[sheps]

I know we have a few police officers as active members on here. I'm curious to know your thoughts on police shows such as "Police Interceptors" and the like.

As an average, law abiding and tax paying individual, I'm a little torn.
Sometimes I have nothing but total respect for the job these guys do and have admiration for them.

Other times they come across as time wasting, holier-than-thou douchebags.

One constant that frustrates me as a tax payer is the amount of time/money spent by virtue of number of officers attending any given incident is the laughable punishment some of these people get.

For example, what the fuck is the point of giving a disqualified driver points on a licence they don't have? That must be very frustrating when the prosecution/courts fail to follow through properly after you've nicked these scummers.

[Mart1000]

It's totally shocking how much time & effort goes into alot of jobs only to have the CPS bosh the whole thing. My biggest gripe about the job.

As for the arses, to be honest there's good and bad in every job out there. Unfortunately the bad ones tar us all with the same brush.

Be wary of the TV shows, they never show the whole story which makes it all to easy to judge. Which is why I don't watch them, but totally understand why loads of others do.

[willhollin]

I think the Police should have the powers to dish out a good old fashioned beating as and when they see fit.

[dopper99]

Isnt Police Interceptors the one with the Scoobys and Evo's? I really dont know how that force has the budget to run those kind of cars. The Evo's must be needing an oil change every month, let alone the fuel bill. Do other forces have these kind of cars? Most patrol cars I see are Volvos/Mondeos/Vectra/Insignia/Hondas etc......

[Mart1000]

The evo's etc are an extremely small part of Essex police fleet. It's a very small part of a small traffic fleet. Many forces don't have an interceptor unit for costing alone, Essex obviously see fit to have one. I agree the servicing costs alone would he huge, but those vehicles are serviced in house, unlike most other police vehicles, keeping costs quite low.

Police vehicles are bought at massively reduced rate, nowhere near showroom price

[sheps]

Originally Posted by dopper99

Isnt Police Interceptors the one with the Scoobys and Evo's? I really dont know how that force has the budget to run those kind of cars. The Evo's must be needing an oil change every month, let alone the fuel bill. Do other forces have these kind of cars? Most patrol cars I see are Volvos/Mondeos/Vectra/Insignia/Hondas etc......

The first series focussed on the Essex force which, I believe, was the original and only force to have an interceptor unit. Later series' focus on other (northern) forces (Sheffield, I believe), so its been rolled out to a wider number.

I think each force should have a high speed response unit.
If my car went missing, would a Mondeo/Vectra keep pace with it? Unlikely.
The requirements for a high speed response would probably create a very long list and I think its a cause worth supporting.

My concern is with value for money.

It should only be used in circumstances where the vanilla stuff is insufficient.

Another annoyance (and its probably blown out of proportion, due to TV editing) is what is considered a 'result'. You see these drugs busts where there are 10+ officers, dressed like the SAS, smash into someone's house on 'intelligence' of drug activity and they find a bag of weed that wouldn't satisfy a decent joint.

Copper A looks to the camera and says "Result".

Really?
A caution for a fivers worth of weed, Vs 50 police man-hours + gear is a result?
What has that little operation cost the tax payer?
If I drew a parallel with my job and delivered results like that on a similar expenditure level I would be out of job, pretty quickly.

I guess I should stop watching these shows, but I do enjoy them!

[Cyprio]

Evo's and Scooby's...nooooooo! every force should have one of these

[Mart1000]

Each force does sheps, but some choose to have 'interceptor' units as well. I drive one of the faster response & pursuit cars (2 cars of this type on my borough). The rest are all Astra 1.8 oil burners, and the odd Hyundai I30/Focus.

Totally understand your point of view about the 'mob handed' jobs you see. To average Jo it looks way overboard, often for a totally negative result. It's done for a reason though, officer safety. Often with this job you never know what you will be faced with, hence why s many on occasion. A house takes a long time to search properly (thoroughly) and it takes manpower, whatever the outcome.

[Mart1000]

Nice Lamborghini, but that uniform? Pmsl

[Billyray911]

[zedman]

i watch all the interceptor type and theres a lot of holier than thou policing going on, one memorable one was when one of the cops was driving s brand new Focus ST police car and someone pulled out of a side road and hit it. No major damage but 3 police cars turn up (presumably one of them is the mandatory guy to check it all) and it seemed to turn into such a farce. The guy who hit him admitted it and then the cop starts going on and on about young drivers blah blah blah. Then starts saying to the young driver about how he's damaged 'my new focus, brand new my Focus is'.
How does that work? Surely the copper owned that car just as much as me and you?

I mean FFS, theres been a prang, everyones insured, guilty parties admitted it. Why not just leave it at that, or do coppers never do anything wrong?

The weird thing is that having been pulled over a number of times, i've never come across one anywhere near as bad as some of them on TV. The last one in particular was extremely polite, courteous, decent guy - nothing like these (seeemingly) ego fuelled guys on TV.

[Mart1000]

People play up for reality TV. Sad, but true.

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by willhollin

I think the Police should have the powers to dish out a good old fashioned beating as and when they see fit.

plus one!...

and let off "nice" people!

[dopper99]

What I dont understand is how the officer has time to stop to talk to the camera half way through - or near the end of a raid/pull over etc...
I mean, if you'd just been in a high speed chase or a drugs bust, would you honestly be in the frame of mind to tell all to a camera?
Do the officer's get something out of doing this (monetary wise - or other)? I know if I were a copper and was asked to go round with a film crew all day I'd tell em where to shove it as I'd have better things to do.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by dopper99

What I dont understand is how the officer has time to stop to talk to the camera half way through - or near the end of a raid/pull over etc...
I mean, if you'd just been in a high speed chase or a drugs bust, would you honestly be in the frame of mind to tell all to a camera?
Do the officer's get something out of doing this (monetary wise - or other)? I know if I were a copper and was asked to go round with a film crew all day I'd tell em where to shove it as I'd have better things to do.

I'm guessing that they are alot calmer doing the high risk stuff than you or me would be - they're trained and experienced. I don't know what you do for a living but I might be totally flummoxed doing it for a day and be totally incapable of talking to a third party while focusing on the task.

I must admit, i've seen and heard some stories about douche bag police but having had my fair share of legal scrapes - traffic and otherwise - in the past, I've met some top coppers who are just doing their job and some have gone above and beyond to help me seeing I was just a young lad being foolish. Its been those sorts of coppers that have led to me being a law abiding citizen in my old age

[mowflow]

Originally Posted by willhollin

I think the Police should have the powers to dish out a good old fashioned beating as and when they see fit.

That'd be cool as long as you have the right to fight back. SQUARE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[creepy coupe]

Mart. Am I correct in thinking Suffolk doesn't have any fixed speed cameras?

[dxb335d]

One on the A14, one on A1307 just two that spring into my mind immediately.

[dxb335d]

Oh and a couple in those American towns.

[dobbo99]

i always shout at the tv when the end result is "no charges were brought against the boy who did xxxxxx"

so if im frustrated, i can only imagine how annoying it must be for the police to have spent 3 hrs wrestling with some drunk goon, for him to walk away with both fingers held high.

i got pulled over not so long ago, and was handcuffed while they checked out my details and car, because an identical one had been stolen in the area earlier in the day. i knew i had done nothing wrong, so didnt fight/scream/run off/play up for the camera, and I was all done and dusted in 10mins, even had a few jokes afterwards.
just needs a bit of respect both ways.

people who cause the fuss usually have something to hide.

[dopper99]

I think one of the best attributes to have as a copper is to be able to detect a liar. Seems virtually all the criminals on the tele lie about something or other. This clearly wastes a lot of police time while the accussed are pi55ing about.

[sheps]

It's annoying to see officers time (and tax payers cash) wasted by pissed up individuals who want to tear chunks out of one another that push the police to the point where they're arrested, spend the night in a cell and then get released with no charge.

Why?

It wastes tonnes of police time.

There should be a standard £150 charge if you're locked up for being a dickhead.

Might persuade a percentage of morons to mind their tongue and act like human beings on a night out.