Yesterday in Fife.....

[Schtum]

If you're going to be driving or riding a motorcycle in Fife in the near future or perhaps later and you're someone who likes to make progress at speeds in excess of the posted limits, you might want to watch out for one of Fife Police's sneaky revenue generators....ehh, I mean, weapons in the fight against the heinous crime of exceeding the speed limit...
I was making progress in the car, in my usual manner, this morning when I noticed that a silver '09 plate BMW with a pair of silver roof bars (they look like standard Thule ones on which you might mount a roof box), had pulled out of a side road and was behind me. The sequence went something like: silver BMW 5 series with something attached to the roof = take it easy! > no, it's ok, it's a 5 year old car with a pair of Thule roof bars > hang on a minute, the passenger's wearing a black polo shirt and those look like pips on his shoulders > and now I see there's a small lamp which probably lights up blue, in each of the grille "kidneys" > sneaky buggers...!!! Early observation saved the day....

So....be careful out there, folks.

 

[mcinlb]

Down Falkirk way they have managed to acquire a nice XF Jag............

 

[morty]

i think the police were there to ensure drivers didn’t get robbed travelling through fife ps you have to travel in excess of speed limits there or your wheels will get knicked.

 

[george]

Nice black 330 bmw unmarked dumfries and galloway , Dalbeattie area a lot , no easy to spot this one.......

 

[Blackal]

It's not so hard in the southside of Edinburgh.........

A nice man from L&B turned up in the Mercedes "stop" car.........................

and helped me load my bike on my trailer

A Fifer would have checked all my trailer lights - then wrote me a ticket for no indicators

Al

 

[Schtum]

It's not so hard in the southside of Edinburgh.........

A nice man from L&B turned up in the Mercedes "stop" car.........................

and helped me load my bike on my trailer

A Fifer would have checked all my trailer lights - then wrote me a ticket for no indicators

Al

That may or may not have been the case before the advent of Police Scotland. Now, in former Strathclyde Chief Constable, Stephen House's regime, KPI's are the name of the game. A serving officer who shall remain nameless, told me recently that Strathclyde used to operate not just ACPOS guidelines of 10% + 2 mph before a ticket but 10% + 10 mph in the absence of any aggravating circumstances. Now, if traffic officers don't come off shift with a minimum of 5 tickets issued, they're questioned over what they've been doing.

I rode from sunny Fife to East Kilbride early this afternoon. It was hoachin' wi' Polis oot there. The same sneaky silver 5 Series Bee Emm on the A92 and umpteen white and silver panda cars and a couple of traffic cars heading East on the M8. Take care out there folks.....

 

[Blackal]

Got my trailer loaded last week........

But you are correct - it's all about "tickets and revenue"...........

Anyway - WTF are you doing, going to EK? There's a perfectly good dealer in Dalkeith..........

Al

 

[Schtum]

Anyway - WTF are you doing, going to EK? There's a perfectly good dealer in Dalkeith..........

What am I doing there? Part time Motorrad Sales Executive, of course.....

 

[Blackal]

What am I doing there? Part time Motorrad Sales Executive, of course.....

Is that autocorrect for - "Salesman"?

Al

 

[Schtum]

Is that autocorrect for - "Salesman"?

Al

No Sir, it's the correct terminology for a BMW Motorrad sales person. Now, may I assist you with anything else....?

 

[gerarddwatts]

I gather 'Polis Scotland' is now known as 'Greater Strathclyde' ????

 

[von K]

What's a police car?

 

[Blackal]

What's a police car?

In Shetland - probably "999-Taxis".........

Al

 

[Schtum]

I gather 'Polis Scotland' is now known as 'Greater Strathclyde' ????

I believe that's the sum of it and the KPI is King. Which, it's worth noting, is an incredibly out of date concept, originating as it did with Maggie Thatcher's fascination with the work of Milton Friedman and the notion that if you can't count it, it doesn't exist. More recent and sophisticated performance measuring tools include The Balanced Scorecard which was pioneered by the City of Charlotte, North Carolina. Even that's pretty old hat nowadays. However, why let more sophisticated tools get in the way when policing is all about counting the number of crims you can nick, ehh....?

 

[Packer]

First criminalise large numbers of the population by imposing speed limits lower than the majority feel are reasonable and then collect the revenue.

UK in the 21st century.

 

[John Armstrong]

First criminalise large numbers of the population by imposing speed limits lower than the majority feel are reasonable and then collect the revenue.

UK in the 21st century.

Stealth taxation and a double whammy as if you get enough points it bumps your insurance premium, which of course, we pay tax on to subsidise those who don't believe in it.

 

[ghiribizzo]

On Wednesday the game they were playing was to have a van and behind, the grey 5 series Touring parked on the roundabout at The Tay Bridge access - between the on and off roads. Dodgy place - they wouldn't allow us to park there, making it somewhat difficult to see if anyone was going off to Tayport/Newport. Long lead into the van. Presumably watching ANPR and seeing who was going more than the 50 limit heading South with the Beemer ready for a pursuit.