Richard Branwell scoops the Front page of the "Manchester Evening News"
Speeding Police Let Off Hook!
188 Officers caught on camera - 133 were driving appropriately 
Seven out of ten police were cuaght by camera on Manchester's roads over last 10 months - whilst not displaying blue lights.
Just 14 officers admitted speeding and received fixed penalties. Police say the cameras do not pick up blue lights...
Brake condemns the let off and says the police are setting a very bad example to Manchester's drivers.
Brake spokesperson wrote:
This says to people in Manchester that speeding is tolerated by the police
When the police try to put across the message that the public are not allowed to speed - it conflicts with figures like these We have grave concerns about excessive speed
Hmm - well I can accept police speeding to catch real criminals - testing cars at 160 mph is another matter though
People being penalised for silly transgressions whilst otherwise safe is also another matter.
The details have come to light following a FOI inquiry. GMP has the third worst police accident rate after the Met and West Mids (but admittedly they deal with more car crimes than most) GMP police were involved in 6 fatals and none were apparently the fault of the police drivers.
The MEN's investigation has revealed that 188 were pinged by the city's scameras and 133 faced no prosecution because they were on legitimate business and just 14 of the rest have been given fixed penalties. The MEN was unable to discover the speeds involved as the release of such information would cost £500
Manchester BiB spokesman wrote:
The nature of the job of a police officer means that they have to exceed a speed limit on occasion to uphold the law
Because of this we are exempt from speed limits when responding to an emergency and can provide justification for breaking said limit.
It is not always appropriate to use blue lights and sirens - but our drivers are trained to drive at very high speeds in their basic training!
Yeah... so IG keeps telling us....
Since I have completed IAM , RoSPA and HPC - why can't I use me flashing greens?
whenever I want to - it's an emergency.....
Meanwhile the editor comments
MEN Editor wrote:
It's the basic principle of British justice tht everyone is equal before the law. So news that seven out of ten police officers caught speeding in Manchester have been let off is bound to raise hackles. We are told that all the vehicles were being driven appropriately on police business" Perhaps. But when it comes to such an emotive issue, figures like this make it so much more unlikely that drivers caught by cameras at lower speeds will hold up their hands and say "It's a fair cop"!
So ... sounds a very familiar story... Derbyshire... Manchester ... lot of admin costs being wasted sorting out who was speeding and who was not... and we pay for this in money and time. Time which should be spent actually catching REAL criminals.
And if scams are picking up blue lights from cop cars ... hardly likely they pick up ambulances and fire engines - who are also complaining about tiome and money lost in "investigating justified excess speed!"
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