RE: ‘Traffic Taliban’ Force Is Top Of League
Monday 15th October 2007
Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales, is under pressure to explain why his own force, labelled the 'Traffic Taliban' for its fervent pursuit of speeders, finished top of a league table for accident-prone police services.
Statistics obtained by a national newspaper show that his force has paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for crashes – more than any other comparable police service for which data was available.
Critics also questioned why no police driver has faced internal disciplinary proceedings in the past 10 years, despite the fact that the force has paid out nearly £500,000 in compensation since 2000 – an average of more than £70,000 a year.
Similarly sized rural forces such as Norfolk and West Mercia constabularies paid out £21,800 and £30,000 respectively last year. Grampian Police paid out just £425 in the past three years. Even South Wales Police, which is about twice the size of its northern neighbour, has paid an average of £28,000 in compensation claims over the past eight years, despite policing a more urban region.
In the past seven years, six North Wales Police officers have been prosecuted for driving offences committed while on duty, according to the force. Last year, 16 officers from the force were prosecuted for speeding, though it is unclear how many were on duty at the time.
Mr Brunstrom’s zero-tolerance approach to the crime has led to North Wales drivers being the most fined in the country. The force charged fixed-penalty notices for speeding that equated to £6 for every resident last year.
A spokesman for North Wales Police said they take the training of police drivers 'extremely seriously'.
Accident payouts
North Wales: £70,393
Dorset: £50,313
Suffolk: £38,444
Lincolnshire: £30,325
Northamptonshire: £25,000
‘Traffic Taliban’ Force Is Top Of League
North Wales force is top of accident charts
Statistics obtained by a national newspaper show that his force has paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for crashes – more than any other comparable police service for which data was available.
Critics also questioned why no police driver has faced internal disciplinary proceedings in the past 10 years, despite the fact that the force has paid out nearly £500,000 in compensation since 2000 – an average of more than £70,000 a year.
Similarly sized rural forces such as Norfolk and West Mercia constabularies paid out £21,800 and £30,000 respectively last year. Grampian Police paid out just £425 in the past three years. Even South Wales Police, which is about twice the size of its northern neighbour, has paid an average of £28,000 in compensation claims over the past eight years, despite policing a more urban region.
In the past seven years, six North Wales Police officers have been prosecuted for driving offences committed while on duty, according to the force. Last year, 16 officers from the force were prosecuted for speeding, though it is unclear how many were on duty at the time.
Mr Brunstrom’s zero-tolerance approach to the crime has led to North Wales drivers being the most fined in the country. The force charged fixed-penalty notices for speeding that equated to £6 for every resident last year.
A spokesman for North Wales Police said they take the training of police drivers 'extremely seriously'.
Accident payouts
North Wales: £70,393
Dorset: £50,313
Suffolk: £38,444
Lincolnshire: £30,325
Northamptonshire: £25,000
Discussion
Considering the obnoxious chap is always banging on about Road Safety it would appear that he refuses to look in his own back yard.
Forget the appear statement. He most definitely does not considering his own daughter was videoed speeding along in a vehicle that I believe was registered in his name. (Re: Sun Newspaper).
Forget the appear statement. He most definitely does not considering his own daughter was videoed speeding along in a vehicle that I believe was registered in his name. (Re: Sun Newspaper).
Isnt it a bit irrelevant to compare the taliban-ness with the payouts? Those amounts are so small anyway, and all seem to be in the same range. What we want to know is whether talibanic behaviour results in fewer deaths on the roads per mile travelled. If so, other forces should take a leaf; if not they should change their approach. The payouts tell us nothing- they could be more a function of legal/risk management strategy than anything to to with policing.
I don't see that these payouts can be linked to the ridiculous stance he has made on 'Speeding'. But they do make interesting reading in their own right.
In comparrison to similar sized Constabularies they are spend two or three times as much. The figure is still significantly greater than much larger Constabularies too. Although, given the comparatively low monetary values quoted this could be easily skewed by one accident. But then again that applies to all forces.
Unless he is going to take the view that Speeding pays no part in the cause of accidents.
Anyway, according to the Independant today he's now decided to bang on about legalising all drugs because he feels the war on drugs is lost. So lets just hang on in there and in a few years he'll decide that the war on 'speeding' is lost and start to bang on about de-restricting all roads.
Very loosely on topic. It does amaze me how many road users - mainly pedestrians - ignore emergency vehicles with their blues and twos on. I saw a women last week that decided to cross the road (not at a crossing) right in front of a Police car with it's siren blarring just because the cars had stopped to get out of the Police cars way! And she had the cheek to get huffy with the Police! It's a sad reflection on our society that if the Police car had hit her (and all credit to the driver for missing her) she would be entitled to compensation.
In comparrison to similar sized Constabularies they are spend two or three times as much. The figure is still significantly greater than much larger Constabularies too. Although, given the comparatively low monetary values quoted this could be easily skewed by one accident. But then again that applies to all forces.
Unless he is going to take the view that Speeding pays no part in the cause of accidents.
Anyway, according to the Independant today he's now decided to bang on about legalising all drugs because he feels the war on drugs is lost. So lets just hang on in there and in a few years he'll decide that the war on 'speeding' is lost and start to bang on about de-restricting all roads.
Very loosely on topic. It does amaze me how many road users - mainly pedestrians - ignore emergency vehicles with their blues and twos on. I saw a women last week that decided to cross the road (not at a crossing) right in front of a Police car with it's siren blarring just because the cars had stopped to get out of the Police cars way! And she had the cheek to get huffy with the Police! It's a sad reflection on our society that if the Police car had hit her (and all credit to the driver for missing her) she would be entitled to compensation.
Richard Brunstrom.
This will be the same man who today proposed the "decriminalisation of most Narcotics" because we have lost the "war on drugs".
I suppose this would free up his officers to focus all the harder on the real scourge of North Wales, Speeding motorists....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7044115.stm
God help us all!!!
This will be the same man who today proposed the "decriminalisation of most Narcotics" because we have lost the "war on drugs".
I suppose this would free up his officers to focus all the harder on the real scourge of North Wales, Speeding motorists....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7044115.stm
God help us all!!!
Interesting that this idiot is on the front of one of the Independent today, arguing for the legalisation of drugs, but his treatment of motorists is far less lenient. I suppose it's a lot harder to catch a drug dealer with an un-manned camera, and they tend not to have a large reflective plate with an identifying number attached to them.
He states that:
He states that:
useless idiot said:
"If policy on drugs is in future to be pragmatic not moralistic, driven by ethics not dogma, then the current prohibitionist stance will have to be swept away as both unworkable and immoral, to be replaced with an evidence-based unified system (specifically including tobacco and alcohol) aimed at minimisation of harms to society,"
Pretty much sums up current road safety policy, if you ask me.
This comes out after the twonk took credit for zero deaths on (part of) his patch...
Regardez le smugness -----> http://www.north-wales.police.uk/en/blogs/viewblog...
Regardez le reality -----> It's a variation in random events, Mr Brunstrom..
Interesting that Brunny's ground-breaking innovation...the Chief Constable's Blog... has fallen silent since July 2007.
Could this be due to the ongoing scrutiny of his monumental cock up when he presented the press with pictures of a decapitated biker, without first asking his family...?
I'm surprised the man's not been crushed under the weight of his huge bloody ego...
Regardez le smugness -----> http://www.north-wales.police.uk/en/blogs/viewblog...
Regardez le reality -----> It's a variation in random events, Mr Brunstrom..
Interesting that Brunny's ground-breaking innovation...the Chief Constable's Blog... has fallen silent since July 2007.
Could this be due to the ongoing scrutiny of his monumental cock up when he presented the press with pictures of a decapitated biker, without first asking his family...?
I'm surprised the man's not been crushed under the weight of his huge bloody ego...
Mark M said:
Richard Brunstrom.
This will be the same man who today proposed the "decriminalisation of most Narcotics" because we have lost the "war on drugs".
I suppose this would free up his officers to focus all the harder on the real scourge of North Wales, Speeding motorists....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7044115.stm
God help us all!!!
You've hit the nail on the head! The reason why his force have so many accidents is because they're all out of their heads on smack! He needs to get it decriminalised otherwise he'll run the risk of losing 90% of his workforce (himself included).This will be the same man who today proposed the "decriminalisation of most Narcotics" because we have lost the "war on drugs".
I suppose this would free up his officers to focus all the harder on the real scourge of North Wales, Speeding motorists....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7044115.stm
God help us all!!!
cen said:
Considering the obnoxious chap is always banging on about Road Safety it would appear that he refuses to look in his own back yard.
Forget the appear statement. He most definitely does not considering his own daughter was videoed speeding along in a vehicle that I believe was registered in his name. (Re: Sun Newspaper).
I have never read anything about this chap that is positiveForget the appear statement. He most definitely does not considering his own daughter was videoed speeding along in a vehicle that I believe was registered in his name. (Re: Sun Newspaper).
This is the man that said the drugs war was not unwinable. So what stopped him ensuring his own police force drove safely!
mybrainhurts said:
...
Interesting that Brunny's ground-breaking innovation...the Chief Constable's Blog... has fallen silent since July 2007.
...
The blog lives on, it resides elsewhere - I thought it had been finally put out of its misery too (and it's the enigma it always was) until I spotted an up to date link to it.Interesting that Brunny's ground-breaking innovation...the Chief Constable's Blog... has fallen silent since July 2007.
...
TVR_nut said:
Guam said:
I still fail to comprehend how this guy still has a job!!
Perhaps the police authority are all out of their heads on the dope that The Dope wants to legalise???
. I got stopped recently because the police officer , and I quote... " Did not like the way I accelerated passed him" he was stationery on a slip road to the A55.
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