Sunday 21 March 2010

Why is it That:

When there are crashes on the road, the Police close the road for hours causing untold misery?

Just when did every accident warrant such a thorough investigation? Who sanctions all that extra expense?

I'm sure their answer would be to investigate and see if any criminal charges can be brought. But to be honest, all that happens is someone loses some points on their licence and gets a fine. A fine which in no way compensates for the cost of the investigation and loss of time of those caught up in the traffic jams created.

Note to the Police: Its an accident, get over it. Unless someone was killed, stop looking for someone to blame so you can massage your stats. Just clear the mess and open the road FFS!

2 comments:

  1. How long does it take for a fuzzmobile to turn up and one member to take a few photographs while the other organises a recovery vehicle (if needed) and to get the traffic moving? When the A 30 has an accident it can take up to 10 hours. I'm sure that it is no more than a recurring demonstration of state powers for the 'benefit' of us mere mortals.

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  2. I blame targets.

    Its an easy case to solve as the culprit is usually right there. So if any offence has been committed, its worth the expense to the Police to gather evidence and prosecute, knowing that they'll be able to show it as a closed case on their stats.
    On the other hand, "ordinary" crimes like burglary and violent crime are harder for the Police as they require expensive evidence gathering in order to detect the identity of the criminal and secure a prosecution. They won't put the effort in if there's no guarantee of a successful conviction. No conviction is bad for their stats.
    Thats why they put the effort in on fixed penalty offences (open & shut case plus a bit of instant revenue: job done) and virtually force people to accept Police cautions where there is little evidence and little chance of a conviction (plaintiff basically pleads guilty, accepts the caution, it goes on Police stats as a successfully closed crime, job done).

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