Tendring District Council is to carry out inspections to ensure employees are complying with the law which bans smoking in company cars.So lollipop ladies, health workers, library staff, etc, etc, are going on the dole.
Those found to be flouting the Health Act 2006 could face a fine.
But they’ve got staff to spare on this?
Ian Wilkins, environmental officer, said: “When the new legislation came into force on July 1 2007, it became illegal to smoke in virtually all enclosed public places and public and work vehicles.Is there a ‘but’ there?
“I think it is fair to say that most people understood the rules when it came to public buildings, but there was some confusion over the rules about smoking in vehicles.
“We will use the month of March to carry out inspections, offer advice and generally try and make sure people are aware of and compliant with the legislation.”
“This is primarily about raising awareness but, if we feel the case is appropriate, we will take action where contraventions are observed.”‘If the case is appropriate’. I wonder what that really means?
And that was bad enough, but yesterday the MSM picked up on it, and we find that they aren't just planning to trundle round council and company carparks, oh no!
They want to stop staff out and about, and so have had to rope the police in:
Tendring District Council and Essex Police are so eager to catch employees having a puff behind the wheel that they've set up road blocks across the county.Think about that, next time the police top brass are whinging about the cutbacks. No-one in Essex Police Force felt they could legitimately say 'It's not the business of the police to set up roadblocks so you can go on a fishing expedition, especially in these straitened times'.
I didn't think that the police had the powers to stop cars without suspicion of a crime being committed?
ReplyDeleteSo unless they can tell from 50 yards away if your car smells of smoke inside, what right do they have to stop you?
Unless they're using the catch-all 'terrorism' clause. It would be interesting to write to the police force involved and ask under what law they were stopping drivers for 'smoke smell tests'.
How do they errr, know it's a company car?
ReplyDeleteThey do indeed stop cars for other reasons - RFT (red diesel checks) and road traffic surveys (which you are NOT compelled to answer,, though you must stop) are two I know about...
ReplyDeleteXX Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteHow do they errr, know it's a company car? XX
"Fred bloggs fish market" written o0n the side may be a clue. Other than that "registered owner". If it is a company, it is a fair bet it is a company car/vehicle.
How does this affect motorcycle dispatchers? :-)))
Follow up. DAMN it was working for a week, now....
ReplyDelete'If the case is appropriate’. I wonder what that really means?
ReplyDeleteIt really means this: if the driver is meek and compliant, he'll be 'advised'. If he gets arsey and starts quoting his rights, we'll nick the bastard pour encourager les autres.
Ian Wilkins, environmental officer.
ReplyDeleteNow we know the first job to cut. He's not doing anything front-line important. We need child protection officers and carers for the elderly.
This job is non-essential.
A police officer can stop any vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. To fail to stop is an offence. People watch too much American TV and seem to think that some suspicion of an offence (in yank-talk "probable cause") is required before police can stop a vehicle.
ReplyDeleteThat said, most stops are not random, they are because the cop wants a sniff of your breath to make sure you have not been drinking and a quick squiz in your car to make sure it does not look like a burglars transport or a druggie-mobile inside. In this scenario (80% of all my "stops"), most "normal" (again 80%) people will be on their way in about 20 seconds. It is as much a waste of my time as yours to drag it out.
If you are evasive to some very basic questions to confirm your ID, have committed an offence, or have items in your vehicle which cause me to suspect you may have committed an offence then we will be having a longer chat.
That said, the bollocks from Essex only serves to illustrate the sort of "leadership" which coppers labour under. I am sure Essex have bigger fish to fry than smokers in cars (I HATE smoking). Every copper doing that crap is not policing Essex.
Sounds like a police/council policy agreed at the last lodge meeting.
ReplyDeleteXX Jim said...
ReplyDeleteI didn't think that the police had the powers to stop cars without suspicion of a crime being committed? XX
HOW bloody naive can you GET????
Any copper that can not find SOME excuse to stop a car, search a house, lock up a granny, is not worth the laces in his bloody boots.
"Now we know the first job to cut. He's not doing anything front-line important."
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, these are never in danger, are they?
"People watch too much American TV and seem to think that some suspicion of an offence (in yank-talk "probable cause") is required before police can stop a vehicle."
I wonder how many demand their Miranda rights?
"...the bollocks from Essex only serves to illustrate the sort of "leadership" which coppers labour under."
Sadly true. And the more of this that gets reported, the further respect for the police drops.
They ARE policing Essex. They are policing Essex in precisely the way our Progressive overlords want Essex policed. The fact that 95% of normal people think it is absurd and wrong is irrelevant to them.
ReplyDeletePolicing of behaviour trumps policing of protecting the person and property rights.