Driving through a small town in N Yorkshire this morning. Road reduced to one lane for maybe 200 metres, but with a curve so you couldn't see the other end of the restriction. Traffic lights there but not working. Speed camera van at one end.
Question: where were the two police officers I saw? Were they
(a) sitting in the van or
(b) one at each end of the restriction, directing traffic to ensure no accidents?
Am I cynical, or just old enough to remember when the police accepted their first duty was to the public?
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The only good thing about that is that in the circumstances I would imagine they had a pretty pointless morning watching queues of traffic.
And no you aren't cynical, probably just getting old like me ;-)
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The police are for filling in Government/Home Office paperwork and meeting performance indicators, which were formerly known as targets.
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The police are here for 2 reasons:
1) Where we have wtinessed an idiotic act by someone who has subsequently been caught, and the police have been cheered to the rafters
2) To be jeered at by backroomers who have done something wrong, been caught, but cannot accept it.
;0)
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Probably some meaningless nanny state health and safety brief which didn't allow them to leave the comfort of their van or panda car.
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sadly just political puppets these days
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Or maybe it was cold and wet and they didn't fancy getting out of the van......?
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Perhaps they were off collecting the take away.
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probably trying to hide from the local traveller community so they dont get kicked sensless, that will teach them to stick to harrassing middle class folk like they normally do who dont fight back
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Actually to be fair, they are people doing a difficult and demanding job, hamstrung by petty regulations and red tape. Perhaps I/we forget the ones who are injured and killed in the line of duty, rescue people from dire situations and only remember the pizza collections and the 175 mph drives "To familiarise myself with the car". I am as guilty of this as anybody. I wouldn't be a policeman and I am grateful to those who are! Festive goodwill kicking in!
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I'm sure that's true, AS. In the past, the officers in the van would have been *expected* to sort out a hazardous situation like the one they saw and - apparently happily - ignored; now I suspect they would have been criticised had they shown initiative and have got into the habit of being jobsworths.
Perhaps a particular problem for revenue-collectors rather that bobbies on the beat.
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The occupants of the Speed camera van may have been civilians not serving police officers so would not take any responsibilty for directing trafic. Regards Peter
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most small towns in N Yorkshire only get a police presence once a day as the car drives round the square with their windows closed so be thankful GroovyMucker ;-)
i am a police lover not a knocker by the way and appreciate the job they do and no way would i want their job these days ,free bicycle clips or not
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Could I ask where in North Yorks?
I was under the impression that N.Yorks was one of the few areas not to use scamera vans. They have the kit in some cars, but have always said that they dont use camera vans. There are some vans with cctv cameras and of course the number plate jobbies.
They do have the hand held laser things, see them regularly in killinghall. But Ive never seen N.Yorks Police running speed camera vans.
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Seems that Adverse is right.
"There are currently (as of April 2006) thirty eight Safety Camera Partnerships in England and Wales covering forty-one police force areas out of a total of forty-three. [6] (Durham and North Yorkshire are the exceptions)."
From Wikipedia. But don't let facts get in the way of a chance to have a go at the Police.
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well i for one thought it was only county durham (next door remember) that had no camera policy?
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Whatever the Police are for, the combined efforts of the Police and the scamera partnerships in Oxfordshire have failed in 06. The death toll on the roads is so far 68 people, and the figure is the highest for sixteen years. the scamera people will say that justifies more scameras I suppose, but I'd say it shows that all they've done is raise revenue at the expense of an increase in accidents.
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nothing to stop a camera van working cross border
im my long lost youth i got done by a durham bike copper in the middle of northumbria force area, no idea what he was doing there
it IS VERY SAD that current police and road policy leads to the vast majority of ordinary taxpayers thinking of the police as the enemy
but until the powers that be revise the anto car nonsense they keep wasting public money with it will only get worse
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The police are supposed to keep the peace and uphold law and order.
Police officers in the van? Or scamera operators? I'll now read the rest of thread ;-)
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As usual the police were showing there true colurs, prosecuting the inocent redgisterd driver and folowing speedlimits set in the days of much slower cars with less eficent brakes. Afterall why bother about unlicensed or uninsured drivers, chances are they wont be able to pay the fine and the magistrate will set it at £1 per week.
Normal policeing is just the same and if anything worse with local ploice stations closed down and response times that are a joke.
8< SNIP - overly political statement removed - DD
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The police don't prosecute.
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Gents, I wasn't having a go at the police. Fine body of men, by and large, and I have - generally - had nothing but good experiences of them (don't get me started on CID, though).
It was Catterick Garrison.
And I thought our enlightened Durham CC just wouldn't allow fixed cameras, but would allow vans. I may be wrong.
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Women now make up around 40% of the strength ! ;-)
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And very decorative they are too, by Jove!
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>>> And very decorative they are too, by Jove!
Have you met Della Canning ?
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Normal policeing is just the same and if anything worse with local ploice stations closed down and response times that are a joke.
Apparently the response times are quite quick if after several attempts to get their interest you say, "Don't bother attending now, I've shot the intruders."
MD
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>>What are the police for?
Years ago...
The Police do only what they are told.
The Politicians tell the Police to do those things which fits their political agenda
The people don't vote for Politicians who have an agenda that they don't like
People wanted law and order, weren't overly concerned about every conceivable mistake by the police, didn't like politicians who didn't liek law and order, politicians therefore told the police to uphold law and order.
Now....
The Police do only what they are told.
The Politicians tell the Police to do those things which fits their political agenda
Most people don't pay any attention to what the politicians are actually doing, they're too busy worrying about every moment where they might not be getting an advantage that someone else is, or there's an opportunity to do someone else down to their own advantage.
The politicians use the police as a pawn only too aware that the public will never work it out.
You get the police force you deserve. The public do nto support the police force (not the fault of the police). The public blame everybody else for their own misdemeanors...
How do I get out of being caught speeding
How do I get out of being caught breaching parking regulations
How do I palm off my dodgy car onto a dealer
How do I nail a dealer for every tiny thing wrong with the car I bought from him
How do I make sure the police catch everybody else for every tiny thing
How do I make sure they never catch me for anything since they should be doing somethign more worthwhile
How do I con my insurer into covering me for something iffy
How do I sue my insurer for not covering me for something I never asked or paid for
and it goes on and on and on.
I truly find it quite depressing the tone that this country has these days. Actually, it seems to be most of Europe.
p.s. NY Rsolution 7) learn to type properly and take time to rpoof read
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Well......how about a country with NO police force?
I think that's a pretty good starting point for the discussion.
Now, folk, what ARE they for?
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......also remember, police officers are drawn from the community they serve. The community is made up all all sorts, i.e. the good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent.
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Somewhere I saw an automated Police answering service that went something like:
" If you want the police to sort out your lives dial 1"
"If you want tp tell us that you know someone of high rank that can get you off, dial 2"
"if you want the police to bring up your kids, dial 3"
And so it went on. Anyone got a copy? It had more than a ring of truth in it!
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* The *joke* police answering service as requested,. I was sent it as an email *
"Hello, you?ve reached the Police Department voice mail. Please pay close attention as we update choices as new and unusual circumstances arrive. Please select from the following options:
To whine about us not doing anyhting to solve a problem you created: Press 1
To inquire as to whether someone has to die before we do something to fix a problem: Press 2
To report an officer for your perception of bad manners when in reality the officer is trying to keep your neighborhood safe: Press 3
If you?d like us to raise your children: Press 4
If you?d like us to take control of your life due to your chemical dependancy: Press 5
If you?d like us to instantly restore order to a situation that took years to deteriorate: Press 6
To provide a list of officers that you personally know so that we won?t take enforcement action against you: Press 7
To sue us, or tell us that you pay our salary and will have our badges or to proclaim our career is over: Press 8
To whine about a ticket and/or to complain about the many other uses for police other than keeping your dumb ass in line: Press 9
To advise us that the polcie are taking too long to arrive to sort out a situation that you probably created and to tell us that you could be getting killed, when in reality you wouldn't: press 0
Please note that your call may be monitored to assure proper customer support, and remember, we are here to save your backside, not kiss it. Have a nice day. "
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IMO some people would do well to remeber the 2nd from last sentance from time to time. But were going off topic i guess.
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Thats the one escort man!
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