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  1. #1
    Yoda of Radar
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    Default Scotland - Cops get caught speeding on their own cameras

    Edinburgh Evening News Mon 26 Dec 2005
    New figures show Lothian and Borders officers...

    New figures show Lothian and Borders officers are among the worst in the UK for speeding. Picture: Toby Williams
    Boy racer cops caught on film
    ALAN RODEN

    MORE than six police officers are caught speeding every day in Lothian and Borders. New figures released today reveal that officers in Edinburgh and surrounding areas are among the worst in Britain for being caught exceeding speed limits by their own cameras.

    But despite the huge number of police drivers being snared, just three drivers of unmarked cars received speeding fines. Nine cases are still pending.

    And while there were 2272 cases of marked police cars being detected speeding in Lothian and Borders

    in 2004, not one single uniformed officer was charged with a driving offence.

    A further 78 unmarked cars were also caught by speed cameras the same year.

    The figures fail to disclose how many fatalities or serious road accidents involving civilians and emergency vehicles occurred over the same period.

    A senior police board member today called for the force to justify each incident where an officer was caught breaking the speed limit.

    A police spokeswoman said the force deals with thousands of incidents in built-up areas that require a blue light and speedy response, which may have set off speed cameras.

    She said: "Lothian and Borders Police respond to a high volume of incidents across what is a very busy working and residential city.

    "The public expect the police to respond quickly and safely to incidents and as such there are occasions when police will set off speed cameras.

    "Speed cameras are monitored by the Speed Camera Partnership and they would contact the force's chief constable if there was an incident where a speed camera had been set off at any time other than during an emergency call."

    The new figures, compiled by the Press Association, are based on the number of full-time officers registered with the Home Office in July 2005.

    Some forces declined to provide data, while others failed to disclose speeding incidents where the vehicle was known to be on an emergency call. Lothian and Borders has provided details of both.

    With a rate of 0.82 speeding incidents per officer, the Edinburgh-based force was fourth in the UK-wide table, behind Essex - with 3.26 speeding incidents per officer - Bedfordshire and Staffordshire.

    Councillor Eric Milligan, convener of the police board, said he will raise the issue with the chief constable.

    "It is right and proper that officers deliver a prompt response to any emergencies," he said.

    "However, if there is any suggestion that police officers are flouting the speed restrictions in the city, I would be very concerned - as would the chief constable. I will ask him for further information."

    Councillor Shami Khan, a police board member, said officers need to justify the speed at which they are driving if caught by a camera.

    But he added: "In the vast majority of these cases, police officers will have responded to an emergency call and the public expect them to be there as quickly as possible.

    "The officers should not put other people's safety at risk, however accidents do sometimes happen when vehicles are speeding. Any time a police car is travelling above the limit, the driver needs to justify why.

    But because they have a responsibility to react to emergencies very quickly, that is a justification. I would be the first person to criticise the force if its officers were doing anything wrong."

    Although local officers topped the list in Scotland, Strathclyde Police was unable to reveal how many of its emergency vehicles have been caught speeding. However, seven of its officers were dealt with for speeding offences over the last financial year.

    The Metropolitan Police, the UK's largest force, had an identical rate of speeding as Lothian and Borders, with 25,484 officers detected over a 12-month period, from more than 31,000 officers.

    Related topic

    * Cash for coppers
    http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=580

    This article: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=2460742005

    Last updated: 27-Dec-05 10:31 GMT
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  2. #2
    Yoda of Radar
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    Default

    SPEEDER COP-OUT

    JUST two per cent of police caught by speed cameras are prosecuted, it has been revealed.

    Across the UK, cameras nabbed officers 45,741 times. But just 934 incidents led to a penalty ticket, court hearing or prosecution.

    Police in Lothian and Borders topped the Scots league with2350offences.

    Most officers caught were answering a999 call.

    Police released the figures under the Freedom of Information Act
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  3. #3
    Yoda of Radar
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    Police caught out by cameras
    NORTHUMBRIA police officers were caught speeding on duty 775 times – but just 23 got fined or faced a court.
    The figures were revealed as part of a survey which revealed only two per cent of officers across the UK had action taken against them after being caught by speed cameras.
    And, road safety bosses have accused some officers of behaving as though they have "carte blanche" to break speed limits by claiming they were on an emergency of operational call.
    The investigation revealed major differences in the numbers of speeding offences committed by officers in different forces.
    In the year to September 2005, 775 police vehicles in Northumbria activated speed cameras, 23 have been prosecuted, 29 cases are on-going and the rest had no action taken against them because they were lawfully exceeding the limit while on duty.
    Meanwhile in Durham only seven police vehicles or drivers were caught speeding on duty in 2004, including four in other force areas and none of these were prosecuted.
    The survey found Essex Police topped the table with 5,269 offences in just six months, a rate of 3.26 per officer per year.
    Across Britain police officers triggered speed cameras 45,741 times, but only 934, or 2 per cent of the total, were given a £60 penalty ticket, taken to court or still had cases pending.
    The RAC Foundation said the results showed some forces were over-using the exemption powers and suggested some officers believed they had "carte blanche" to break the speed limit regardless of whether they were on a 999 call.
    Kevin Delaney, the foundation's head of traffic and road safety, who was a policeman for 30 years, said: "The exemption rules are pretty widely misunderstood by rank-and-file officers as giving them a carte blanche exemption from the speed limit when driving a police vehicle.
    "That is clearly wrong and suggests that something is wrong with police driver training."
    The true figure of officers caught speeding could be much higher as some forces disclosed only partial figures and nine forces refused to disclose the information or said it was not collected.
    The forces which refused to disclose information in the survey were: Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and South Wales.
    27 December 2005
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  4. #4
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    And, road safety bosses have accused some officers of behaving as though they have "carte blanche" to break speed limits by claiming they were on an emergency of operational call.
    Then Leo need a good rd ! :shock:

    No wonder the world is up side down . This only shows how stupid are those speed laws . From another point of view , it is a good thing they taste what civilians endure .

    What is the tolerance over the posted limit ?

 

 

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