blubs

Happened to me. No mobile, panicked, booted it and ended up with 8 points and £400 fine for careless driving.

I would make a complaint. Mind you I'm cynical and intolerant (apparently).

blubs

Kev

Hi all ...

I've had a ***t and unusual weekend and I'm gonna share it with you ..

About 11:30 on Sat night I was returning back from a mates house when I became aware I was being tailed, without being too paranoid I decided to take a few "pointless" trips down a few local lanes/roads, the car continued to follow me so as It's happened before a few month back I decided to dial 999 from the mobile.

They were very helpful, can you give me the registration number ? no 'cause I'm watching where I'm going .. Are you sure it's following you ? Yes I'm dead sure .. Then they put me through to a control room, I then gave this very nice lady a running commentry on where I was etc ... at this point I was doing about 90-95 and in the distance I could see blue lights ... As I/we got closer I expected them to see the lights and stop but they kept on chasing me ....

The traffic car was across the junction in front of me so I braked ( hard !) and came to a halt a few metres away ... then sat there waiting for the contents of the traffic car to jump out and aprehend the contents of the car behind ... but oh so slowly they got out of both ..... oh uhhh....... me thinks.

To end this tale of woe It turns out the car behind me was a car from the car crime squad and after I started making u-turns and doubling back they got suspicious and tailed me.

They then gave me a *****king about speeding down lanes and use of a mobile whilst driving the list went on and on, luckly for me I still had all my doc's from my holiday in the glove box and I had my ID card from work in the door pocket to prove the car and who I was. THEN the traffic guys start giving the other guys a *****king about not having a working blue light to stop me and just what do you expect a driver to do when he thinks he's been followed .. looks like the call to 999 was the best thing I did ....

So I got away with no ticket/s and a call from "some bloke in charge" yesterday to appologise for the whole incident .... and hoped I would'nt follow up with the official complaints procedure like the traffic guys suggested if I felt it was appropriate.

K

Mossman

Jesus! What a mare! And they are suppoesed to be looking after us!!!
May have been an honest mistake I suppose.

Jon.

DavidG

Blubs - This is entrapment, surely . I can't imagine that a charge based this would stand up in court (IMHO).

Kev - I wonder why the "bloke in charge" was so keen for you not to go through the official complaints procedure.

Kev

I agree with Dave ..

Can't see how in a court they could explain away the incompetence of the car chasing, I would without doubt have the traffic car on my side 'cause they were in total diss-belief too .. but ended well as far as I'm concerned .. to be honest I did get a bit worried 'cause I thought I was about to get the book thrown at me ( actually I was ***ting myself ), I think the 999 call saved my skin somewhat and don't regret it. On the subject of carrying out the complaint ... I don't fancy having to watch my back for the next few years, I really enjoy driving and don't want some bad attitude type PC ruining it for me ... so I won't follow it up, I did ask for an apology in writing from the driver of the car though, just have to wait to see if I get it .. then frame it !!

K

[This message has been edited by Kev (edited 14 August 2000).]

Jerome

I've had a few dealings with (Traffic) Police and most of them have been OK (as much as getting nicked for speeding can be!).

However I did have one incident that completely shook my faith in the Police.

I was a passenger in a mates car (BX diesel) on a Saturday (middayish), and he was pulled over for jumping a red light in Streatham. While the driver of the (non-traffic) police car was dealing with my mate, I decided to stretch my legs, having been in the car for a couple of hours.

I stood on the pavement at the front of the car, well away from my mate and the copper. The passenger in the police car jumped out of the car and said, in a VERY aggressive tone, "get back in the car NOW!". I turned to him and calmly replied "but I'm just stretching my legs". "Get back in the car now or you're nicked" was the response. I started getting back in the car, and said under my breath "I was only stretching my legs!". He again threatened to nicked me, so I got in the car and sat there fuming silently.

Unfortunately, I didn't pursue it further, and later much regretted it. What would the charge have been?

I guarantee, if anything approaching this happens again, I will make an immediate complaint against the officer. I will persue the complaint all the way. I will not back down, regardless of any persuasion from senior officers. If the guy gets a black mark on his record - good.

He is a public servant, and should treat members of the public with respect, until said member of the public behaves in such a way that such heavy handedness is deserved.

Just needed to get that off my chest.

Jerome.

blubs

DavidG,

You are probably right and it was a line I considered taking. The original charge was dangerous driving (or it's new equivalent), but that was dropped.

My problem was I did not want to risk a very costly representation fee by dragging it through the courts. In hindsight, I would have done it, but going to court with a clean licence and no convictions I really did not expect to get hit so hard. If it happens again I will do as Kev did.

Needless to say I have a very low opinion of police in general as a result. Yeah, I know they are not all the same but until I meet one to the contrary, they are all gits.

blubs

Paul Wilson

How about keeping it in the glove box, then next time your stopped.......

Scott J Davies

I know it was a pain in the earse for you but I think this actually shows some crime prevention measures by Plod. Its rather like when you make a credit card transaction and then you have to pick up the phone and provide your mothers maiden name etc.

Its all in our best interests really. Now if they would have nicked you different matter.

Not so sure on this guys I think we have to give Plod some credit here.

letdown

Hmmmmm........Just as an observation isnt 999 for emergency's only!! Unless of course you thought you were in danger!!! Wouldnt it have been easier to drive to the police station or back to your mates house!! just a thought!!

blubs

Scott,

I can see your point to a degree but I still think that plod sometimes create a situation (perhaps unwittingly), by following people 'to see what they are up to'.

After I'd been stopped and informed about my offences, I asked why they had followed me. The reply was "Because we had information that led us to believe the car may be stolen".

"Fine", says I. "So why didn't you stop me then?"

"We wanted to see where you were going".

What a load of ****. If they believed the car to be stolen, stop it. Nothing more, nothing less. I admit I have a certain blame by putting my foot down, (eventually), but they created a situation out of nothing by following me for so long.

Crime Prevention? Crime creation more like it!!!

blubs

Dave P

Ok so I have two stories on the same theme.

Mate gets followed all around our home town. Eventually drives into the local car park where they follow him. He slams on the brakes they allmost hit him. He jumps out runs to their car and shouts, "Why the F%^& are you following me". They say they are police officers and explain he had just posted a letter in a building that was no longer occupied etc.etc. They asked him for his address but offered no ID. After he thought it was all a bit weird and called the local nick, who confirmed the two guys were CID.

Second story, my brother in law got lost taking a short cut once, did some u-turns and double backs. (He was in a van) Next thing he was arrested and banged up in jail!!!! Turns out there was a burglery a short time before and the police though he and his mate were trying to evade them. It isn't so much what happened but the way it was dealt with that shocked us. My BIL was 16 at the time and his parents were away so my wife and I went to the police station.

He was recalled for an ID parade, the description of the youths was tanned, dark hair, ear ring, skin head, etc. my B.I.L fitted the bill. Anyway the ID parade was a mockery, blonde haired pimply kids fresh out of school, not one remotely fitting the descritpion.

And the thing that really got my goat, when we arrived I parked my shiny Renault 5 GT Turbo in the visitors space. A police officer came and asked whose it was, I explained it was mine and I had given my B.I.L. a lift for the ID parade. The response and I quote verbatim was "Those spaces aren't for your type of visitor. Move it" I was only 21 at the time lacked a little confidence and didn't want to put my B.I.L in a difficult position so I meekly moved it. 12 years on it would have been a very different story. Anyway he wasn't picked out at the ID parade so all's well that ends well.

Upside is that was my only bad experience with the police.

Dave

Bal

Thankfully I've never had any trouble with the police.
Considering that I'm an asian lad who drives a very fast car - I ain't done too badly (touch wood).

Bal

DavidRB

Blubs, sorry to hear about what happened, it does sound like entrapment, but I agree with their tactic of "seeing where you were going". If the car had been stolen and was being driven to a lock-up, then the police have an opportunity to catch the driver, the rest of the gang and close down the lock-up. If they stop the car immediately, they lose the lead. Why go for the monkeys when they can get the organ grinder as well? Not that I'm calling you a monkey you understand!

Jerome: He was probably a new copper, nervous that you might make a run for it. You knew you were innocent, he didn't.

In the past, I would have tried to speed away if I was being followed, now I've read stories like this, I would just make brisk but legal progress to the police station.

Stuart H

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Jerome:
<B>I stood on the pavement at the front of the car, well away from my mate and the copper. The passenger in the police car jumped out of the car and said, in a VERY aggressive tone, "get back in the car NOW!"[/quote]

I know this is no excuse, it is however an un-written rule that we prefer passengers (and drivers most of the time) to stay in the vehicle. This is for two reasons:

<B>i)</B>The safety of that person; police car lights going giving someone a ticking off. Someone driving past looses concentration, next thing you have a serious injury on your hands.

<B>ii)</B>For the police officers safety; I can relate to this part, especially after being stabbed for the third time in my 8 year career last week dealing with exactly this sort of incident.

Jerome

Stuart,

I absolutely agree with what you say.

My point was that the aggressiveness of the copper was seriously over the top for the situation.

I like to think I don't look like a thug, I hadn't been drinking, was deliberately not interfering or even looking at the 'booking' of my mate. If he had asked me firmly to get back in the car, even without giving a reason, I would have complied - without the mouthful of verbal that seems to be the norm towards coppers these days.

I have a healthy respect for the Police. I treat coppers with respect, and expect a reasonable amount of respect in return. The fact that I can remember this 'incident' at about 10 years later shows the damage one incident can do. I wouldn't want to see a situation (like the US) were coppers handcuff you before they'll even talk to you.

Jerome.

PS: Stuart, sorry to hear you've been stabbed at all, let alone for a third time. No copper *ever* deserves that! I can see that, in London, it probably pays to be too firm rather than too soft. Have I just contradicted myself?

[This message has been edited by Jerome (edited 15 August 2000).]

RobinL

Stuart H,

You were stabbed ?! Christ no wonder the cops are preparing for the worst each time they stop someone in a fast car.

I've been stopped lots of times driving late at night in my Scooby - always to check if I'm the owner or not. I've always taken great pleasure in this and think it pretty cool that they are checking to see if someone has nicked my car. I usually have a banter about the performance and what the radar detector does too !

Sorry to hear you were attacked though.

RichS

I my (admittedly limited) experience, the police force are just like any other cross section of society.

- some are extremely fair, decent, polite people.
- some are complete t0ss£ers.

It's just a matter of luck as to which you encounter.


I know this some what generalised, but I think it's a bit unfair to tar all coppers with the same brush.

Just another of my stupid opinions....


Rich

Stuart H

As you say reactions vary from officer to officer. A lot of the time it depends on length of experience, which is why people's experiences of Traffic Officers tend to be much better than of those had with your the average street bobby with one or two years service.

There's <B>no</B> excuse for any officer to be rude to a member of the public, no matter what the circumstances.

(Luckily had my stab-vest on so all it required was a change of underpants back at the office Cheers guys)

[This message has been edited by Stuart H (edited 15 August 2000).]

PeteC

I agree with Jerome - a relatively small incident can certainly colour your view of the police.

Many years ago now (30, if I'm honest) I was coming up to a very large roundabout, with one woman driver in front of me. There was one car on the roundabout on the far side. The woman ahead of me starts to enter the roundabout, and I check on the position of the car that's coming round the roundabout, and also start to move forward. Classic situation - she's stopped, and I go into the back of her!

I was feeling a bit miffed that she'd stopped and angry with myself for not checking where she was before moving forward. Clearly my fault though.

There was a small dent in her car's rear bumper, but mine (a TR3A held together by rust as much as anything else) had come off a bit the worse for wear. So we exchanged details, and, because we were in the process of moving house, I gave her the address of our new house to which we were moving in about a week's time. We'd exchanged contracts, so the house was legally ours, and we would be in there before any correspondence started.

Apparently, she goes home to hubby, they drive round to the address and see the house has been sold, and then shoot off down the local nick.

A couple of days later, there is an early morning knock on the door, and there are a couple of coppers standing there. I invited them in, and explained that we were moving house, and that I hadn't thought to give her the address of the flat as we were only going to be there for another couple of days.

"No problem, sir. Quite understand, and you shouldn't hear anything more about it."

About a week or so later, I received a summons for Driving without Due Care and Attention!!!!

I think that it was probably an "end of the month" job, to make up the bookings quota. It still rankles now to think about it, but for many years I was so angry about it that I wouldn't have given a policeman the time of day. Mellowed a bit with age now though!

Sorry to hear about your injury, Stuart.

Pete

Yex

PeteC,

Driving without due care and attention Have you read the "aaaaargh" Thread in this section about the guy hit from behind by a BMW @40mph whilst he was stationary in a traffic jam

Now there's consistancy for you, 30 years apart or not.

Yex

Philsykes

I overtook an off duty 'Local hero' DC and received six points for careless driving.

He was driving a Sierra at 30mph in a 60 I was driving a 240 BHP VW Corrado that had been featured in a national magazine. Point is it wasn't a slow overtake. Part of the evidence provided in court was a photocopy of my registration number on his hand.

Not a happy chappy, mind it was 10 years ago now.

Bright Kar

I've been stopped many times. By and large I think the Police are pretty reasonable. Maybe its because I dont give them any attitude.

I have to say though, that traffic police are a lot more reasonable than local plod.

Ive overtaken Police cars many times but was only stopped on two occasions - I wasnt booked either time. One of the times was down a country lane, he was driving so slow I got fed up. Another time was when I was overtaking around 4 cars in one go on a very long clear road - it was all pretty safely done really. He was the 2nd car from the front. He was an ordinary Police car (ie not Traffic). He then had a go a overtaking the car in front of him in his underpowered Astra. His overtaking manouver was delayed (probably woke him up) and totally unsafe, to close to a roundabout by the time he actually overtook. I could see him doing this a quarter a mile behind me so I pulled over and waited a minute for him to catch up. I cant remember what he said, I just remained calm and said "sorry officer, wont do it again officer, etc". Saved a lot of hastle even though the guy was an obvious dangerous idiot.

You overtake a traffic cop they are ok about it as long as it aint breaking the law. Local plod get funny.

One bizaar incident, I was driving down a road I commutated every day, came out of a roundabout going a little fast and noticed a motorbike parked on the grass ahead. I immediately lost as much speed as was safe. Checked my rear view mirror and saw the bike pulling out.Thought I'd cut the chase and stopped in a layby. Sure enough it was a traffic cop - he didnt even bother putting his lights on. He stopped behind me and pulled out his notepad, looked at my registration plate, looked at his notepad and said "I've been waiting for you". Anyhow he didnt get a chance to clock me and got the usual hand your documents in. Nice guy and we talked about my car (it was only a crappy 405 as well). Probably the coolest time I got stopped.

I got a b*llocking for nearly running a Policeman over Well, if they will wear dark uniforms and dark hats in poorly lit areas and then step out from between park cars. After I swerved to avoid him I noticed he flashed his torch at the back of my car. Again I stopped, reversed, let him give me a stiff word and carried on my merry way.

I got stopped for doing handbreak turns on an almost empty beach. Most unlikely incident ever. Two policmen, one young, one old. The old guy gave me the stuff about laws and speed limits on the beach. At the end the young guy lent over (and this is the truth) and said "and if you got to do that sort of thing, do it at night when no-one can see you". Honest to god.

Was a bit naughty one time and cut a corner a bit going into the road I lived. Had to swerve to avoid hitting a Police car comming the other way. Oh well it was my fault. Stopped, reversed, got my b*llocking. It doesnt do to try to get away in these situations at it was a cul-de-sac

Most unreasonable traffic cop Ive had gave me the speil about my having the "worse driving he has ever seen". I actually think he provoked the situation by sitting on my quarterlight on the outside lane on the motorway at night, keeping the same speed as me, making it impossible for me overtake. I eventually slowed down (so did he) and I accelerated and overtook (not reliasing it was a Police car). The git put his the lights on and pulled me over. I try to interupt his repartee about how bad my driving was but he told me to "shut up or I will book you". At which point I took his offer and left with the usual hand your papers in.

I was surprised that the local Police stations never commented on the frequency I was handing my documents in

Anyway, I could bore you all night with this.....

bkar

ALANB

Worst expierence with cops wasn't here but in the US, my cousin Tommy was driving and failed to see a stop light (over there they're about 30 foot up, on wires). He stopped over the line and reversed, a car pulled up and as we moved off the christmas tree went on. We stop, cop gets out, asks if Tommy is aware of what's he's done, yes he is, can I see your licence?
At this point Tommy goes to get his licence fron the glove compartment, suddenly there's a gun stuck in his ear and a nasty smell in the air. 10 seconds later there are three other police units around us, sirens wailing!
Turns out the cop thought Tommy was going for a gun and that's how they respond over there. They got quite abusive and were told "you hicks better not come into town again"...
After that anything they throw at you over here seems a lot easier.

Kev

Just a few things ..

I agree 999 is for emergencies only and to be honest I was getting a bit "concerned" as I could'nt get much distance between us and could'nt seem to shake them off. I though 999 was the best thing to do.

On driving round to my mates house ... he was pickled on curry and lager when I left so that was really out of the question, I did'nt want to drive home and the local police station ...... wait for it ........ is closed at night.

The traffic guys were great, 100% on my side and when I calmed down they did breath test me ... no probs as I hadn't touched a drop, but the other chappies were very highly strung, I suppose they thought they had got a toe rag car thief to drag back ... One thing they did say was I should be thankful as if it was stolen they would of got the car and driver ... Not likely as I was pushing it and the lanes were c**p, damp and dusty/muddy so I was been very carefull not to total it in the scenery .... a 12 year old toe rag would'nt of bothered and would of stuffed it for sure.

K

Jerome

Bkar,

The number of times you've been pulled over and you living in Dorset isn't a just a coincidence is it?

I made the mistake of living in Dorset for 2 years and couldn't wait to get out. There is no crime in Dorset, it would seem, so all coppers are asked to concentrate on motorists.

One guy I knew found he'd been burgled and called the Police. "We can send an officer next week if you really insist" he was told. He then went outside to find 6 coppers doing a roadblock to catch road tax evaders in his road. Sense of priorites wrong?

Having said all that, the drivers in Dorset seem to be the worst in the country (too many old dears in Metros) present company excluded of course , roundabouts are a mystery to drivers down there. I couldn't wait to get out of the place...

Having said all that, Farnborough isn't much better...

Jerome.

[This message has been edited by Jerome (edited 16 August 2000).]

Maxwell Straker

I was out one night and got stopped twice by different police men. This was in my young and reckless days but both incidents were 'just spot checks'.

The first officer gave me the notice to produce my documents that I duly thanked him for and went on my merry way. Upon being pulled over for the second time that night the second officer also proceeded to write me out a producer at which point I said there was no need as I had already had one for that night.

Sorry Sir, came the reply from Plod I have to give this to you anyway. I was feeling a little fustrated at this point so decided on a cunning course of action to wreak my revenge.

The following day I went to the local station, documents in hand and spent 30 minutes filling a form out with a lovely female officer and commenting on what a good job Plod were doing and that I was happy to be stopped. Upon completion of the form and saying goodbye I turned around and said that I had another producer.

Her face was a picture as she now had to spend another 30 minutes filling out another form, complaining constantly about how stupid the coppers were to issue me another ticket, etc, etc.

The time wasting didn't bother me as I was on the dole at the time and didn't have anything better to do.

blubs

David RB,

Ok, point taken. It's one of those situations that will work well if the car is stolen, but is potentially very frightening to the innocent otherwise. I'd also doubt very much that a driver of a stolen vehicle would drive to their lock up, knowing a vehicle was following them.

StuartH,

Ok, so now I feel like the git!!
My animosity towards the police would never extend to a warm feeling when an officer is stabbed. To face that risk everyday as part of your job is unpleasant. I can only base my opinion of my local police force on my experiences with them, which to date have been less than average. I apologise if the 'git' reference was offensive.

blubs

millband

I could get a bit paranoid here - I've had my car 8 months now and -

What am I doing wrong?

Steve

PS I was touching wood all the way through typing that lot...

Glenn

You're a brave man Millband !

I've nothing but respect for the police that have "had a word in my shell like" - stopped a total of 22 times (including once in my Dolly Sprint because "I didn't like the look of your wheels !" but overall they've been fair to me.....until this morning when I get a bit of paper through giving me a notice of intention to prosecute...for 42 in a 30 ( I honestly thought it was a 40 limit) - annoying thing is we thought the van / camera was pointing up the road so I thought I was safe.....does annoy me as there's no bargaining or showing that you're a decent human being with a camera, worse still, this was within 200 miles of Scooby ownership, and my radar was still in my other car.

Sods law I guess.