The Zohan

Re Joyriders/car thieves

IMHO
I do not see this as the Police at fault, they only enforce the laws that Parliament make. The politicians are the ones who should pull the heads out of the sand (or wherever else they stick them) and make sure the law does what it is supposed to which is protect the innocent, give the Police the power to crack down on these scum and then put in place sentences to deter all but the most stupid *****!


[Edited by Paul Habgood - 9/6/2002 9:05:09 AM]

Dr Hu

I too was suprised at the 82 in a 60 - I said to my wife the copper was lucky he was 'only' doing 82........I bet a lot of people on a road like that would probably be travelling at a much higher speed.

Someone I know quite well :P would prob be averaging higher speed than that on that type of road

edited to say - lock up the theiving scum with bread & water in a ******* dungeon for a few years - see how many they nick then!....******* granny state

[Edited by Dr Hu - 9/6/2002 9:25:43 AM]

uncle buck

How come *every* vehicle they persue is a Ford of some sort or another?

And... how come the police seem to miss so many easy opportunities to stop the **** they are chasing?

uncle buck

Oh and a Mini Metro with three kids on board?! FFS should be easy to stop!!

Nathan L

And how would you do it then ?

mbc

just ram them off the road like the yanks do

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

The police are too scared to try and stop the criminals with force now for fear of being sued by the scum for personal injury..........another case of this country going down the toilet!

uncle buck

well, that Sierra chase - the longest persuit ever at 70 miles - could have been stopped at the juction where he waited behind a lorry to turn right, before he had realised he was being followed.

They could have simpley walked up, opened the door and arrested the driver - he had nowhere to go...

BuRR

We get bollocked for "chasing" people..... we have to "follow" them.

drumsterphil

iTrader: (1)

And how come car thieves appear to be invulnerable to car crashes - all these programs and I've yet to see a thief unable to walk away from the wrecked car.......

(As for that condiscending b*****d who pulled the guy doing 82 in 60 - good road conditions, little traffic - FFS change the record for once!)

DP.

Nathan L

Even when you are trained for Tactical Pursuit And Containment its not just a case of ramming them off the road.

If I ram someone and they hit another car / pedestrian / whatever and kill themselves or anyone else I would get prosecuted for "Death by Dangerous Driving" without any doubt.

As for the Sierra, I'm not patronising but its easy to judge watching it on televsion. Its a whole different story out there on the road. Even I watch the screen and think I would do this or I would do that but is not easy when you're doing it.

Little Miss WRX

I would not want to be in the driving seat of a pursuit vehicle!!

The cop summed it up at the end:

"If the driver causes death by dangerous driving whilst being pursued by police then there will be public outcry. If the driver causes death by dangerous driving and the police are not pursuing there will be public outcry as to why the police weren't" (not quoted as I can't remember his exact words so that is bsically what he said.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't - bit like being a moderator

It is a difficult decision to make because the driver will do everything that he/she can to get away, but if they don't pursue, the driver may get away and still drive dangerously.

The police need more copters, unfortunately, they aren't cheap!!!!

Sprint Chief

I watched "hot pursuit", and thought most of it was a good show on the difficult and dangerous situations the police have to try to deal with. Much respect for the police for this part.

But when they showed the guy being pulled over for 82 in a national limit (single carriageway - 60mph) - FFS! I had no respect for the jobsworth tax collector smirking at the drivers excuse and coming up with the bo11ox "could be his funeral tomorrow"...

Dry, clear driving conditions; low traffic; clearly not residential, no risk to pedestrians etc. this guy was an extremely low risk. Compared to the appalling driving I see on the road every day, this guy wasn't anywhere near the top of the list of "likely to cause casualties". He was basically an easy target for a cynical opportunity to collect funds. Left the rest of the programme - which was good stuff - with a bitter taste in the mouth.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

My fave still has to be the clip where the patrol car blows a rear tyre doing 120+ on the M180, close to where I live. The car spins about 5 times b4 coming to rest on the hard shoulder. The copper calls in to report a "Polac", and, on being asked if there were any casualties, responds" No, but I may have to go home to change my trousers!"

blair

My hackles were also raised by that condescending tw@t giving out a ticket for 82 in a 60 (On the A9 by the way - the same place I was caught by a laser gun for exactly the same speed in exactly the same conditions).

What made it worse was the fact that the drivers side window of the police casr was covered in dirt/grime or dried salt spray which the camera certainly couldn't see through and probably the driver.

Is it not an offence to have windows in such a condition that you can't see through them ?

I would write to the Chief ****stable of Highland Police but I drive up and down the A9 too often to risk it

A

boomer

What got me most angry about the program was at the very end, when they gave the latest "updates".

The guy in the sierra, who failed to stop, speeded, drove recklessly then crashed into a housing estate full of children go "a severe looking at"; and the bank robbers who drove the wrong way down a one-way street, topped 120mph in a built-up area and fired missiles at the following officers got a slap on the wrist.

Ok, the above paragraph is (just!) made up, but the 5 month jail sentence for one of the worst offenders - which would only be 10 weeks in reality (and probably zero if they were on remand) just shows how justice stinks. And what about the **** who was stopped after umpteen other car thefts.

I am sorry, but stealing a car more than once is not a trivial mistake, and the crims should be sent down for some serious time [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] Oh, and they should have "thieving *******" tattooed on their foreheads!

mb