Ask The Copper

[holden#1]

are you a serving police member too???
i was sort of wanting a coppers point of view....
i mean to say...
"Could possibly be someone who is shot in the back of your car and you are rushing them to hospital" cops would say 'you should have stopped and called an ambulance'

you know i want the official word....

[Just_Ice]

are you a serving police member too???
i was sort of wanting a coppers point of view....
i mean to say...
"Could possibly be someone who is shot in the back of your car and you are rushing them to hospital" cops would say 'you should have stopped and called an ambulance'

you know i want the official word....

Yes I am, but no one is going to give you the official word, because at the end of the day it is up to the individual officer....... What I say could be totally different to someone else.......

Yes someone could have called an ambulance, not sure if you have been in an emergency situation yourself but some people just don't think straight and they just think of the obvious and that is to get you to hospital as soon as possible.

[minux]

Yes I am, but no one is going to give you the official word, because at the end of the day it is up to the individual officer....... What I say could be totally different to someone else.......

Mate, its great to see a real officer, acting like he should and not condoning idiotic shit

[holden#1]

I dare say it must lose its charm after a while cruisin' the Hay plains....
But if its done in an SS it can't be too bad...

from an officers point of view, as a police car, how do you find Fords vs Holdens? One thing I have always wondered...

[helly]

I find the Falcons much more comfortable to drive for long periods. And I love the way they sound. But I much prefer to drive the Holdens if I'm chasing as they feel much more sure footed. Other than that It's just a work car. And I don't have neons either, just in case you were wondering...

[holden#1]

hmm... interesting. thankyou.

I take it you're refering to V8's, as you state 'And I love the way they sound' !!
I would sort of have to agree... LS series V8's don't exactly have much in the sound department stock.

it interesting how you say Holdens feel more sure footed. In all the motoring mags, there always raving that Fords have superior handling. Wishbone being more technologically advanced and such.

I would have to agree with yourself...

[pro_gmh]

In SA police have the power to conficate my car if have get caught doin burnouts, street racin etc.

Well APARNTLY my mate was repoterd to the police by his neihbor, and the police confiscated his car (the police didnt actuall see him). Is this possible??

Also, again APARNTLY another mate was pulled over for an rbt, and the police checked his tires etc and noticed rubber up the gaurds (what u get from burnouts), and the police once again called the tow truck. Is this also possible?

[minux]

In SA police have the power to conficate my car if have get caught doin burnouts, street racin etc.

Well APARNTLY my mate was repoterd to the police by his neihbor, and the police confiscated his car (the police didnt actuall see him). Is this possible??

Also, again APARNTLY another mate was pulled over for an rbt, and the police checked his tires etc and noticed rubber up the gaurds (what u get from burnouts), and the police once again called the tow truck. Is this also possible?

I beleive they cant confiscate it for either of the above reasons, i will be speaking to a few people in SA today(few of our trucks were grounded over the xmas break there) i'll ask the question and see what response i get for you.

But its weird they confiscated on heresay basically

[vlv8vic]

i know in vic they can pull certain moves based on the word of someone else.
for example, i was driving the minibus full of school kids when a car pulled out in front of us (at 100kmh on the highway). minibus is in top condition but didnt pull up so well, lucky the oncoming lane was empty so i shot into that. the car sped up and i slipped in behind him, got his rego and rang the cops. they called about an hour later to tell me exactly who the guy was, and what company the vehicle was registered to.
it was up to me if i wanted to have him charged or not. not knowing alot about it i said no but please give him a mouthful of law, which the copper said he would enjoy.

so yeah, long story short, it seems certain things probably can be enforced due to a third party report.

[Infus10n]

I dont nkow much detail but i have heard in Qld if you are reported by the public the cops cant fine you or anyhting but if you get say 5 reports then they can fine you. Either way if someone reports you it goes on your record.

[minux]

i know in vic they can pull certain moves based on the word of someone else.
for example, i was driving the minibus full of school kids when a car pulled out in front of us (at 100kmh on the highway). minibus is in top condition but didnt pull up so well, lucky the oncoming lane was empty so i shot into that. the car sped up and i slipped in behind him, got his rego and rang the cops. they called about an hour later to tell me exactly who the guy was, and what company the vehicle was registered to.
it was up to me if i wanted to have him charged or not. not knowing alot about it i said no but please give him a mouthful of law, which the copper said he would enjoy.

so yeah, long story short, it seems certain things probably can be enforced due to a third party report.

If you fight this in court, 99% of the time you will win, simply because there was no "respected persons present", something along those lines.

[vlv8vic]

ahh yeah i imagine that would be right, i didnt care to get it to that point, give the guy a reminder he is to share the roads and let it be was my theory.

as infusion said, i dare say its the same here, it would be noted that they were reported and the force would certainly get up him if it were a common occurance (probably that other 1% you speak of)

[minux]

Yep, as it is in vic now, you can ring up and report "hoon" drivers, a case of 3 strikes and your investigated, for me honestly i think its stupid. Ive had times where ive sat behind an older driver doing 35/40 in a 60 zone, so when its safe i overtake then cop the whole flashing light waving arms fiasco for it. Its people like this who would report you for being a hoon when you simply overtook without passing the speed limit

[vlv8vic]

agreed. see it all the time. in Warrnambool we have double lanes through most of the city, to make it easier to get in and out of 45 parking. sometimes people sit in both lanes, driving up the line! i sit on their back bumper and when they spot me, sh!t themselevs and pick a lane, i get the royal reaming as i pass them. id hate to think im getting reported for crap like that!

[helly]

Police can investigate any matter based on a formal complaint. Police however wouldn't normally take action unless they had a signed statement from the witness which means that they can subpoena them to court. In most cases it would be a case of having a chat and giving a caution or warning, depending on how serious the matter was.

In NSW police to can also confiscate your car for doing burnouts. However I've never heard of anyone doing it from a public complaint, reason being,if we see it, we know you did it. If we didn't see it it becomes you against him and we would just let it be fought out in court and have the magistrate determine what is the apporpriate punishment. Maybe if you had like an inch of rubber under your wheel arch then you'd probably just be happy you got away with it that many times before they caught up with you...

[gopher]

i wouldn't think the police would actually do anything about it unless they actually saw it.
i would think they had more important things to do like they keep saying when you have a complaint.

we had a kid that used to ride a trail bike (while his parents were at work) up & down the street for hours on end doing donuts on everyones footpaths in the park or wherever he felt like it.
phone calls to the police resulted in we'll get there when we can (usually never).

problem was eventually solved by speaking to the kids father & the bike hasn't been seen now for about 6 months

just like this copper when it comes to answering everyones questions

[helly]

Yeah, well sometimes we actually do have more important things to do, like go to armed hold ups, lock up peadophiles, arrest blokes who bash their wives, scrape people off train tracks, cut down people who hang themselves and then escort their bodies to the morgue and prepare reports for the coroner, oh and go to their families place and break the news... Blah Blah Blah (I'm not bitter either, just stating the facts).

I'm sure there's another 1000 jobs that come just before the kid doing burnouts on his trail bike... But like I said, police can act on matters reported by members of the public regardles of whether they are summary or indictable. And also like I said before, each officer determines his or her own course of action. So if they had a few suicides on their plate, they actually may have had something more important to do...

Believe it or not!

[gopher]

I'm sure there's another 1000 jobs that come just before the kid doing burnouts on his trail bike...

but shouldn't any complaint to the police be acted upon?
even if it is a week or so later.

[minux]

Police can investigate any matter based on a formal complaint. Police however wouldn't normally take action unless they had a signed statement from the witness which means that they can subpoena them to court. In most cases it would be a case of having a chat and giving a caution or warning, depending on how serious the matter was.

In NSW police to can also confiscate your car for doing burnouts. However I've never heard of anyone doing it from a public complaint, reason being,if we see it, we know you did it. If we didn't see it it becomes you against him and we would just let it be fought out in court and have the magistrate determine what is the apporpriate punishment. Maybe if you had like an inch of rubber under your wheel arch then you'd probably just be happy you got away with it that many times before they caught up with you...

I understand they can investigate any matter, but i fail to see how they can confiscate a car based upon rubber under a guard. Ive had this many times while spending the night at calder doing legit 1/4 miles. If i was to be pulled over for having rubber under my guards id be pissed at times i have it up the rear of my car.

Anyways, helly, glad to have a real officer on board that can help out the welshman with their questions, kudos to you mate.

[9C1pack]

If you wonder why the cops don't attend, buy yourself a radio scanner and hear what the cops get involved with! In my quiet part of country victoria (Bendigo) it would seem that the Police are more like social workers, as they continually get called out to jobs such as, "person has taken pills or threatened to harm themselves", plus welfare checks on elderly and ill people who's family have tried to ring them, but they uncharcteristically don't answer their phone, plus all the other things previously mentioned.
Since the governments closed down loony asylums and the well paid mental health people seem only to work 9 till 5, it is the poor old local cop who has to act as social worker. Leaving them less time for the things that concern us, such as being harassed by unsupervised kids on their trail bikes.

[gopher]

maybe when the kid on the bike (without a helmet)comes off it & needs to be scraped up or the pissed off neighbours taking the law into their own hands then police will attend.
because then it will be important.
lets not worry about saving someone beforehand by spending 5 minutes to issue a warning or fine.

[9C1pack]

Write a letter to your local MP, stating your concerns about safety in your local area, tell them you want more cops on duty, for faster response times as you do not feel safe!
The thought of losing their seat (job) may spur them into action, Law and Order are usually issues come election time!
I have always been told that a letter gets more resonse form Pollies than an irate phone call, as they realise it takes more effort and also makes them accountable as they (or their staff) have to reply.

[helly]

Greengopher...

That depends what you mean
9C1pack has hit it on the head. Yes every complaint should be answered. And it generally does when the complainant calls police.

Quite often the answer is "We can't get there right now", "would you like to see police when they can get to you?" (Yes!) "What's your name sir?" (Why do you need that?)...

You see that's where I hang up... Too many people want things done but don't want to get involved. If you just want someone to drive down your street cos you've got propblems with hoons, then it'll probably get done. especially if you aren't the only person who called.

My motto is, "If you don't want to get involved, don't call, cos neither do I"

But hey if you have a valid complaint and want to see police cos you have the rego and make of car and want to give police statement so we can actually take some action then you'll get a very different response in most cases.

In most cases though, as said a number of times, police have a lot more other things on their plate to deal with, and the person calling thinks that they are the only person in town with a problem(which is only human).

[helly]

Greengopher, I missed your next comment while I was typing...

Yeah look that's completely valid, nut the fact is that Police are generally already responding to jobs where the kid has already come off and is being scraped up off the road or out of someone esle's windscreen. But it just comes down to priorities.

There's a big difference between a "WHAT DID" and a "WHAT IF"...
"What did" comes in at a priorty over the "What If" unfortunately. I wish we really had more time to be there for all the What if's b ut we don't...

[9C1pack]

Helly:
Do police get allocated a car to drive, or do you rush to get a favourite vehicle?
What is your prefered car to drive, and is it for comfort or drivability?