Some of you may already read the 'Police Inspectors' blog and would have already read this:
inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/speedwago.../
Here's a snippet of the post to give you the jist of the story:
"An enormous pile of Ruralshire tax-payers money has just been converted to Japanese yen in the form of the new 4 x 4 police vehicles.
Sunday night produced my first opportunity to legitimately* deploy the F Division ozone burner. A stolen Transit had ?made off? through some woods from one of our night duty patrols after a failed ATM ram-raid."
The post goes on to explain why they are unable to use the 4x4 to give chase to the stolen transit.
So what a complete waste of money and how disapointing to hear of the struggles the inspector has with the 'system'. Things need to change so our money is spent on allowing the police to get on with their real job.
Seems very comical to me that a transit van can go off road but a 4x4 can't.....
BTW - the blog is very good and well worth adding to your favorites.
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just to add - this is very much a 'pro police officer' and 'anti police management' thread before anyone gets the wrong idea.
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Reminds me of a story I heard recently from a retired Fire Officer - his divisional headquarters banned training exercises is snowy conditions on safety grounds - he disobeyed headquarters and went out with his crews training in a blizzard - he argued, successfully, that taking a fire engine out in snow, under "blues & twos" for the FIRST time was unacceptable.
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Truly pathetic but then these stories are the norm now arent they. A 4x4 on road tyres should still do better off road than a Transit, but the all powerful H&S bods wont allow it; preferable to let criminals get away than risk getting a vehicle stuck in mud?
In the Derbyshire town I used to live in, the local force usually get one or two LR Defenders for a couple of months in winter, which *do* get used in the snow, and are then replaced with Astras again in spring.
They are liveried and blue-lighted vehicles so I wonder where these go for the rest of the year? Probably they borrow them from elsewhere in the region, where they have a bigger fleet of LR's.?
Edited by Rich 9-3 on 19/10/2007 at 10:50
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4x4 vehicles, whether SUV or saloons, do have tyre choices - from all-tarmac summer tyres through all-season and all-terrain to full off-road tyres.
If only police headquarters staff would talk to traffic officers from time-to-time - it would probably benefit other operational divisions as well.
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Ah yes good old Health and Safety .... problem these days is mangers manage but they don't lead. (I soumd do old and i'm only 34) Things are no better in the Ambulance Services where the kit is designed on a CAD system not to work in reality
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If pseudo-police can't jump into ponds to save children from drowning, then of course real policemen can't pursue criminals across country.
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It just shows that most 4x4 are toys, at least those without separate diff locks - all such vehicles are no better than cars for adverse conditions, and quite possibly worse because of the weight. But why do police forces buy them? LR Defender I can understand but not a tarts trolley....
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But why do police forces buy them? LR Defender I can understand but not a tarts trolley....
Good question ...because the maker sells them at a massive discount and so the Police will drive around in a Mercedes ML and Joe Public goes ..oh well they must be good because the police have them ..wrong the accounts said yes the guys on ground say give me a car that does x,y,z well and we will be happy.
Quite a few Police hate the cars they drive because they give them back ache, don't have enough room for kit etc Yet the Omega, Rover 827 and Volvos will gone down as generally well loved
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