And the expect us to respect them

Cops escape speed traps

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By PETE BELL
Sun Online

POLICE officers were caught speeding by their own cameras a staggering 45,741 times in just six months, a survey has revealed.

And 98 per cent of them escaped any kind of punishment.

In the vast majority of cases, officers were let off fixed penalty fines and prosecution because they were speeding on a 999 call or on other operational duties.

Only 934, or 2 per cent of the total, were given a £60 penalty ticket, taken to court or still had cases pending.

The survey - by the Press Association - also found police from Essex - home of the boy racer - break the speed limit more often than members of any other force in the country.

Cops from the county topped the limit 5,269 in just six months - a rate of 3.26 per officer per year.

Second highest was Bedfordshire with 2,519 in a year, or a rate of 2.04 for each officer.

The Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of offences, 25,486, but only 16 officers were convicted of a speeding offence, or 0.06 per cent.

An Essex police spokeswoman said: "It is over-simplifying the situation to try to make direct comparisons between activation totals in different force areas as there are so many other factors that need to be taken into consideration.

"What this survey doesn't tell you, for instance, is how many cameras are in each force or where those cameras are placed, which can have significant impact on the number of activations."

Well if I made a 999 call i'd expect them to use the big blue thing on the roof and get to me sharpish.

Actually I hadn't called 999 once until 5 months ago, and now i've made 3?! Bad year I guess.
First one we were first at a head on in a country road, I gave a good description 'if you knew the area', the police did'nt turn up, so rang again and they'd given up and gone back! Why they did'nt ring me back I don't know.

Despite that I only have praise for the emergency services.

On the topic does everyone here suddenly feel nervous when they notice a police car driving near them? I know I do, even when I'm doing everything right!?

facts and figures are bad enough but ask yourself when you see the police do you feel safer as you should or do you feel nervous, i for one feel very nervous somtimes even fearful until that canges even if on paper the police did do the job right it doesn't matter any way.

I live in a very small town, population 250, we have 2 police on duty at all times, anyway I am only 5 minutes from their station so every time they speed down my road (25mph) I see it. the only time it has ever bothered me is one time in the mornign when I brought my 5 year old daughter to the bus stop for school one morning and a cop flew by doing at least double the legal limit. They knew that there are small children on the street at that time (especially since there are no sidewalks 50 feet past my house, and people use the street). Other than that I don't mind it, I just tell myslef that they are going to an emergency.

the police here are great for doing their job, especially pulling people over, but if you have a clean record and wernt being dangerous they usually let you go free or with a minor ticket (seat belt or headlight or something of that nature). If you call them for a real emergency they respond in a quick manner and for the most part are very proffesional people.

I have seen one time where a cop sped past me and 2 miles down the road pulled into a WAWA parking lot, I was a bit pissed, unless the place was being robbed then its ok.

I don't mind it when they speed on the highway because I just follow behind them, traffic just kind of parts way and lets them go through, with me right behind, makes any trip a whole lot faster.

I have a few friends taht are police and they pull me over sometimes just to say hi, its actually kinda funny.

I have a large police station (possibly 100 or more officers) less than 200 yards away from my house - I also see them everyday. However, what I see is very different. They rarely speed unless they are responding to an urgency in which case they have my full support.

What I do object to is off-call "Officers" or "Heads of Departments" getting away with being caught legitimately red handed and getting away with it - that makes my blood absolutely boil and they should not get away with it as they are supposed to set an example.

Basically - I have no problem with these statistics.

The article lets us see that the police are clearly getting away with speeding when it s not necessary. The are being picked up on cameras like the rest of us, but when the photos are being checked, and the registrations entered for addresses the operators realize they are police vehicles and probably let them go IMHO.
I have recently just done a job on a merc rigid lorry and there is a facility on it whereby the tacograph recognizes if the unit is in "blue light mode" and records it on the disc. Supposedly this is so that any incidents/accidents can be investigated by the plod.
We cannot have rules for some and not for others. I have followed a traffic car on a single track A road before at speed of up to 80mph and in a camera area. To say his driving was sh*t would be an understatement. Overtaking at best was risky with people braking to let him in. If he had been following me there is no doubt in my mind I would have been pulled and charged.
It's time for the plod to clean up there act and sort out their own house first, especially with recent news showing the cameras just don't make a difference, except financially.