Am I the only one...
Discussion
...who has found the old bill to be fair enough in 99% of encounters with them?
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
Disco_Dale said:
...who has found the old bill to be fair enough in 99% of encounters with them?
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
Couldn't agree more, problem is that it's the minority, (probably nearer 5% I would say), who wouldn't recognise the word courtesy if you beat them round the head with a copy of the OED, that cause all the problems. I am sure that the vast majority of the BiB would be more than happy to see the behaviour carried out by this minority stamped out. Trouble is some of the worst cases seem to be higher up.
Disco_Dale said:
...who has found the old bill to be fair enough in 99% of encounters with them?
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
I think if you read the vast majority of the posts on here (you've only really been here a short while) you'll see that what most people want is more Traffpol and less cameras.That appears to be the biggest bug bear I think.So as a whole I think we support the BiB.
Disco_Dale said:
...who has found the old bill to be fair enough in 99% of encounters with them?
No, I would say 99% of us find this.
Like any other job on the planet, there is a percentage of duckheads doing it. Show me a job where there isn't (there's a special "Cop club" for these people called "ACPO"
. Providing you don't include Scameras and Talivans as part of the "old bill", of course.
Trafpol good. Cameras sh*te. Talivans worse.
autismuk said:
Trafpol good. Cameras sh*te. Talivans worse.
Fair point, but cameras are easy enough to spot (they have to be painted bright yellow here) and if you mean the vans that sit on overpass bridges etc, again, the plod here publicise where they're going to be over the course of a week.
Never been caught by either, I tend to notice the signs with chuffin' great symbols of cameras emblazoned across them.
Not saying they're an effective method of reducing accidents, but you'd have to be driving with your eyes closed to get snapped by one round here.
Disco_Dale said:
autismuk said:
Trafpol good. Cameras sh*te. Talivans worse.
Fair point, but cameras are easy enough to spot (they have to be painted bright yellow here) and if you mean the vans that sit on overpass bridges etc, again, the plod here publicise where they're going to be over the course of a week.
Never been caught by either, I tend to notice the signs with chuffin' great symbols of cameras emblazoned across them.
Not saying they're an effective method of reducing accidents, but you'd have to be driving with your eyes closed to get snapped by one round here.
But that doesn't usually preclude them from scamming other placces as well.
Ditto - eliminator - though have found BIB have several "programes "--
1) "e looks like e's up to no good, must have a chat"
2) "allo,allo, speeding are we"
3) "your number plate is dirty ,sir (and we might find more)"
4) " (as approached on foot, as you pull up in front of them)"can we help you sir " (always said in a polite voice)(this tactic always gets them wrong footed)--puts them into "must help member of public mode"
5) - as car approaches you --you changing tyre on iffy estate "ok lads, got a flat" ---PC -"ok sir, ok , or do you need a hand"
Or as 6 - very definately bending the rules ,a smashing bloke,trafpol, - even offered to lend a hand ( but this was the 70's) ---oil in dizzie cap on old victor - stopped on approach to M62 --HE STOPPED BEHIND ME WITH BLUE LIGHT ON . (could even be a member.)---till i'd got things right.
1) "e looks like e's up to no good, must have a chat"
2) "allo,allo, speeding are we"
3) "your number plate is dirty ,sir (and we might find more)"
4) " (as approached on foot, as you pull up in front of them)"can we help you sir " (always said in a polite voice)(this tactic always gets them wrong footed)--puts them into "must help member of public mode"
5) - as car approaches you --you changing tyre on iffy estate "ok lads, got a flat" ---PC -"ok sir, ok , or do you need a hand"
Or as 6 - very definately bending the rules ,a smashing bloke,trafpol, - even offered to lend a hand ( but this was the 70's) ---oil in dizzie cap on old victor - stopped on approach to M62 --HE STOPPED BEHIND ME WITH BLUE LIGHT ON . (could even be a member.)---till i'd got things right.
Disco_Dale said:
...who has found the old bill to be fair enough in 99% of encounters with them?
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Most of these have been motoring related, including speeding and I've yet to experience anything but some bloke trying to do his job.
I got nabbed at 90mph on a D/C once in a customers car I was delivering back, could have been very grim for my employment situation if the copper involved had been feeling vindictive. He wasn't. I treated him with a modicum of respect, despite being p*ssed off and he returned the compliment.
Ist why we want them back. 95% are professional in manner und attitude. Remainder? You get 5% in any profession who just should not be in that profession as just not suited to it.. or not "quite quite"
Snippet to make you smile.. BiB was copped drink driving in Manchester. I think he got a bit confused between Scam Lore und breathalyser lore.
as he told court "that mobile phone masts und some pylons affected the reading on the breathalyser doo-dah!" (It was small column in the "Sunday Sexpress" - think page 10-ish ) It take all sorts to make up the rich tapestry of life
Disco_Dale said:
Got stopped and breathalysed leaving the Goodwood Revival one year, again, professional and sent me on my way with a handshake after a chat about the day's racing.
I find a good rule of thumb is treat them with the common courtesy you'd treat a business colleague with and you'll not go far wrong.
Only time I've had problems is when I was about 17/18 and the local plod from the village station used to stalk a group of us who'd just got cars and used to knock about together. I think he was just bored though - in that village we probably constitued a crimewave of some sort
Courtesy begets courtesy. Trouble ist.. society seem to have forgotten how to be polite...
In a debate on radio today over demise of rural post office.. people moaned at "having to queue"
Well ... we queue at cash machines.. inside banks.. supermarkets .. at bus stops.. und I usually chat to whoever ist standing next to me. By the time we reach end of queue .. we have set world to rights und if these people seen again.. ist usually a wave und a pleasant word.
Ist part of being social und friendly und keeping up that essential skill of pleasant chit chat ..or
plain flirting 
I find 99% of them to be reasonable.
In my 11 or so years of driving i have only been stopped 3 times.
First time was about a week after my test and because i was driving like an idiot, to get to maccy d's and back in a 15 minute break from college (just going a bit quick round corners, not actually speeding)
Second time was because i was doing about 80 down a D/C in a 15 yr old Nova. (a year after my test) They advised me to slow down a bit as i wasn't an 'experienced' driver. Fair enough.
Third time i was dropping a friend back home in leighton buzzard and as i was coming out of his road a police car noticed me. They followed me about 10 miles up the A5 then pulled me. I knew he was behind me so i was keeping just under the 70 limit. Apparently he pulled me because he though i was casing an industrial estate with a view to robbing it. Turns out the road my friend lived down was a secret way of getting to the back of the industrial estate!
Told the guy i was dropping a friend off and then up the A% to towcester. Carried on up the A5 to towcester where 2 police cars were waiting just outside the 40 limit. They craned their necks to get a good look at the number plate, i think just to check i was going where i said!
Not had any dealings with the BiB since then :touchwood: and that was about 8 years ago.
In my 11 or so years of driving i have only been stopped 3 times.
First time was about a week after my test and because i was driving like an idiot, to get to maccy d's and back in a 15 minute break from college (just going a bit quick round corners, not actually speeding)
Second time was because i was doing about 80 down a D/C in a 15 yr old Nova. (a year after my test) They advised me to slow down a bit as i wasn't an 'experienced' driver. Fair enough.
Third time i was dropping a friend back home in leighton buzzard and as i was coming out of his road a police car noticed me. They followed me about 10 miles up the A5 then pulled me. I knew he was behind me so i was keeping just under the 70 limit. Apparently he pulled me because he though i was casing an industrial estate with a view to robbing it. Turns out the road my friend lived down was a secret way of getting to the back of the industrial estate!
Told the guy i was dropping a friend off and then up the A% to towcester. Carried on up the A5 to towcester where 2 police cars were waiting just outside the 40 limit. They craned their necks to get a good look at the number plate, i think just to check i was going where i said!
Not had any dealings with the BiB since then :touchwood: and that was about 8 years ago.
Every encounter except one has been fine, in the sense that the officer(s) were reasonable and if not exactly amicable then businesslike which is fair enough. Trouble is, so many people have that once-or-twice experience which will undo all that good work.
If as a MoP we are convicted of a recordable offence, we lose our good name, which to a lot of us is worth a very great deal. BiB must shirley realise that in their dealings with MoP it only takes one really bad encounter to harm the 'good name' of the police because to the public, the officer in front of you at any given time IS the police. The unequal power sharing makes this potential for damage even worse.
On top of that senior BiB make a mockery of the police by their failures of inappropriate prioritising, linked to the obvious and increasing politicisation in what was once a neutral force. Then we have police dogs that can't bite, Brunstrom, and the rest.
A policeman's lot is not a happy one at the moment, but PH SPL does seem to take a fair line overall, and the presence of BIB on here makes the forum what it is. Whatever else might be going on the advice and information is always appreciated by PHers, particularly as this is usually accompanied by a real-world perspective and a sense of humour.
If as a MoP we are convicted of a recordable offence, we lose our good name, which to a lot of us is worth a very great deal. BiB must shirley realise that in their dealings with MoP it only takes one really bad encounter to harm the 'good name' of the police because to the public, the officer in front of you at any given time IS the police. The unequal power sharing makes this potential for damage even worse.
On top of that senior BiB make a mockery of the police by their failures of inappropriate prioritising, linked to the obvious and increasing politicisation in what was once a neutral force. Then we have police dogs that can't bite, Brunstrom, and the rest.
A policeman's lot is not a happy one at the moment, but PH SPL does seem to take a fair line overall, and the presence of BIB on here makes the forum what it is. Whatever else might be going on the advice and information is always appreciated by PHers, particularly as this is usually accompanied by a real-world perspective and a sense of humour.
I'll hold my hands up here, and admit I've got it wrong from time to time when dealing with "the public".
I've never assaulted anyone, but I have been rude to people.
99% (a guesstimate) of the BiB never get in any bother. 0.1% are bad 'uns. Then there's probably the remaining 0.9% (including me) that have our off days.
We shouldn't do it, but we do. There's no excuse, just mitigation - stress at home, stress at work... It doesn't make it right, but sometimes there's a reason; we are only human.
I've never assaulted anyone, but I have been rude to people.
99% (a guesstimate) of the BiB never get in any bother. 0.1% are bad 'uns. Then there's probably the remaining 0.9% (including me) that have our off days.
We shouldn't do it, but we do. There's no excuse, just mitigation - stress at home, stress at work... It doesn't make it right, but sometimes there's a reason; we are only human.
Dibble said:
I'll hold my hands up here, and admit I've got it wrong from time to time when dealing with "the public".
I've never assaulted anyone, but I have been rude to people.
99% (a guesstimate) of the BiB never get in any bother. 0.1% are bad 'uns. Then there's probably the remaining 0.9% (including me) that have our off days.
We shouldn't do it, but we do. There's no excuse, just mitigation - stress at home, stress at work... It doesn't make it right, but sometimes there's a reason; we are only human.
I've never assaulted anyone, but I have been rude to people.
99% (a guesstimate) of the BiB never get in any bother. 0.1% are bad 'uns. Then there's probably the remaining 0.9% (including me) that have our off days.
We shouldn't do it, but we do. There's no excuse, just mitigation - stress at home, stress at work... It doesn't make it right, but sometimes there's a reason; we are only human.
You should be applauded for your honesty. Which in my opinion adds to your integrity and makes you a better officer for realising your weaknesses.
I think if we all stood up and were honest enough we could all say the same thing.
us bibs are human but every day we go to work we try to make things better for people we don't know and never will know. What we say, do and how we deal with things every minute of every working day could and will impact on MoP's for the rest of their lives.
Two years ago I was taking a call from an eldery man who had responded to a press appeal to a serious crime. I introduced myself on the phone and he immeadiatly recognised my name from an incident 10 years previous when his now late wife had been involved in a minor RTA. (No charges)
I was the officer at the scene and she was a bit upset. I arranged for the Inspectors slush fund to get her a taxi home (she had no family and now no car) and got her a coffee from a snack van nearby while she waited on a taxi.
We had a laugh and a joke and when the taxi arrived we said goodbye. I forgot all about her after a couple of days.
Her husband told me that from that day on she was dyed in the wool police and would never hear a word against them from anybody and she would on a regular basis quote my name number and office and recount the story of her only dealing with the police.
What a boost that gave me. Lesson? Be a good bib people appreciate us and we might never know it.
Well done Dibble. Good post.
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