Police stopped me.

Timmne

I was thinking about becoming a police officer a while back - it's something I've always wanted to do - you know, try and improve society a little bit etc...

In my enthusiasm I did loads of research into it and found a forum for PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) who are in most respects a police officer, they're just not called that for some reason.

There's one part of this forum that's a scenario based bit - one person posts a scenario and asks what others would do in that situation. So many people on there who were both PCs and PCSOs posted replies with the phrase "I would use my powers...." (seriously) and this (and other worrying superhero-based comments) made me realise what a load of thugs they were, and I've decided that I don't want to be involved with the organisation at all.

Since then I've been involved (as a third party) in a couple of incidents where police were called and I've been spoken to like absolute dirt both times by the arrogant, stuck up officers who believe they've arrived to save the day and be the heroes.

These experiences lead me to believe that the OP was spoken to in a condescending manner and probably was victimised for being a young lad, so I symapthise with him for that - not to say that I agree with not stopping at an amber traffic light!

Steve_xx

Timmne wrote: »

I was thinking about becoming a police officer a while back - it's something I've always wanted to do - you know, try and improve society a little bit etc...

In my enthusiasm I did loads of research into it and found a forum for PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) who are in most respects a police officer, they're just not called that for some reason.

There's one part of this forum that's a scenario based bit - one person posts a scenario and asks what others would do in that situation. So many people on there who were both PCs and PCSOs posted replies with the phrase "I would use my powers...." (seriously) and this (and other worrying superhero-based comments) made me realise what a load of thugs they were, and I've decided that I don't want to be involved with the organisation at all.

Since then I've been involved (as a third party) in a couple of incidents where police were called and I've been spoken to like absolute dirt both times by the arrogant, stuck up officers who believe they've arrived to save the day and be the heroes.

These experiences lead me to believe that the OP was spoken to in a condescending manner and probably was victimised for being a young lad, so I symapthise with him for that - not to say that I agree with not stopping at an amber traffic light!

Yes, I concur with what you say. Officers can all too regularly display an air of arrogance.

zorber

As for the OP question
If he was cautioned for the offences listed then thats as far as its likely to go. If they wish to give points then he would have been given documentation and asked to produce documents at his local station or he would have been advised that the matter would be referred on for prosecution.

The caution last for six months i believe where by if he gets another caution for any of the offences he was cautioned for, then the first caution will be reviewed and then prosecution for the two cautions is likely.

So learn the lesson every one else has been telling you about.

about the red lights, when amber fist shows there will be plenty of stopping time unless you are either speeding or you are too close to the lights to stop and in which case you wouldnt see them go red as you would have passed though. Your friend needs to learn his stopping distances.

Steve_xx

zorber wrote: »

Davidboy i havent found a car thats willing to let out a lorry yet!! i dont drive lorrys but have to occasionally drive with a trailer so i get to see it from their point of view, its extremely difficult to pull out to over take when you are restricted to doing 60 mph yet the other cars overtaking are doing 70 80 or 90+. Its the cars behind that need to be compassionate and more patient rather then forcing them selves past because they can. Its also very difficult to see cars that come speeding up from behind remember they have 40 feet of trailer to see past first using just side mirrors.
Yes you get some muppets in lorries but this is normally dwarfed by muppets in cars who think they know how to drive.

Lorry drivers tend to pull out suddenly and without indicating. That to me is both dangerous and it is loutish. They drive too close to other lorries and they often stay in the middle lane on motorways when they shouldn't be out of the nearside lane in the first place, except for overtaking.

Car drivers do all of these things too! But lorries seem more threatening to car drivers due to their size I guess.

Davidboy

zorber wrote: »

Davidboy i havent found a car thats willing to let out a lorry yet!! i dont drive lorrys but have to occasionally drive with a trailer so i get to see it from their point of view, its extremely difficult to pull out to over take when you are restricted to doing 60 mph yet the other cars overtaking are doing 70 80 or 90+. Its the cars behind that need to be compassionate and more patient rather then forcing them selves past because they can. Its also very difficult to see cars that come speeding up from behind remember they have 40 feet of trailer to see past first using just side mirrors.
Yes you get some muppets in lorries but this is normally dwarfed by muppets in cars who think they know how to drive.

We all use our own experiences to add comments on here and as a frequent user of the M4 I see so many near misses with lorries pulling out and with no observation of those comming behind them.

Only the other day, there are roadworks near Reading where there are "average" speed cameras and a strict 50 mile an hour speed limit. So I was doing my 50 miles an hour then next thing was a lorry 2 feet from me rear end, flashing and showing me a fist all because I was doing the speed limit.

I know all lorry drivers are not bad, but was just gettting Conor because I thought he was very harsh to the OP.

D

Advocate

I wonder how much the police's crusade against motorists has damaged relations between the masses and the police, regarding the situations when they need the public's help to solve serious crimes.

Putting aside the rights and wrongs of minor road traffic offences, the fact remains that "ordinary" motorists (those who stray slightly over the speed limit, or have a minor defect with their vehicle) are generally a decent and law-obiding majority who the police reach out to for help when something really bad happens.

I'd hate to think, for example, that witnesses to murders like the shooting of a child in Liverpool recently, had adopted a "screw the police" mentality because cocky and rude traffic cops had shafted them for a minor motoring offence.

moonrakerz

superscaper wrote: »

Yes I can

If I send you a couple of bottles of Tesco's value bottled water, can you turn it into wine for me ! :rolleyes:

superscaper

moonrakerz wrote: »

If I send you a couple of bottles of Tesco's value bottled water, can you turn it into wine for me ! :rolleyes:

Any other water I could perform the miracle, but Tesco value? Even I have limits

:beer:

espresso

Davidboy wrote: »

Only the other day, there are roadworks near Reading where there are "average" speed cameras and a strict 50 mile an hour speed limit. So I was doing my 50 miles an hour then next thing was a lorry 2 feet from me rear end, flashing and showing me a fist all because I was doing the speed limit.

This thread is getting a bit off topic now but the chances are that you were not actually doing 50MPH, probably as low as 45MPH given the likely inaccuracy of your speedometer in comparison to the one fitted to the lorry. I'm not condoning the drivers actions and it has happened to me but they do have more accurate speedos.

NovaBlack_2

to be honest guys i think its clear that the OP was saying the lights changed to amber as they went through them.

As people KEEP pointing out, going through on red is illegal and im sure OP wouldnt be argumentative about the outcome of the situation if this had been the case.


gotta also say some people should be ashamed of themselves. if you havent got advice to give, dont just post nasty comments instead. If you do have to disagree with the OP , just say it in a nice way. no need to come across as an arrogant know it all and phrase everything in a blunt forceful way.


Ive been driving for almost 6 years now and like Everyone (i just dont believe you if you say no) im sure we have all at some point got to a traffic light as it changed to amber and had to make the 'is it safe to stop or should i continue call' and decided its only safe to go through.

Im NOT a boy racer, i absolutely cant stand chavs, and all that car modding stuff, and to this day i have no fines, speeding tickets, or criminal convictions/warnings. However, my two experiences with police have both been bad ones, as the officers in both seperate cases came across as rude, confrontational and arrogant. it seemed like they were almost trying to inflame the situation rather than calm it.

On the first occasion, i was parked up waiting to pick up friends near a train station in a parking space at the side of the road. It was a busy afternoon, with heavy traffic going past on both lanes of the street. As my friends arrived i turned on the engine, and my headlights, and they began to get in the car.Suddenly, from the opposite direction comes a police car, lights flashing and pulls ACROSS THE ROAD ON A DIAGONAL BLOCKING UP THE ENTIRE ROAD. Apparently my car was not road worthy because my windscreen washers had a small white L.E.D. on the bonnet. i mean they were the size of perhaps a pinhead. TINY. thats how small they were. The car had been bought a couple weeks earlier and the car was like that when i bought it.

I opened my window to the officer as he wound down his, and was quite shocked by the whole scene! people were all staring from every direction! i thought id accidentally hit some1 or something, i was so confused. when he explained , i took the high ground and didnt for a second argue with him that they were legal, i men he knows the law better than me ! (NB. i was actually a 3rd year law student at the time this happened, but hadn't covered this!). i smiled and apologised for my ignorance, and explained id bought the car recently and hadnt fitted them myself. The officer snapped back at me 'Shut it', you know you aren't allowed them'. Again, (even more shocked by this reaction) i apologised and explained i hadnt fitted them. He glared at me and said 'look... you DID fit them yourself, dont you dare lie to me!'. This exchange went on for a minute or so of me telling him i hadnt fitted them myself.

He then 'explained' that i 'was going to remove them, and i was going to do it NOW'. Again i explained i had NO IDEA how on earth they were plugged in/controlled and didnt know how to remove them. I said the the officer i could remove them as soon as i got home as my dad (good with electrics) could remove them for me. Again he told me 'You DO KNOW BECAUSE YOU FITTED THEM ! REMOVE THEM NOW!'. So.. i had to get out the car open my bonnet... with about 60 people staring... and look for any wire that remotely looked like it headed in the direction of the washers. I asked the officer 'could you give me a hand, i REALLY dont have a clue what wires im pulling it may be dangerous, and i dont know what to do' . He replied 'Im not a mechanic i dont know NOW GET THEM OFF'. and he glared at me from his window. so i just grabbed a bunch of wires and ripped them out... luckily the lights went off.

but so did my windscreen washers... so i had NO Way of washing my screen for the journey home. (note its ILLEGAL to have broken windscreen washers because you cant clear debris and dirt from your viewscreen).

anyway after i did this he looked at me and said 'yeah thats better, and tell all your mates what happend to you so they get rid of them, or ill make them do the same'. then wound his window n drove off....

tell my mates???? i was furious! He stereotyped me as some chav, and didnt listen to a THING i told him!

second experience an officer came around asking if we had 'seen anything suspicious last night'. The officer was nice as pie to my female flatmate chatting away about unrelated things.. so i asked what it was regarding so id know if i had seen something 'suspicious'. My view was that if he mentioned what had happend I'd perhaps recognise something id seen as being relevant. i was TRYING to be helpful. he again glared at me and said 'Well you obviously dont know anything then, stop wasting my time' then turned back to my female flatmate to carry on a completely unrelated conversation about where the best bars are in the area!


so all in all i DONT find it hard to believe that police officers are arrogant and have ba attitude in a lot of cases.

oh n for the poster who was very condascending about it being the friend of the OPs fault, as everyone clearly checks their tyres every week as they should... are you HONESTLY telling me you check every single thing on your car EVERY WEEK?. i mean i check mine regularly... but its like once a month max.. or before big journeys. you made it sounds like the guy was an idiot for not checking them that often when i bet HONESTLY most people here do NOT check them that often.


Ps what pi**es me off most is that a WEEK LATER i saw the same officer driving around the area ON A MOBILE PHONE! (not the radio it was a mobile). now whats more dangerous... 2 pinhead sized white dots of light or driving on a mobile..