Just watched a CNN video of a guy on a Houston freeway being chased by the police. Well, he managed to overturn one police car but the rest got him and smacked him into the central barrier. In seconds, his car was surrounded by 8, 9 or 10 other police cars and he was dragged out. I say ‘dragged’ but I mean torn out and smacked to the ground as though he was Public Enemy No. 1 or even Osama Bin Laden himself.
So what you may say, he had it coming. And yes he probably did but what amazes me is the speed and scale of the police response. Can you imagine getting all that attention if you phoned 999 (911 in the USA) saying your friend had just been stabbed? If you’d been burgled, you’d be lucky to see a copper for 3 days.
Here in Wales a few days ago some copper was in court for writing off his BMW police car in torrential rain on the motorway at somewhere between 115 and 122 mph. It wasn’t an emergency and other motorists had slowed down because of the weather conditions. Apparently part of his defence was to say that he had driven ‘at appropriate speeds.’
In a perverse way, I kinda hoped that that defence argument had succeeded and then we could lift the speed limit so I could do the same. Never done better than 156 mph in sunshine on the open road so it would be nice to see if I could beat that.
And now the Chief Constable of South Wales Police says she is facing a £14 million shortfall in her budget. She is threatening to charge people for the full cost of policing major events such as football and rugby games, concerts and royal visits. Well they are the only occasions when I ever see a copper on his own two feet as opposed to sitting on his butt in a car. Haven’t seen one walking around my area for more years than I can remember.
And finally, she is threatening to curtail motorway policing from April if her force does not get a 9.8% increase in their annual loot. Well maybe she could cut back on her BMW’s. Those Houston cops’ cars were Ford Crown Victoria’s which are no quicker than my diesel Volvo. Not as fast as BMW’s but no doubt half the price.
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