ossie wrote: ↑26 May 2023, 11:01pm
This is my opinion some of its is factual and down to personal experience.
When you engage in a 'pursuit' you firstly need to be trained to pursue vehicles which involves an intense 4 week course. Some Police officers are trained but not all , no PCSO's are trained. To engage in a pursuit you put on your blue lights, sirens and immediately inform the control room who create a computer log . The incident is then controlled by a senior officer (Inspector) who takes into account the circumstances based on the information they've been given and also checks the driver is qualified to pursue.. The control room inspector has the power to call off the pursuit immediately and I'd suggest in the lack of any other info this would be called off straight away unless they'd robbed Tesco express or knifed someone.
So this was a short follow, with no lights, not reported by the driver.
It's glaringly obvious that the 79 year old Police crime commissioner (yep you read it here) had no idea the van had engaged in a short follow when he was so keen to speak on behalf of South Wales Police that evening, indeed when the media team repeated it they had no idea either. This was simply based on no control room log and the GPS findings of the police vehicles in the area.
So they weren't lying , they had no idea.
However they really shouldn't have said anything until the investigation had a least started but now you have the tail wagging the dog. An elected civilian desperate to prove his worth and justify his post feeding off a civilian media team . He was probably desperate to quell a riot as well.
In relation to the police van. It will come out in the wash if the driver was untrained or a PCSO (civilian) and why they didn't contact the control room or report the incident to their supervisor when the road deaths became obvious. That would have immediately gone onto the log with a direct referral to the IOPC, the duty Superintendent and South Wales Police would have communicated appropriately.
The resulting actions on the estate were complete thuggery. We're entering a summer of possible discontent so I'd expect the Ely delinquents to get the book thrown at them and deservedly so.
However I can also imagine this scenario
' Residents complain patrolling police van did absolutely nothing to stop two kids riding around the estate and eventually killing themselves ' So incensed at the Police inaction (cos they pay their wages) residents rioted.
Thanks, I thought that a constructive response.
So they weren't lying , they had no idea.
If that were the case then it reflects really badly on that force and so in a variety of ways.
Of course, and here’s the issue, police forces up and down the land have had instances of very lacking professional behaviour that has been covered up or ignored by senior officers. Against that backdrop folk will automatically decide that ‘cock-up’ is conspiracy. To many people the terms ‘pursuit’ and ‘follow’ are near enough interchangeable so whilst there is a technical difference in policing terms what’s important, in communication to other people, is using terms that have the same meaning to people outside of the profession.
Doubtless the folk in Ely are a mixed bunch, having mixed with similar there will be some ‘ass-holes’ and others who are the complete opposite. Of ‘ass-holes’ I’ve met many over the years and some of them are professional folk with substantial assets and they live in very nice neighbourhoods.
Whatever, the thread is about police action and accountability. Let’s all be glad of the Force but let’s also remember that there are real issues about failures in Police conduct. The thread started with actions by the Met, the video clips that I saw of them showed thugs in uniform and it amazed me that the Met have reviewed video evidence and cleared themselves of unprofessional action.
The resulting actions on the estate were complete thuggery. We're entering a summer of possible discontent so I'd expect the Ely delinquents to get the book thrown at them and deservedly so.
That does make me wonder what’s for the best and accountability for actions. Someone living in Ely might say that the place was a tinderbox and that the police threw a match into it. I’d say that the whole issue has layers of complexity; perhaps I’m getting old and soft - I prefer to think better educated through the ‘school of life’ - but throwing the book at people is a form of social suppression rather than social correction.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.