Policing Issues Discussion

[Yorkie]

Personally I would have said you were qualified and he has issued an enforcement notice just to fill his target.  That's not a copper that's a Jobsworth contender!     :twoface:

I wonder if the Chief Constable realises that by such actions for such a trivial matter his force are losing the co-operation of the public.  I don't think that nowadays many would cross the road, or even make a phone call to assist a copper in trouble.    A really sorry state of affairs.   

[martin]

  As someone once said "I don't believe it"  it is total madness, not being able to replace a bulb yourself, what have we come to?  I will never go out in my car after dark again.

[Nemesis]

http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Feature_ChangeBulbView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001

I doubt that this copper was within his rights-- see the above link. It categorically says that you can do the job yourself !

[Merddin Emrys]

The only problem is that on a lot of very modern cars it's a long job changing bulbs, some cars require a lot of dismantling to get to a bulb 
Some years ago on an Audi estate that a friend had, the warning light came on to say a bulb had failed at the back and the pair of us (both good with cars) could not see how to change it! The handbook said 'go to a main dealer,which he did, at a cost of about £50....  utter madness!!  Thankfully I can easily change the bulbs on our  3 cars  D)

[martin]

Yes, I would agree, I can, and have, changed bulbs on my car, but the problem arises when you are stopped by the police for a blown bulb in a rear light and then prevented from replacing the bulb yourself, it is total madness.  I regularly check my lights are all okay, but as my car does not warn you if a bulb blows, I could take all of the precautions in the world to comply with the law, but through no fault of my own, fall foul of it.  It is totally unacceptable.  it is not as if you deliberately set out to break the law, but the police treat it as such, all be it in a round about way.  Either accept their fixed penalty notice, a fine and points, or get the bulb changed by a garage and the work certified by and MOT station, all of which is going to cost you at least £70 when VAT is added on, either way, you are being punished for something that you had no control over and were not aware had happened.  DISGRACFUL!    

[Yorkie]

One could always opt to have the case dealt with by HM Court Service.  Any  self respecting Magistrate or Judge would throw the case out!
 

[martin]

Hello Yorkie, that's what I was thinking, if you as a motorist take reasonable care to ensure the car is in a roadworthy condition by checking tyres, lights, etc, before setting out, I cannot see how they can convict you for something that is 100% outside your control.  I feel sure that at some stage someone with money will challenge this and hopefully get the law changed.  I am all for ensuring compliance, especially where safety is concerned, but common sense needs to be used firstly by those charged with legislating and secondly, by those enforcing the laws.   

[snowcap]

c.mon martin ,common sense, what world are you living in ,it went out of the window years ago

[martin]

c.mon martin ,common sense, what world are you living in ,it went out of the window years ago

You're right snowcap, but I can dream.  We have been living in Spain for two years, and there it is even worse, because they are in dire financial straights they are trying everything to raise funds.  For not wearing a seatbelt it's a penalty of 600 euro's, the police are just sitting at the side of country roads stopping everyone and issuing fantastic penalties for the most basic of things, (although I do not include seatbelts in this), so the UK is second league when compared to Spain.

[born2run]

Not only are these morons that stupid they think it's funny to hold buses up and waste people's time.
They're that thick they post their videos to youtube with their names in the credits 

Feel free to give them a slap on the wrist should you guys at NWP be bothered as they've practically handed themselves in!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BusJackers/videos

[PC Mike Smith]

Not only are these morons that stupid they think it's funny to hold buses up and waste people's time.
They're that thick they post their videos to youtube with their names in the credits 

Feel free to give them a slap on the wrist should you guys at NWP be bothered as they've practically handed themselves in!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BusJackers/videos

Thank you for publishing this. I have had a quick look today and surprisingly there does not seem to have been any complaints from Arriva drivers regarding this (i may be wrong though, ill dig deeper tomorrow)
Apart from pure Anti Social Behaviour there are some clear criminal offences here such as Harassment and a very nicely evidenced on film "section 5, Public Order" when they begin fighting on the bus.
I have identified the location and will be contacting Arriva tomorrow.
I will keep you updated on this.
If anyone recognises the elderly lady who has a go at them, i would be grateful if you could PM me.
Mike

[born2run]

Well it's very nice and refreshing to see the police taking this kind of thing seriously. 

Thanks Mike

[Fester]

Its pretty obvious what is happening here.
Local lads (with nothing better to do) wanting to be internet celebrities, getting a mate to film them in their endeavours to emulate the Phone Jackers.

They probably thought they were being hilarious, and judging by the comments on Youtube they will be encouraged to think that.

Sadly, they didn't think it through, and they weren't particularly funny. ( the pennies one did have potential to be fair)
They never swore or got aggressive, however they were very annoying to people going about their daily journey.
Now, the saddest thing here is that if an irate passenger had intervened physically to get them off the bus, then that passenger would have been guilty of an assault.  As happened recently with the guy on the Scottish train.

The other sad thing is that these lads have nothing better to do with their lives.

[born2run]

Its pretty obvious what is happening here.
Local lads (with nothing better to do) wanting to be internet celebrities, getting a mate to film them in their endeavours to emulate the Phone Jackers.

They probably thought they were being hilarious, and judging by the comments on Youtube they will be encouraged to think that.

Sadly, they didn't think it through, and they weren't particularly funny. ( the pennies one did have potential to be fair)
They never swore or got aggressive, however they were very annoying to people going about their daily journey.
Now, the saddest thing here is that if an irate passenger had intervened physically to get them off the bus, then that passenger would have been guilty of an assault.  As happened recently with the guy on the Scottish train.

The other sad thing is that these lads have nothing better to do with their lives.

True - every other show these days seems to be some kind of prank show since the massive success of Borat.
Obviously going to have an effect on idiots trying to be funny.
None of these videos are funny in the slightest, the penny thing has been done on one of the many prank shows before I'm sure, struggling to remember which one...

However I would argue that they weren't aggressive - you can clearly see them bang on the bus window as it is driving away. and the fighting and other boisterous activities could certainly scare the elderly or young children who make up a very large percentage of bus travellers.

[Merddin Emrys]

I've just been up Haulfre Gardens and seen that the old hut (which was in a bad way) has been removed. I'm told that if it does get replaced it will be in concrete due to the high risk of vandalism. I'm informed that fires are started, drugs needles etc found up there.



So my question is, do Police patrols ever go up there? Are there any CCTV cameras up there?  Such a shame to see it all going downhill due to the actions of a minority!