spinndrift eh !

that money could have put more bobies on the beat which in my opinion is much more important as we need a police presence again to remind people that the police are actually about and if you do wrong you'll get caught/done for it and maybe people will stop acting illegally so often.

Interestingly where I moved to, the residents of the estates round where I live had been petitioning to get more bobbies on the beat as a deterrent against mindless vandalism, graffiti and other youth crimes. Not seen any where I live, but prevention is better than cure. Result? We now have 5 extra bobbies walking/cycling a beat across the north side of the town, "patrolling" for 18 hours a day!

Chris

We have a village bobby now who is partnered by one of those community constable things.

They seem to have a really good rapport with the kids. Our village has a curfew type thing in force that prevents more than four teenagers hanging around in a group after 9pm. It seems to be working althought he civil liberty lot were up in arms and the off licence has reported a drop in sales of B7H and White Lightning.

We have a village bobby now who is partnered by one of those community constable things.

They seem to have a really good rapport with the kids. Our village has a curfew type thing in force that prevents more than four teenagers hanging around in a group after 9pm. It seems to be working althought he civil liberty lot were up in arms and the off licence has reported a drop in sales of B7H and White Lightning.

sounds good, we need more coppers round oxford. in all honesty i'm sure the number of coppers about has gone up and i actually feel a bit better knowing it but we still need more

"the 10-15 coppers, 8 units and god knows how much moneies worth of equipement to do people for no seat belt or 34 in a 30 is ridiculous when people are getting robbed/raped/murdered and nothing comes of it"

But that is not the reality, that is the perception. Major incidents get loads of staff thrown at them for months on end, even years. The resources given to roads policing units are tiny in comparison to other diciplines like child protection, serious assaults etc. I stand by my point and what has been said since my post on this thread convinces me even more. We tell ourselves that our police are crap and constantly look for evidence to support that fact. The cops in the units mentioned in this thread can't possibly be looking for stolen vehicles, drug traffickers or the like (even though they probably are) they MUST be looking for motorists doing 32 in a 30, cos if you read the hype the only people ever caught speeding are doing 32 or 33 . We cannot accepted that they are usually trying to make our lives a little better/safer - no they MUST be a bunch of useless petty idiots. It is what we love to believe.

We cannot accepted that they are usually trying to make our lives a little better/safer - no they MUST be a bunch of useless petty idiots. It is what we love to believe.

Disagree.

Heavily.

WE want to to believe that they are helping/making things safer for us, but our personal experiences tell us otherwise.

Case in point: My are is currently undergoing a huge wave of shed/conservatory/house/car break-ins. "Coincidentally" there are 20+ travelling familes squating on some vacated land.......police interest in this bit of information. - 0

Time taken to reposnd to a racially motivated assault - still counting after 12 months..........

Interest shown in half-caste mid 20's male driving a new 3 series.....(me) - pulled over twice in 30 mins.

Interest shown in me driving a blue skoda and sneezing.....(small wobble) - Immense. Pulled over and breathalysed.

Interest shown in me leaving a Salford car park in same blue Skoda.......just behind the local nick........followed me 12 miles, driving right up my exhaust, then sat, parked outside myt house for just over and hour.

I've nver felt like more of a criminal in my life............

I WANT to believe the police are doing a great job, and most probably are, but some are just total jobsworths, and they are the ones that we seem to come in contact with......

I've seen mobile units (Cleveland) operated by people wearing hi-vis gear clearly marked "POLICE"

If that's not a uniformed officer' date=' then what is it ? [/quote']

Where I live they are run by a partnership, no police resources involved at all. Since they took over speed detection the mobile units have focussed more on unroadworthy vehicles, drink/drugs driving and investigation of fatal collisions.

I hate speed cameras and have a nice entry in my own license as evidence. I do, reluctantly, accept that they have a role to play in speed enforcement.

Before you all attack me I DO accept that they are currently not used to best effect and if I honestly think they have spoilt the fun of driving.

Disagree.

Heavily.

WE want to to believe that they are helping/making things safer for us' date=' but our personal experiences tell us otherwise.

Case in point: My are is currently undergoing a huge wave of shed/conservatory/house/car break-ins. "Coincidentally" there are 20+ travelling familes squating on some vacated land.......police interest in this bit of information. - 0

Time taken to reposnd to a racially motivated assault - still counting after 12 months..........

Interest shown in half-caste mid 20's male driving a new 3 series.....(me) - pulled over twice in 30 mins.

Interest shown in me driving a blue skoda and sneezing.....(small wobble) - Immense. Pulled over and breathalysed.

Interest shown in me leaving a Salford car park in same blue Skoda.......just behind the local nick........followed me 12 miles, driving right up my exhaust, then sat, parked outside myt house for just over and hour.

I've nver felt like more of a criminal in my life............

I WANT to believe the police are doing a great job, and most probably are, but some are just total jobsworths, and they are the ones that we seem to come in contact with......[/quote']

Good point, what can I say, your experience is your reality. Cops need to sort out the idiots in their midst as well.

Where I live they are run by a partnership' date=' no police resources involved at all. Since they took over speed detection the mobile units have focussed more on unroadworthy vehicles, drink/drugs driving and investigation of fatal collisions.

I hate speed cameras and have a nice entry in my own license as evidence. I do, reluctantly, accept that they have a role to play in speed enforcement.

Before you all attack me I DO accept that they are currently not used to best effect and if I honestly think they have spoilt the fun of driving.[/quote']

Cleveland also has a "partnership" but i've seen their camera operators clearly wearing Police Hi-Vis gear. I can only assume that they are actually Police Officers...

Would be interesting if it were found they are in fact civvies in Police gear...

And no-one is attacking you..well at least not me anyway

Cleveland also has a "partnership" but i've seen their camera operators clearly wearing Police Hi-Vis gear. I can only assume that they are actually Police Officers...

Would be interesting if it were found they are in fact civvies in Police gear...

And no-one is attacking you..well at least not me anyway

I don't know the answer. I am no fan of the things but unfortunately the mith that they take away police resources from more important things is just not true. In the large they are self financing and, to an extent, release police resources. Many forces have reduced the size of their traffic units as a result and put the staff on other front line duties. If you have been following the papers recently you will see that the reduction of traffic officer numbers has been criticised by MP's and the like. I really really do not like speed cameras but some (only some) of the agruments used to criticise them are fatally flawed.

i'm not attacking anyone or anything either it's just that when i have things broken into/stolen or vandalised and absolutely nothing comes of it but i get jumped on for a headlight out or pulled over for no reason then thats what i am going to see surely. i don't think the police do nothing or are useless but i definitely believe we need more coppers.

a few months ago a couple of mates were at the kebab shop after a few beers and a little knob started annoying them, so they told him where to go. 5 mins later he ran up and slapped one then ran off, my mates obviously chased after him and when they ran round a dark corner there were about 5-6 of them with bats/hammers/sticks and they got a kicking. all this happened about 1/4 mile from the cop shop and how long did it take for the coppers to arrive?? 30-60 minutes

luckily they weren't badly injured

and i am not exagerating about the amount of units involved with the seatbelt/speeding things, the place is swarming with coppers when they do it, and its every couple of weeks. i would much rather they were getting people for no tax/mot/insurance or just plain stupid driving instead of what still seems to be plain old revenue increasing exercises

Maybe a fair few people have a thing about traffic police because it's the only thing they get their collars felt for?

Assuming you're a law-abiding citizen who pays their taxes and doesn't **** people when you've got a few Stellas down your neck, the police probably don't have any reason to show any interest in you...

...until you speed, and they catch you...

Not saying I always travel within the posted speed restrictions, he he he

But if I ever am likely to be shown "police attention" chances are that it will be behind the wheel of a car.

But there are some real jobsworths out there. From my experience, I had a crash a few years back in my days of owning a red 309GTi. A middle aged mum in a Saab 93 drove out at a crossroads where I had right of way, and I piled into the side of her. The police attended, and immediately adopted a "you're young and drive a GTI, so it must be your fault" attitude towards me, started accusing me of speeding (which I wasn't), not having my lights on (which I did), even tried to say it was my fault til I pointed out the road markings and give way sign the other driver had ignored... then when the woman piped up and said that she had lost her bearings and had thought that she was on the raod I was on, travelling in the opposite direction to me and had therefore not seen the give way sign or road markings and assumed she had right of way, they said they couldn't put that in their reoport or they'd have to charge her with driving without due care and attention!!!!! :eek: It's behaviour like this that really spoils people's perception of them.