Safe Speed Forums

This last week - each time I opened a newspaper - the press were bashing us!


1. WHAM ! The "officer" who allegedly delivered a birthday card to his girlfriend and knocked down and killed a pedestrian. Absolutely unforgiveable if an accurate account.

2. BLAM! The police in the dock for causing an accident whilst "training" at high speeds. The black box evidence - alas - confirms the speeds and prudence dictates how we should be driving - even in a genuine emergency.

3. BUM! The police officer in Newcastle who collided with a girl last June, Now charged with a serious motoring offence of which bizarrely the case would appear to have been brought

[quote=BBC News and other press"]
He was not using his siren and blue lights to warn of presence [/quote]

Whatever the rights and wrongs of this case as it will develop in the court room - we sometimes do not wish to let the criminals know we are "breathing on their collars"

4. UGH! Police officers have been arrested down South for "handling stolen goods" and other count of theft.

5. ARRGH! NO NO NO! Manchester police officer has been



for possessing BNP and National Front Badges and wearing one when off duty. I agree - we cannot afford to have extreme political leanings as it would be hard to keep an objective mind when dealing with some of our cases. Very tragically for this officer - he was actually by all accounts a very, very able policeman and had been commended in the past for bravery, saving of lives and all we expect.


Only.. extreme political leanings are just not allowed and I have to agree that it is rightly so all the same.


I do not regard any of those highly read stories which featured so prominently in each tabloid in the last week or two to be bashing the police nor unduly criticising of us. Police officers are not perfect. They do make mistakes and those who enter this profession for the wrong reasons do not stay in the job for long either. When they do err - and make mistakes which see them on the other side of the court room - then they are subject to the same rules and rights as everyone else in this country.


What should be encouraging and reassuring from this spate of seeming stupidity on the part of some as reported in the above press stories - is that police are not above the law. They are subject to the same laws and can face arrest and ab charged in exactly the same way as everyone else. There is no "one law for us and a different one for the rest of society". An urban myth and th above press articles wouid seem to support the reality and not the urban myths.

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

I am very concerned at this. Who decides what is "extreme"? Any legally constituted political parties must be considered as equals.

You should either:

- be free to hold any political opinon you want (but put this aside when enforcing the law) or
- be totally apolitical (or be dismissed from the force).

Maybe Ian Blair (late of the Metropolitan Police) should have been sacked for being a Labour supporter.

P.S. Is it legal at a job interview to ask someone who they vote for?

_________________
Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

No .. not legal as we have a secret ballot.


But generally understood that the police are exepected not to hold extreme views which may conflict with their work.

I think the problem was to do with the powers we now have to "stop and search" and some rather unfortunate statistics as to those we end up "stopping and searching".


I can stress that we act on "information and intelligence received" - but this will not convince folk out there - especially those who faced PC Jobsworthy or the "Not The Nine O Clock News" caricature in Pc Savage - who sadly does exist to some extent out there. I can only discipline such types when complaints are raised and seek to correct via suggestign various training courses.


I think I intimated in a past post - probably in the private lounge amongst members that we police are not quite as "free" as you may think.

For example - whenever I moved house with the job .. my neighbours were vetted. I even knew what they did for a living before they even told me when they knocked on my front door with a "howdy " to me and mine


I cannot be a active member of a political party - or rather one with what one associates with "extreme leanings or " absolute control". We can vote in elections .. and I am probably what is a "floating voter" in that I will listen to what all have to offer nationally and locally - and then have a "serious think" .

As you probably decipher from my posts to date.. I think for myself and do not subscribe to what the mad Cats and Swiss call "gimmick" any more than they do. (I am not influenced by their opinions - but I cannot/or rather struggle to fault their logic and even when I am at odds (not often - I admit - cos they are actually ver decent and straight forward people) with them - they have that ability to tie me in knots and when you are losing an argument with them - you just wanna throttle them

But when the police do fall foul of the law - my cousin Wildy is really angry with us as she really does support us and considers those of us who fail her exacting and very demanding standard - let society down. Oh - she's right to be angry when we really are found to be in the wrong - same as everyone else will be.

In my rant - I forgot the resignation of Sir Ian Blair.. and the Stockwell inquest. I recall trying to calm down Mr Angry (Paul F or Paul H . - cannot quite recall his original handle - but that chap did contact me via the private messaging service to tell me that he was not angry with me as he considered and I take a liberty in disclosing something said to me in private. I trust he will not mind if he still lurks though./

[quote="Mr Angry before he flounced off as Paul H or F"}

My anger is not aimed at you whom I consider to be a decent type who at least talks from his heart and head and not his a:censored: le [/quote]

He went on at how he regretted many of his outburts but felt himself "exploding" at the sheer unfairness of the system as he saw/still sees it. T be honest - I understood each one of his concerns. I recall saying at the time of the Brazilian boy's killing - that under the circumstances.. under that urgent fear of threat/// under some awful situation that was alien to our very British culture . way of life .. that those who ended up facing that situation really trusted the information they had at the time and that the awful .. awful truth when it unravelled will chill the hearts of each person .. police and member of the public for years to come. - especially when we know ... the same mistake can be replayed and play into the hands of the original terrorist.

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I was going to put this piece as thread to discuss in itw own right.

It's about



getting our whistles back

Cambridge police are being issued with them


WHY?

YOB CYCLISTS!


They say some of the 20 000 in the city are an antisocial menace. They ignore each traffic rule and even fail to stop when requested by police there.


Some cyclists say the whistlling at the yobs will become a farce


OK .. So it belongs in the Cycling or SPL fora...


But why I place here?


Because of the leader column in today's Sexpress which says





Well .. we do prosecute our rogue cyclists in the same way as the rogue drivers. Reasonable tolerance of silly mistakes which we all make.

Draconian enforcement when it is "deliberate"

But I take the point. Staffing and resources. We cannot be everywhere - but we do try to do the best we can all the same.

We cannot please everyone all of the time and in some ways - we have the same problems as medics and teachers as regards staff and the demands on time which daft state political targets demand

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

I must admit I had forgotten about that complete idiot - the one who was proven in a court of law to have perverted the course of justice but who also knew how to manipulate the "discrimnation" laws to his own advantage.


The sort of person I want serving?


Oh no. The sort I would hope never makes it past initial screening interviews .. and beyond. But this - like any other large organisation - we can get things wrong and we do try to weed out those we know to be "unsuited" as best we can and within all the laws - be they criminal or civil based ones.

The good news via the grape vine is that the person who was a definite wrong'un did quit as colleagues more than made feelings known as regards "trust". We work as a team .. we have to trust each other.


By trust - I am not just meaning the trust we are duty bound to instil and encourage with our public who really expect and very rightly require our honour and obligation towards them .


I have never been "holier than thou" and will not ever be. I do not condone any serious wrong so who commits it though. In the "Help -Being Prosecuted" forum - I try to help without making that person asking for help feel "small" or "guilty". I know there was no intent on their part - and I hope to ease minds .. ally fears. A speeding charge .. unless you are approaching tot-up ain't the end of the world .. and costs inusrance wise - let's face it .. a buyer's market when those guys are really fighting for your cash now. Banking and Insurance giants . are now fighting for cash. The bad news is that tthey will be more exacting before they pay compo for "perceived whiplash". I face reality. Like the who is my cousin. Her ridiculous English resulted from a pure dislike of her teacher .. an over busy mother who spoke more Schwyz than English by the time the family wild kitten arrived... and I will say the mad Cats have more than corrected that mistake by ensuring their own brood are fully Swiss-mulit-lingual. I wil say they have given those kids of theirs a real naturally acquired gift by being thoughtful in mind. I have to say this .. not out of loyalty from my own knowledge ot them. I think they really do work harder and care more than most with those children they look after.


You have perhaps seen "Durham in Action" on a BBC/ITV Traffic Cops/Police ,, Camera ,, Action .. whereby the film clip showed our teams successfully working together to rein in a seriously dangerous driver. It takes skill.. team work... ability to work in synchronised skill akin to that of the Red Arrows if you kike It's what we train to .. and we were seriously angry when that idiot decided to ram the hard shoilder in a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable. His loss. We are throwing every charge we can think of. He will not be on any road for a long time .. HOPEFULLY. We think.. or rahter we know - we have a strong case for what we have charged him with


But in that link .. I have to take some issues of protest.

I knew the late CC. He was one of the good guys. He was NOT politically correct .. but a real red blooded and commited police officer. He advocated discretion -- professional discetion and was a kindred spirit to Paul Garvin and Jon Stoddart alike.

Oh sure .. Mike was a hit with the ladies., He had a charm.. a charisma which my own wife felt. He had what Wildy calls the "JFK" allure. I do not understand what she is on about there - but take on board the "only a woman will understand" argument here I do not understand how a woman's mind works.. .. but I will say that we lost a seriously able person - who may have let his personal life and conscience over such deeply personal and hear felt dilemma get the "upper hand" with a very tragic outcome.

He was certainly not as this link suggests. I knew him . we were pals and teamed together in our past careers.

I hope to put things into some pesrpsective .

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

What about THIS one then ?
I bought the book: unbelievable.
Maybe you want a Tshirt ?

Or maybe THIS BLOG ?
A bit less tolerant !

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I agree that "Inspector Blog" make a wry and witty comment on what has been going wrong with society - in terms of political correctness and a vry sublte introduction of many laws - which at first sight seem "OK" - but which when taken as a whole - undermine common sense and justice. A line in a film I once watched said



Almost the sort of thing you expect to find in an old fashioned General Studies A Level paper of the 70s with the word "DISCUSS"

As for the now "former" Met boss"


Of course it was a political choice - and the choice of a Labour Mayor and a Labour Home Secretary. We now have a conflict when the other chap won the election and probably amongst the reasons for Boris's decision were the number of "gaffes" to date, which seemed to be undermining the ability to do the job.


Basically - the Met needs someone of the calibre of Sir John Stevens. (We want to keep our guv though }

But even if Sir John had been the boss at the time of the London atrocities of July 2005, I doubt that the final "Third Act Tragedy" which saw an innocent man shot on a Tube train would have been avoided - given this tragedy appears to be more a result of perhaps "mistaken" (to be politically correct) intelligence which led those officers to believe - without question - that they were dealing with a seriously potential danger. To me - the inquest should be directed at establishing what went wrong and making sure - to the best of ability - that the mistakes are learned from and never repeated. That would be justice and a fitting tribute and lasting honorary memorial to the poor young man and his grieving and very understandably extremely angry family and friends.

Should these mistakes be traced back to the ultimate leadership and its "steering committee" - then it will, perhaps, be up to the law courts and not the government of the day to hear their accounts in more detail.

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

I also find this worrying. Your neighbours, unknowingly, were investigated for ... well, what exactly? What criteria were used to determine their suitability? Would you have been prevented from living where you chose? If your neighbours moved away and were replaced by others, would they be vetted too?

I'm sorry about all the questions but I had no idea this went on. I live in a small close with 4 houses, two of which are owned by police officers. Have I been vetted?

_________________
Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Only to make sure you were not "Mr Big Car Lover " given that I am a bit of a "rebel"

Seriously - they just want to make sure that all folk will be safe - especially given some of the types we do meet on a daily basis They will have just made a quick check to make sure that no known criminals live nearby.

But I have to disclose many details about my life as do all police officers to their guvs - including those of even my family and extended relatives (and you've "met" many of them on the internet ). They have to be sure as they can realistically be that we are honest and decent in character types after all.


It is quite startling what does go on and whilst we live in a fairly benign society - what the state collects data on is rather sobering. Those Tesco Club Cards? Sold to Marketing and other agencies to build up an idea as to how we spend. Each census count gets nosier and nosier - with the one planned for 2001 - allegedly the most "intrusive" yet by all released data.

But then - so much information and things then grind to a halting overload.

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

---Don't think vets are allowed to do that to humans
Seriously-
Be thankfull you don't have civil servants /relations of Submariners ( no not that one ) / persons subject to Official secrets act (especially the more secret side ) around -then you'd get a bit more vetting ,rising to positive vetting just in case you're/might prove a threat to national security .

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Thank you for UNDERSTANDING!

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

[quote="In Gear



Thank you for UNDERSTANDING![/quote]

Time we had a Bouquett for BIB week in the press IMHO --The things they do without being asked ,without any expectation of reward /praise

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Time we had a Bouquett for BIB week in the press IMHO --The things they do without being asked ,without any expectation of reward /praise[/quote]


I spent most of day after I took a break from internet browsing and chattiing.. tending my garden . flowers and edible patch

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

IG - reason I said that was not so long ago we had a keen young CBO -got fed up with rear of rubbish + stolen dumped stuff - spent his days off getting local yoof involved in clearing back gardens . Next one - kept picking up certain local yob coming out of illegally entered premises - we had large words with CPS /head magistrate,via county bloke -next pick up was to remand centre . -but the present system is stifling the incentives of local CBO to go out and establish community relations .

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I see things are going downhill in the met, fast. Do not really see the point in the bpa "playing the race card" to protest against........racism !
Oh well, doubtless there is a point here, just too subtle for me to see ?

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I heard about this (the sacked for wearing a BNP badge)

Isn't this intolerance on the part of his employers more than anyone else?

The BNP, whatever you may think of them, (personally speaking I loath/fear the green party more, and the ideologies ain't too far removed) are a recognised, legitimate political party right? I mean it's not like he was on some neo-nazi skinhead march.

Someone remind me why we keep criticising China.

_________________
Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

I think it's because of associations with Fascism. But then .. there was the old bloke arrested once for shouting "RUBBISH" at a Labour conference...

I wonder what difference now exists between these parties? As for "Green" politics.

But tonight's Manchester really blasts the police.. from the M6 uninsured case to the Over Kellett judgement to the over-reaction to some kids playing fisticuffs and mock fighting outside a bowling alley.

_________________
If you want to get to heaven - you have to raise a little hell!

Smilies are contagious
They are just like the flu
We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
It makes folk wonder just what you REALLY got up to last night!

Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
Enjoy life! You only have the one bite at it.

The BNP are allegedly a legitimate policital party at the moment, however wasn't he also wearing a National Front badge? Last time I checked they wern't a political party and were in fact just a bunch of thugs?

If it were just the BNP that he was displaying support for, then this story would be a lot more troubling.

I wonder if he'd be sacked for supporting one of those animal rights groups that use terrorist-like tactics to harass and threaten employees of pharmaceutical companies and their friends and relatives?

NF? my bad, thats a bit closer to the knuckle- they don't even put on the pretense of being valid.

Point still stands, abeit weaker, as I understand the police is more a way of life than merely a job.

_________________
Fear is a weapon of mass distraction