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British Police Say Lies Are OK - If The Cause Is Good

Originally uploaded by grewlike.
For as long as I can remember, my very best therapy has been a long drive, and since I got my Roadster it's been even sweeter - low emissions and still great fun. Right now I love my car, and the best place I can be is driving it somewhere a long way away on a clear day. The only problem with it is it really does like to drive at 80 MPH and I do have to watch carefully that it doesn't run away with me.

Which is to say I have been watching closely for speed cameras on a few long journeys recently, especially one to and from north Wales. I saw plenty of signs, but almost no cameras. Indeed, on some roads I saw no cameras at all. The same happened on a local journey yesterday. So what's the deal here? It seems to me this is actually an untruthful use of the signs, and I wonder what the social consequences are.

It might sound trivial, but I think it sets a tone in society. It says that it's OK to lie about the speed cameras because the objective is a good and important one. It says, with a nod and a wink, that the police know you know it's probably a lie but they like the uncertainty it causes in you. Which means the Police think it's fine to lie, and that we all know it and share the secret. That all has to swirl around in the collective subconscious, and I can't help feeling it contributes to the erosion to society that seems obvious over here.
Labels: Driving, Law, Police, Society, Trust, UK, Zeitgeist

posted at 12:20 AM (UK) | |

Comments:

And I would say that badly or unmaintained cameras are part of the same problem. For example there are plenty of places in and around Birmingham where there are very visible camera installations and road markings that appear to not have any cameras in - it's almost as if the Authorities are baiting us into being complacent about the cameras, to eventually ignore them, only then to turn them on, and catch us out en masse. Which just feels like entrapment.

# posted by Paul : 1:59 PM

More than actually catching speeders, in many jurisdictions the real goal is to slow folks down. And reality is that people slow down if they think they might be caught. Many think then that the trappings of enforcement are about as effective in meeting the goal as actual convictions.

Other techniques I've seen along these lines:
- fake cameras, or cameras without film.
- highway patrol just cruising - they come on the road for an exit or two at precisely the speed limit, everyone slows down, then they leave, do the cloverleaf, and return down the other side of the road.
- 'marked' cruisers parked empty where one might if manning a speed trap.

A also saw this with drunk driving roadblocks. You might think the cops wouldn't want open discussion of where roadblocks might be, but one year in one city I lived in, a local radio station was announcing long lists of roadblock locations. This apparent un-civic-mindedness was at least tacitly supported by the fuzz who saw it is another way to get the message into folks minds.

# posted by glen martin : 6:00 PM

I have just been convicted of Dangerous Driving. I have no previous convictions for speeding or anything else, and no points on my licence. I have lost my licence because two 'policeman' decided they would take the oath in court and then lie through their teeth to get me convicted for what at best should have been a speeding offence! This must send a very cynical message to any person stopped for speeding that you are not only guilty even with no evidence but that you will also lose your licence and your livelihood ! This only proves that if you hold down a job and you are a normal member of society you are fair game for these barstards to remove everything you have worked for because they can !

# posted by abarth64 : 10:53 PM