# Thirsty cops



## TT Boycie (Sep 27, 2009)

Sat on the A1 this morning in heavy traffic, when i noticed a police fiesta around 5-6 cars behind me. He then proceeded to put his blues and twos on, managing to fight his way through. I turned off at the next junction, and drove into an industrial estate, where lo and behold the same car was parked by a burger van, with the two bobbys enjoying a hard earned cuppa :roll:


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## denimblue225turbo (Aug 28, 2009)

you should of shouted some verbal at them and then made a hasty retreat, they would never catch you in a fiesta :lol:


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## SAJ77 (Nov 16, 2008)

Not saying its the case in this incident but they may have been called to an emergency job.....but then stood down :?

It happens......

Saj


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## ecko2702 (Jan 26, 2009)

:lol: And some say there isn't perks to being a cop. I love when they don't like waiting at lights turn on their light go through the intersection then turn them off and keep going.


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## Gone (May 5, 2009)

If it's any consolation, that tea from the big urn out of polystyrene cups is rank and the burger could well have been full of e coli.


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## Hilly10 (Feb 4, 2004)

Is it COP Bashing week :roll: :lol: :lol:


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

Hilly10 said:


> Is it COP Bashing week :roll: :lol: :lol:


_Every_ week is cop bashing week!


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## 26ash_tt (Jul 16, 2008)

yeah id probably do the same thing though :lol:


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## denimblue225turbo (Aug 28, 2009)

26ash_tt said:


> yeah id probably do the same thing though :lol:


of course you would.....i would try and get away with anything and everything if i was old bill


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## JNmercury00 (May 22, 2007)

denimblue225turbo said:


> 26ash_tt said:
> 
> 
> > yeah id probably do the same thing though :lol:
> ...


that's the spirit chaps!

when i used to work at stansted airport, there is a restaurant that is in the delivery tunnel under the airport. when we used to go in there on a lunch break we had to park our van in the staff carpark due to the fear of bombs in cars etc. The pork chops used to be able to park right outside the restaurant. One rule for us, another for them! :evil:


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

JNmercury00 said:


> The pork chops used to be able to park right outside the restaurant. One rule for us, another for them! :evil:


What do you think are the chances of a terrorist managing to get a police vehicle (which is in constant use), taking it away, filling it full of explosives and putting it back without anyone noticing?

I used to work in the police at an airport and yes, we'd park our vehicles where other airport staff were not allowed to. The thing is we knew our cars didn't have bombs in them. Fair enough, you probably knew your cars didn't have bombs in them either, but the police wouldn't know that, would they? And while your vehicles may be secure all the time it isn't that difficult for a terrorist to buy a similar car or van and get it painted up to look like one of your own and then leave it somewhere ready to explode. Of course, they could try this with a police car too, but we only had a fleet of a dozen cars so we'd instantly recognise one that wasn't actually ours, whereas we'd not have a clue what was a genuine ground services vehicle or a fake. Therefore a genuine police vehicle left unattended in a sensitive area creates no concerns at all, while any other vehicle will inevitably result in a security alert.

So yes, there are different rules - but with simple justification. I'm sure you never bothered to think it through before slagging-off the cops, though. Nobody ever does.


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## JNmercury00 (May 22, 2007)

Mark Davies said:


> JNmercury00 said:
> 
> 
> > The pork chops used to be able to park right outside the restaurant. One rule for us, another for them! :evil:
> ...


didn't mean to strike a nerve there Mark!

this is the flame room after all! If you are on the internet you have to accept that people are going to slag the police off.
If i were you i wouldn't look in threads about plod


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

JNmercury00 said:


> If you are on the internet you have to accept that people are going to slag the police off.


And if someone posts negative but unjustifiable comments about something on the internet they have to expect to be challenged. It works both ways, doesn't it? I could just as easily argue you're not taking too kindly to having your jibes shot down in flames.

I really don't get upset when people post this sort of stuff - I'm more than used to it and have been hearing it for years. It never goes away and never will. However, where it's not right I challenge it, mainly because people will believe every negative thing about the police they ever read, whether it's true or not. Much of the criticism you read about the police doen't actually stand up to scrutiny however it all adds up to the the public having a dim view of the police service - but one that is based in a great part on myth, rumour, innuendo and blatant lies. And when people have no faith in the police they don't bother making use of the service, which ultimately only makes life easier for the villains who then run around committing crime with impunity. Not because the police are ineffective but mainly because the public idly stand by doing nothing because they have been convinced calling the police is a waste of time.

You tell your story and it adds to the idea that the police are a bunch of bone-idle, donought eating wasters who are unprofessional and do just whatever they want. That impression is created in the mind of people who have never made use of the police service but when it comes to the point where they actually do need us they don't bother. Their crime which very well may have been prevented or detected therefore doesn't come to our notice and doesn't get investigated - and the crook gets away again.

Yeah, bobby-bashing is great fun, especially with a receptive audience - but one thing it does do is create an environment where it's much easier for villians to get away with their crimes. I'm just trying to do my bit to redress that balance. If I can convince just _one _person that perhaps the cops aren't as bad as people make out and they then make that call that helps us catch a villian and put him away for a stretch then that is quite probably going to prevent that shit-bag from committing hundreds more crimes and creating hundreds more victims. You might think I'm being touchy, but I simply see that as my duty.


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## roddy (Dec 25, 2008)

Mark , have you ever thought about getting a transfer to the Public Relations dpt of your locl authority, i think you could arrange some sort of bonus rate !!


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## JNmercury00 (May 22, 2007)

Mark Davies said:


> JNmercury00 said:
> 
> 
> > If you are on the internet you have to accept that people are going to slag the police off.
> ...


I can see why you would want to defend your own, but what you are doing is the equivalent to empyting niagra falls with a bucket, it's not worth it. People tend not to give the police the benefit of the doubt, normally because they have read about an instance where a cop has stuffed up royally and got off scott free. one that really winds me up is the occasion where that traffic cop was clocked at 156mph and got away with it because he was 'testing the capabilities of the car'.

If you put mere mortals in a position of power then occasionally you are going to get people that take advantage and abuse the situation. Look at the recent mp's finances scandals! not to say all people put in a position like that will take advantage. You have to accept the fact that there are police out there that simply give you guys a bad name.

In the case of what i said about parking outside the restaurant, yeah fair enough it's obvious they aren't going to have bombs or what not inside their vehicles. But would it have been that hard to make the two minute walk from the police station?


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## mde-tt (Aug 7, 2007)

JNmercury00 said:


> denimblue225turbo said:
> 
> 
> > 26ash_tt said:
> ...


Interestingly I used to work at Stansted and I too recall seeing police vehicles parked in the undercroft. I used to have mixed feelings about it.
Yes they could be using it as a convenient parking space, but frankly I would've done the same if I could, especially if my business tok me that way (which it frequently did). 
I also used to reflect that it was a good way of showing that the area was being monitored by the police, afterall they could return to the vehicle at any moment and catch a miscreant in the act. But most of all it used to make me think that they might have been attending an incident, or at the least doing some partolling in the airport building itself. I would rather that then them either back at base drinking tea or doing speed checks (I got caught and was awarded my only 3 points I have ever had exceeding the speed limit around the perimeter road - twas a fair cop though!).


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

JNmercury00 said:


> I can see why you would want to defend your own, but what you are doing is the equivalent to empyting niagra falls with a bucket, it's not worth it.


Of course you are right, but as I said convincing _*just one person *_that actually it might be worth picking up the phone and calling the police could result in hundreds of crimes being prevented and hundreds of potential victims being spared that distress. Therefore I will keep plugging away at it, however futile it may appear. When it comes down to it, like the majority of my colleagues, I do what I do because I care. As I said, I might be pissing in the wind but I consider it my duty to at least try.


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## TT_Tesh (Feb 22, 2009)

Seriously... what an essay that was to read.

Cops putting blues and two's on to get to a burger van just states the obvious - fatties!

American Cops have their donuts and our cops have... well anything greasy and cheap!


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## JNmercury00 (May 22, 2007)

Rudetesh99 said:


> Seriously... what an essay that was to read.
> 
> Cops putting blues and two's on to get to a burger van just states the obvious - fatties!
> 
> American Cops have their donuts and our cops have... well anything greasy and cheap!


don't start!

Mark has had enough to deal with already with me today :lol:


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

Rudetesh99 said:


> Seriously... what an essay that was to read.


Exercise the right to reply and even that gets knocked. Very balanced - very fair.



Rudetesh99 said:


> Cops putting blues and two's on to get to a burger van just states the obvious - fatties!


Yet another example of putting a negative spin on a situation from a standpoint of anti-police bias. As someone has already pointed out (coming from a more reasonable standpoint) perhaps they were responding to an incident but got cancelled and then having a rare and welcome gap between jobs grabbed a chance to get something to eat.

It's an old chestnut that gets put about regularly. "I saw the cops charging through traffic with their blue lights and sirens on just to go . . . " However, exercise a moments thought and you'd realise that often there are emergency calls for which every available officer will start making their way to the scene, but once a couple of patrols have arrived and got a situation under control they will cancel the remainder so that they will be available for something else. So frequently you will see the police suddenly stop an emergency run. If it happens that those officers had been hoping to get something to eat before they responded to the emergency then you just might then see them stop to get some food once they have been cancelled.

It's not that hard to get your head around it, yet people _insist_ that quite 'obviously' the cops were blue-lighting to get a kebab. Yet more utter rubbish continually perpetuated and serving only to undermine public confidence without justification.


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## SAJ77 (Nov 16, 2008)

Just to reiterate what Mark has already said...

Cops 'blue lighting' to go for their lunch, late for the end of their shift, or any other reason other than responding to an emergency is an urban myth!! It just does not happen (well not from my experience).

As i said earlier you may see a cop bluelighting for a while before he/she just turns them off and starts to drive 'normally' again...this will be because they were responding to a 'job' before getting cancelled because other cops have got there already or the job is simply not deemed an emergency anymore due to further information being received.

There are strict guidelines when they can 'bluelight' to a job.

The cars have 'black boxes' in them and the cars are shown in the control room what 'status' they are i.e bluelighting etc.

I don't doubt it probably used to happen years ago but not now.

Just my 2p worth...

Saj


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## Bikerz (Aug 23, 2008)

Mark Davies said:


> JNmercury00 said:
> 
> 
> > The pork chops used to be able to park right outside the restaurant. One rule for us, another for them! :evil:
> ...


Mark

Would I know the police vechile doesnt have a bomb in it?


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## TT_Tesh (Feb 22, 2009)

I think the term 'clutching at straws' comes to mind.

How lucky for them... racing to get to an incident and then it gets cancelled and oh whats that in the corner... yes a burger van!

Must be their lucky day...


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

Bikerz said:


> Would I know the police vechile doesnt have a bomb in it?


No, but would that matter? Because if you were concerned what would you do? Oh yes, report it to the police, who _would_ know there wasn't a bomb in it - therefore, not a problem.



rudetesh99 said:


> I think the term 'clutching at straws' comes to mind.
> 
> How lucky for them... racing to get to an incident and then it gets cancelled and oh whats that in the corner... yes a burger van!
> 
> Must be their lucky day...


It's not clutching at straws at all - it's just the simple truth. Police officers genuinely do not do this - because you simply wouldn't get away with it. Thousands of officers are cancelled from blue light runs every day. It only stands to reason (in fact it's a statistical certainty) that every now and then one of them will find themselves conveniently near to somewhere they can buy food when it happens to be time for a meal break - and that of course someone will jump to the wrong conclusions and make an issue of it.

As someone has said, all the cars are fitted with black boxes that record your location, speed, things like sharp cornering or heavy braking and whether your emergency equipment is activated or not. Anyone doing an emergency run when they are not allocated to an immediate response incident comes to notice - and then gets sacked. *So we just don't do it*.

We recently had the much publicised case of the dick-head who took his dad out for a bit of a joy ride. He was a complete pillock, firstly for doing it but apart from anything else imagining for one moment that he would get away with it. Just an idiot.

I know I'm wasting my breath on you because you are clearly one of those who won't believe anything you don't want to believe even despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, however I hope more sensible people would be reassured.


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## Bikerz (Aug 23, 2008)

Mark Davies said:


> Bikerz said:
> 
> 
> > Would I know the police vechile doesnt have a bomb in it?
> ...


Mark that was a very childish answer from you, you were the one that stated "you know that there isnt on in a police car" how do I "know" that? :roll:


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## Dotti (Mar 9, 2003)

Contrary of going to an accident or scene, Policemen and policewomen are entitiled to a break. I guess they have to fit it in it amongst road jobs and things especially if they have been on a long shift or a night one. Just my thought. I've yet to see a fattie policeman also in this country .

Bet I get pulled over now


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

Bikerz said:


> Mark that was a very childish answer from you, you were the one that stated "you know that there isnt on in a police car" how do I "know" that? :roll:


For pity's sake, what _on earth _was childish about that response? Your question simply got the answer it appeared to ask for. You asked how would you know there wasn't a bomb in a police car and I pointed out that even though you may not _absolutely_ know it made no material difference as long as the police knew. And I never suggested _you'd_ know there wasn't a bomb in a police car - I only said that _we'd_ know we didn't have bombs in our own cars.

If what you mean is how do you know the police aren't actually running around with bombs in our cars and we're all in fact a bunch of radical terrorists, well perhaps such a flippant question _would_ deserve a childish answer.


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## Bikerz (Aug 23, 2008)

Mark you said that the public have to accept the police wiill not have bombs in their cars, which I agree we do have to but that doesnt mean we "know" they dont. We just accept that they shouldnt have.


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## SAJ77 (Nov 16, 2008)

Dotti said:


> Contrary of going to an accident or scene, Policemen and policewomen are entitiled to a break. I guess they have to fit it in it amongst road jobs and things especially if they have been on a long shift or a night one. Just my thought. I've yet to see a fattie policeman also in this country .
> 
> Bet I get pulled over now


The voice of reason 

I would also like to add that they are still 'on call' as it were and the allowed 40minute break in a 12hr shift is often interupted....or not taken at all.

I've seen some fat cops though! :lol:

Saj


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

Bikerz said:


> Mark you said that the public have to accept the police wiill not have bombs in their cars, which I agree we do have to but that doesnt mean we "know" they dont. We just accept that they shouldnt have.


But point out to me just where I said the public _know_ there aren't bombs in police cars. I've never said that at all. In fact I've made it quite clear that you can't know but pointred out that in itself _that_ isn't a problem because _we_ know and so an unattended police vehicle is very unlikely to instigate a security alert in the way any other vehicle would. That is how I have justified the police officers parking at an airport where other parking isn't allowed.

So no, you don't know there isn't a bomb in a police car. I never said you did - I just pointed out it was unlikely. And?

I'm really not sure what point you are trying to make or what you are finding contention with. It just seems that once again I'm taking a knock for saying something I haven't said at all.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

I'm starting up a "Just Giving" donation website, if any of you want to pitch in.

I thought we'd put any donations towards buying Mark a new soapbox, because he's clearly worn his previously one right through. :lol:

Mark reminds me a little of Arsene Wenger. Head turned firmly in the opposite direction whenever any of his colleagues allegedly step out of line.

If only he could/would find it in his heart to admit that the Police are human too, and don't always follow guidelines, rules (and even LAWS) sometimes, the world would be a nicer place, and we could stop winding him up. :roll:


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## Bikerz (Aug 23, 2008)

He still gives gd advice when we need it tho, so we shouldnt be so harsh......

But carry on, he can take it :lol:


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## Mark Davies (Apr 10, 2007)

Jampott,

I know what you're saying, because you see me here a lot defending the police (and especially this week) so it does give the impression that I think the police do no wrong. Your post is absolutely loaded with the assumption that police were at fault every time and that I am in obvious denial. But it really isn't like that. I stand up to the plate where I see people slagging-off the cops when really all it's down to is people not fully understanding what's going on and making wholly incorrect assumptions about what they've seen.

This is a perfect example, where someone has seen a police car blue-lighting and then stopping and getting a refreshments. Of course on the face of it you'd make the assumptions made by the OP, but the _reality_ is completely different. Myself and others have explained what would really have happened and it's clear the officers were doing no wrong.

As I've already said this week, all this bad press only serves to diminish public confidence in the police service which only makes it so much easier for criminals to operate. It's hugely destructive. But the thing is even though there are some legitimate causes for complaint about the police, the majority of the bad press is quite unfounded, based on just the sort of misunderstanding and misconception shown here.

This week we have had 4 topics under discussion regarding the police; a guy getting a ticket for blowing his nose, a guy complaining about being told off regarding his driving at a lane merger, police parking in restricted areas at airports and this one, blue lighting for a refreshment break. In three of the four I've made very credible arguments that actually the police had done nothing wrong whatsoever, and in the fourth (the guy blowing his nose) while accepting the officers may have been out of order have pointed out that things may still not be all they are reported as and again, the police could have got it right.

Now that's just a very basic straw poll of complaints about police posted on a non-police related website in just one week. But from that we see 75% of the complaints were unfounded and I'd suggest from past experience there's at least an evens chance that the guy blowing his nose gets convicted in court. Taking that as roughly indicative of all the bad press the police get then you can estimate that something like 75-90% of it is a load of rubbish.

Now that's a hell of a lot of undeserved bad press for any group of people. Now the issue isn't that it hurts our feelings - it doesn't really. We're all thicker-skinnd than that. No, the issue is what I mentioned above - the way it undermines public confidence. People then don't bother reporting crimes or picking up the phone when they see something and so the crooks get away with it.

Cop-bashing might be a lot of fun and a bit of a giggle for you, but if you do it without any real understanding of what you're commenting on or without proper consideration of the facts all you are doing is adding to this catalogue of unfounded criticisms, further undermining public confidence and indirectly assisting criminals to get away with their crimes.

Of course I sound like I'm on a soap box, but there's a bloody good reason for it. All this complaining about the police is very damaging. Where it's justified then fine, but most of the time it simply doesn't stand up to scrutiny, so of course I challenge it. Otherwise it's just yet more bollocks allowed to get out there and add to the negative myth - and more damage done.

You criticise me for being blinkered - I'll make the counter argument. It seems to me some here are just determined to find fault despite there being no evidence to support it, and even to the point where when your errors of assumption have been pointed out to you, you _still_ won't have it.

Now, I don't start these threads, so who is on a soapbox really?


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## jammyd (Oct 11, 2008)

I think we have had enough of the personal insults now...

Some very valid points, some not so valid points...

Thread locked


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