Sgt Mark McQuade, of Castle Point neighbourhood policing team, says sending officers to the Roscommon Way area is only a short-term solution and changes are needed to make it less attractive to what he terms “racing enthusiasts” .And what the rest of us would term ‘lawbreakers’ and wonder just why the police suddenly feel that’s none of their concern…
He wants Essex County Council to put up CCTV cameras, and better lighting so the offenders and be caught on camera.
He would also like to see a special road surface laid to make it harder for racers to skid noisily around the road’s twin roundabouts.
He also thinks putting up gates to close part of the road overnight might be worth considering.Oh, is that all? Anything else he’d like?
Sgt McQuade said: “This is a local highways problem, not a police problem.”Umm, no. People speeding and driving dangerously are a police problem, no matter how you try to swerve it. You don’t get to ignore shoplifters on the grounds that the supermarkets have open shelves, or battered wives of the grounds that , well, ‘she married him!’, do you?
I bet you’d like to, but still…
“We understand it is difficult to come up with the money for this work, but we can only provide assistance in the short term.”No, since it’s your actual job, you’ll provide assistance any time there’s an incident. It’s what you are paid to do.
Sgt McQuade added: “These are not yobs, or the typical boy racers. They are racing enthusiasts and they come from all over to go to the town, knowing half a mile away there is a lovely circuit for them to race round. ”Except…it isn’t. It’s a road. Built at great expense for people to drive on.
Notice that what you have here is a judgement of motive and personality. Bad boys would get done but these are not yobs but enthusiasts - so they are OK. That's how the law works (or not) these days.
ReplyDeleteThis is only because these boy racers have nowhere to go. What they should do is build a nice little racing circuit for them.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there is plenty of local green land they could use and the taxpayer won't mind stumping up for it as it gets these people off the streets and into supervised activity.
And something about poverty
Perhaps it would best if the Police built a little cabin with a brazier outside so that they can spend all day and night there IN CASE the speedsters decide to have a burn up. I assume the local rate payers would be happy to either pay the overtime or wages for extra officers to Police it.
ReplyDeleteThere are several things that can be done:
1) stop/check the drivers and advise them (or ticket them) for their speed; while at the same time ask them if they have made any modifications to their cars and, if they have, notified their insurance companies of this (if not, they could be driving uninsured, meaning seizing the vehicle, heavy fine, points on their licence and even more expensive insurance);
2) The council or highways authority can lay down 'rumble strips' - 2 inch high strips of concrete - every 30 yards or so across the roads which will have no effect on vehicles driving at the maximum limit but which can lead to a very uncomfortable ride and possible damage to tyres and suspension for those impersonating Jensen Button.
3) instal speed cameras - we all know how local authorities love to do this 'in the interests of road safety and absolutley nothing with raising revenue'.
Alternatively, give the drivers free vasectomies so they can't breed.
Penseivat
"He would also like to see a special road surface laid to make it harder for racers to skid noisily around the road’s twin roundabouts"
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyaM_2w3jMI
Sgt McQuade has impudently applied Inspector Salahuddin's rape victim philosophy, as his own. The W Yorks Inspector has long maintained that the majority of rape victims were just 'asking for it' and women should make themselves less attractive when venturing outside. "Quranic rules for women's dress are unambiguous and police can only provide limited assistance when women flout these rules."
ReplyDeleteWell said Penseivat.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their hobby horse and wants police to do something about it 24 hours a day.If you have ever attended a residents meeting these three things are what most people complain about-dog shit,bikes on the pavement and bad parking.
Funnily enough no one gives a toss about Plebgate,shooting drug dealers or deaths in custody.
Jaded
PS well done Melvin for linking two completely unrelated stories to bore us all with your own obsession.
You take life far too seriously, Jaded. Try 'lightning' up.
ReplyDeleteOK Melvin,i'll give you that one.But if you are going to be the spelling police on here then you had better be 100% correct all the time or i'll be on you quicker than an MP filling in an expenses form!
ReplyDeleteJaded.
@ WC Jaded
ReplyDeleteA few posts ago, your inability to comprehend different meanings of lightening and lightning became plain to all.
Either dull mentality failed to alert you to the the point of Julia's 'Really Daily Star..?' or you were too lazy/rude to trouble yourself reading her post before publishing typically gratuitous abuse. Waking to find yourself the butt of jokes was not simply the result of one impetuous, headlong dive. You are a constant visitor to Fools' Pit.
Another reader makes 'light' of your stupidity in a comment which is entirely free of the pedantry you ascribe to it. And your seriously defective reasoning again concludes I must be the contributor! I begin to feel as sorry for you as I am for the victims of crime whom you profess to serve.
Thanks for those kind words Melvin.Well not that kind but they were sneering pompous and tedious.Back on top form.
ReplyDeleteJaded.
Boy racers problem? Hmmm. Had the same problem along the Lung Cheung Road, top end of Kowloon in 1976.Motorbikes and cars racing up and down in the early hours. Only problem was the near-by Caldecott Road Quarters where lots of Senior Officers lived.
ReplyDeleteLocal Ploddery (of which I was one) got many calls from those who must be obeyed.
Solution was a home-made version of the Caltrops road block, 6" nails through a length of half-inch rubber conveyor belting.
It worked a treat; 11 boy racers stopped the first night almost all of whom had hit the central barrier first. No-one injured (apart from pride), all cars subsequently confiscated and crushed. No more boy racers on the Lung Cheung Road.
Result!
"That's how the law works (or not) these days."
ReplyDeleteI see the dead hand of the 'specialist' officer at work!
"And something about poverty"
:D
"There are several things that can be done"
And all of them things that won't inconvenience law abiding drivers. Fancy that!
"Funnily enough no one gives a toss about Plebgate,shooting drug dealers or deaths in custody."
That's because you're talking to real people. Not lobbyists.
"Solution was a home-made version of the Caltrops road block, "
ReplyDeleteHeh! Let's hear it for medieval technology! :)
"There are several things that can be done"
ReplyDeleteAnd all of them things that won't inconvenience law abiding drivers. Fancy that!
You are quite right in that.
If motorists are travelling within the speed limit, they won't get stop/checked, therefore no inconvenience.
If motorists are travelling within the speed limit, the rumble strips won't affect their ride, therefore no inconvenience.
If motorists are travelling within the speed limit they won't be subject to the local authorities 'road safety' action, therefore no inconvenience.
Free vasectomies to prevent breeding? Targeted specifically at those who don't conform to the conditions mentioned (for those who knock down the little cabin, whether or not it is occupied, the use of two bricks to complete the op).
Penseivat