Monday 3rd September 2007

Police aircraft are watching you drive

Drivers who use their mobile phones or flout traffic laws can be busted by police in the sky.

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police aircraft

Cheshire police have acquired a £300,000 light aircraft with sophisticated camera equipment to crack down on motorists. The plane monitors traffic and zooms in on offending vehicles, which are then reported to local ground patrols.

Fitted with a thermal camera and numberplate-recognition technology, the aircraft can target drivers who speed, overtake dangerously, or use their mobile phones. It is part of an initiative by Cheshire County Council designed to prevent accidents on their most dangerous roads.

Orwellian new road signs saying 'Police Aircraft Traffic Enforcement' have been introduced, although it is not clear whether these planes will be used elsewhere in the country. The roads under watch at the moment are the A41, A534, A537 and the A54.

[mrtim]

I can't help but think £300,000 would have been better spent putting more police on the ground.

[Bada Bing!]

Surely 10 traffic cops would have been better value for money, FFS?

EDIT: What he said.

Edited by Bada Bing! on Monday 3rd September 12:34

[julianc]

mrtim said:

I can't help but think £300,000 would have been better spent putting more police on the ground.

Ditto. Just emphasises the perception that the motorist is the highest policing priority....

[Bing o]

article said:

crack down on motorists

Is that like you have a crackdown on burglars, or gun crime.

Is this what we are becoming?

[Phil Dicky]

Bada Bing! said:

Surely 10 traffic cops would have been better value for money, FFS?

EDIT: What he said.

Edited by Bada Bing! on Monday 3rd September 12:34

FFS, what all the others have said

[smeggy]

Link

[IRM]

to be honest, as a cheshire resident, this is old news ney very old news

during the nice weather you always here it and often see it flying to the peak district and back again usually at weekends

[Munter]

Dont forget that the aircraft is an asset and will therefore be sold afterwards. So actual cost will be running costs, which will be massive....ah crap.

I've seen the signs on the A41? (Chester to Wolverhampton), just outside Chester. Was a bit confused at the time. But having seen the muppets on that road i'm not surprised they have a few big accidents.

[MilnerR]

These aircraft not only cost a fortune but will only be able to fly and do their jobs properly in the best of conditions. Heavy rain or fog will see them grounded, or unable to spy on you properly. So in dangerous conditions they won't be enforcing I use several of these roads on a regular basis, I'll have to keep an eye out for bears in the air! Maybe I need to buy a convertible!

[Puggit]

As said above, very much confirming that catching the motorist out is the number one priority.

Shocking waste of resources.

[Bizzle]

What an utter and total waste of tax payers money.
Im actually totaly shocked and sickened.

Why don't the government just DEAL with the problem rather than bulls**t there way around it with ran dom off the wall ideas.

If there is a problem with people speeding. PUT MORE POLICEMEN ON THE ROAD!
If there is a problem with gun crime. PUT MORE POLICEMEN ON THE STREET AND GIVE THEM THE POWERS TO STOP IT!
If there is a problem with Civil disurbance. PUT MORE POLICEMEN ON THE STREET!

However the governments answer is to waste money on crackers ideas that are based more around publicity than actually doing anything to help.

[dougc]

Bing o said:

article said:

crack down on motorists

Is that like you have a crackdown on burglars, or gun crime.

Hope so, that'll mean it won't make the slightest bit of difference.

[sneakypete]

The new cameras can see through cloud and fog if they are similar to those fitted to the new police helicopters.

[dingocooke]

Im with Dougc on this one; its just spin and wont make any difference some time soon; mind you, if it did actually stop numpties on hand held phones while they were driving it might be a result (albeit very expensive) but it wont.
In my humble opinion, its just another knee jerk reaction by a police force that can't sort out real world issues of anti social behaviour, gun crime, burglary, graffiti, (perpetuated by a minority of people who consider themselves above the law) and so plod concentrates instead on easy targets of soft 'crime' where they know the generally law abiding 'culprits' will pay up; but they get the 'result' of another crime solved, and a few more pounds earned.
In terms of real crime Im sure Cheshire police are as ineffective as Nottingham's (where I live).

[esselte]

sneakypete said:

The new cameras can see through cloud and fog if they are similar to those fitted to the new police helicopters.

Will H+S let them operate in fog....?

[BDEng66]

Puggit said:

As said above, very much confirming that catching the motorist out is the number one priority.

Shocking waste of resources.

Agree with what you and everyone else is saying.

What really bothers me is that this is yet another distraction on top of the general road clutter in the form of about 1.8 buzz-million pointless roadsigns, all sorts of cameras, flashing signs etc etc etc.

How about we concentrate on improving general driving standards?

As an aside, having some years ago qualified as a lawyer, I seem to remember being taught that one of a number of important aspects of any law was not to criminalise huge swaiths of society.....ho hum.

Edited by BDEng66 on Monday 3rd September 13:26

[dave_Sw1]

mean while, knife crime continues...

[MK4 Slowride]

I thought all this safety camera monitoring was for accident blackspots.

[MilnerR]

dingocooke said:

Im with Dougc on this one; its just spin and wont make any difference some time soon; mind you, if it did actually stop numpties on hand held phones while they were driving it might be a result (albeit very expensive) but it wont.
In my humble opinion, its just another knee jerk reaction by a police force that can't sort out real world issues of anti social behaviour, gun crime, burglary, graffiti, (perpetuated by a minority of people who consider themselves above the law) and so plod concentrates instead on easy targets of soft 'crime' where they know the generally law abiding 'culprits' will pay up; but they get the 'result' of another crime solved, and a few more pounds earned.
In terms of real crime Im sure Cheshire police are as ineffective as Nottingham's (where I live).

That's a little bit unfair. Most traffic offences aren't recordable offences and so don't go towards crime figures. Also the money "earned" from fines doesn't go into the police coffers instead it goes to the treasury where it gets spent on salaries for the bottom inspectors they keep on employing. I'm having trouble seeing where the logic is in this proposal. Aircraft like this are very expensive to maintain and keep airbourne. For example the Sussex police helicopter costs £1400 per hour flown. Fixed wing aircraft are quite a bit cheaper but I would still expect to see a figure of aroung £8-900 per hour. That's without the initial expenditure. It does seem like a massive waste of resources especially as I predict that KSI figures will remain unchanged on these roads.




www.sussex.police.uk/foi/UploadFolder/HeliFactsHan...

[sprinter885]

IRM said:

to be honest, as a cheshire resident, this is old news ney very old news

during the nice weather you always here it and often see it flying to the peak district and back again usually at weekends

What doing-dropping the lads off for a spot of hiking ??

Anyway....this seems like another reason to cause rubber-necking accidents. Only trouble is we'll all be driving around with sun-roofs open.

must buy one of them reversa-a-view periscope thingies.