Mr Whatley, who lives in Usk, Monmouthshire, said: ‘I couldn’t believe what was happening.Au contraire, Mr Whately. That's a foul slur on the US police.
‘The police went completely over the top – you would have thought I had robbed a bank. I was terrified when they started smashing in the window and trying to kick in the windscreen.
‘It’s something you might expect in America but not in the quiet of the British countryside.’
Simply compare this video of an endlessly patient and utmostly professional US cop, who manages not to so much as raise his voice when confronted by an obstreperous pensioner, with the antics of the Gwent mob:
Still, we should be thankful, I suppose, that men like the Gwent Police stand ready against the most heinous of criminals, shouldn't we? What was he charged with again?
Mr Whatley was found guilty of not wearing a seatbelt, failing to stop for a police officer and having tinted car windows which did not conform to legal requirements but cleared of failing to stop after an accident.Whew! Well, we can all think our lucky stars, can't we?
He also admitted having a registration plate which did not adhere to regulations.
Ya'all drive safely, now, y'hear?
Angry Exile and The Filthy Engineer have more.
When he said America I imagine he was thinking of all those Police, Camera, Easy Ratings type shows where they smash windows with batons and drag people out at gunpoint. Of course they've usually been driving a bit quicker than 30-40 and half the time have already crashed.
ReplyDeleteFar be it from me to throw doubt on the authenticity of an American video depicting police restraint.
ReplyDeleteI do have a more reasonable suspicion that had they been armed, those rampantly insane Welsh officers would have peppered Mr Whately's car a la Bonnie and Clyde.
Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteIt does look a bit OTT, but then he knocked a policeman over with his car, drove off and refused to stop.
How would you go about getting him out of the vehicle?
A sharp turn of the wheel to the right and a gunning of the engine and you are under the wheels.
Tinted windows - maybe they couldn't see what he was doing inside?
"Of course they've usually been driving a bit quicker than 30-40 and half the time have already crashed."
ReplyDeleteIndeed! Let's face it, we all love those shows. I particularly like 'Police Interceptors' (and not just because it's filmed in my area).
Never seen anyone go over the top like that, though, even when faced with seriously berserk driving...
"I do have a more reasonable suspicion that had they been armed, those rampantly insane Welsh officers would have peppered Mr Whately's car a la Bonnie and Clyde."
That's the worrying thing, isn't it?
Over at Gadget's, there are commenters denying the reality of what they see in front of them and arguing that this is all perfectly within guidelines and the officers are not out of control...
I guess we see only what we want to see.
"It does look a bit OTT, but then he knocked a policeman over with his car, drove off and refused to stop."
That's not on the video, is it? Why not?
And even the police aren't claiming that he was 'knocked over', just that he was 'bumped' (which the driver denies).
"How would you go about getting him out of the vehicle?"
Hem him in, and he's not going anywhere.
Besides, they never managed to break the windows on the first try; if the driver had been seriously panicked by the antics of BonnetMan (as I would be!), he may have attempted to drive away and caused a serious accident.
I'm sorrty, but their over-the-top actions put EVERYONE in danger.
"Let's face it, we all love those shows. I particularly like 'Police Interceptors' (and not just because it's filmed in my area)."
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand as a TV viewer they come across as cheap, lazy programming. Why pay for writers, actors and large film crews to make something original when for a fraction of the price you can put a handful of camera and sound people in with some cops for a few weeks. Lazier still is to buy them in from abroad, which is why we end up with Motorway Patrol from New Zealand and something from Britain about police dogs. On the other hand there are a couple filmed in Melbourne and Mrs Exile and I like to play 'spot the street we know'.
Going back to the thing about the pensioner in the Range Rover, I wouldn't assume that arming them would change anything. Remember that Britain is unusual in having mostly unarmed police and the hundreds of thousands of routinely armed cops across the rest of the world must manage to make traffic stops without shooting people even when the vehicle did initially fail to stop. It would probably still have been batons swinging at the glass even if they'd been armed.
Possible reasons why the officer being clipped wasn't shown - the video came from the old boy's lawyer and obviously he wouldn't want to show that, or the camera didn't catch it, or it didn't happen, or it did happen but was so insignificant that it'd be embarrassing that the copper was making anything of it at all. Certainly didn't stop him smashing the windows in.
"How would you go about getting him out of the vehicle?"
Door. If locked and he refuses to open it than go ahead and smash the windows, but getting in and out of the vehicle is pretty much the whole purpose of having a door.
"A sharp turn of the wheel to the right and a gunning of the engine and you are under the wheels.
"
First, the guy had already stopped. Second, if that's a concern then WTF was the cop doing approaching the car from the front? It'd be just as you describe except there'd be no need to even turn the wheel. Third, stinger deployed, yes? So at this point the guy's not going anywhere in the long term if he takes off again, so no need for the cops to put themselves at risk by approaching the vehicle that closely at all. Why not stand out of the way, batons ready if need be, and yell at him to get out?
"On the one hand as a TV viewer they come across as cheap, lazy programming. "
ReplyDeleteOh, indeed. But they are a welcome break from the likes of 'Cook My Dinner!/Pitch Me A Business!/Find Me A House!'...
"Possible reasons why the officer being clipped wasn't shown - the video came from the old boy's lawyer and obviously he wouldn't want to show that, or the camera didn't catch it, or it didn't happen, or it did happen but was so insignificant that it'd be embarrassing that the copper was making anything of it at all."
Being a nasty, cynical, suspicious sort, I'm going with option D.
After all, if it was option A, the police could counter by releasing the whole tape, couldn't they?