Our STUPID laws

[Danda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Danda]

Any one see the guy on 7 last night who got done for leaving his car WINDOW open ??? apparently in Brissy it's against the law, can you believe that ??? if it's open more than 50 mm you get fined $44.00 , and can you believe ANY cop would actually bust you for it ??? and the cops wonder why we have no respect for them, got to ask WHY they treat Joe Public with such contempt surely they must see all their doing is making the public turn against them or is it they just dont care ....................?

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Our Police Commissioner issued an instruction that police were not to issue infringements for trivial matters after a fella was fined for not having a red flag on his outboard motor whilst towing. The commish has ordered that police should target and infringe the major problem areas: speeding, not wearing seatbelts, talking on mobile phones and inattention/careless driving. Minor matters should be brought to the drivers attention with a view to education rather than infringement. What really stinks in the QLD matter is that the young bloke was infringed in his absence. That's bullshite.

[Graz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Graz]

I remember driving down the Bruce Hwy back a few years with my elbow on the window , a motorcycle cop pulled me over and fined me for having a protruding body part out the window.You have to love QLD

[Danda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Danda]

Apparently he tracked down the cop who issued the fine and asked what evidence he had and the cop replied it's on video so the guy asked to see it and the cop said I dont know where it is and I'm too busy to go and find it !!! as I said it begs the question why go there in the first place it's all most like let's get out there and piss Joe public off, or is it just an easy nick to keep his numbers up ? either way it does the cop's no favors (or us) at all, and yes Bushy Mr O'Callahan DID say, and I quote, "we have to move away from petty infringements as they serve no purpose other than turn the public against us when all thats needed is a caution"
funny way of showing it aye ?

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant...

BRISBANE COURIER MAIL SATURDAY 4 JANUARY 2014

POLICE Commissioner Ian Stewart is making no apologies for slapping motorists with fines for leaving their car windows down, saying his officers are preventing crime and saving resources.

Mr Stewart says an officer who issued a Brisbane father with a $44 ticket did a "good job'' and the motorist got off lightly after also parking illegally on the footpath on the wrong side of the road.

"The law was put in place for a simple reason. It was to stop people breaking into cars stealing things and from stealing the car,'' Mr Stewart said.

"That's exactly what our officer was doing, within the law and with discretion. He was simply doing his job.''

Mr Harris said he was visiting family on Sunday when he decided to leave two windows down "three to four" centimetres to let hot air escape from the car on a 34C day.

Under Queensland law, vehicles must be "secured" with the engine off, hand brake applied, ignition key removed and windows up with a gap no more than 5cm.

Mr Stewart said the officer checked five vehicles - issuing warnings in three cases when he could locate the owners and fines in the two other cases.

"I would back the judgement of my officer,'' Mr Stewart said.

"The officer was acting on an intelligence brief in that area that there had been a number of thefts from motor vehicles and unlawful uses".

"The vehicle actually commits three very obvious offences. One is that it is parked on the incorrect side of the road. The second is that it's parked on the footpath. And the third that it doesn't obey the law in relation to the window being open.

"The officer didn't give them three tickets. The officer simply gave this car a ticket for the matter he was doing his job for, which was to try and drop the number of unlawful entries into cars."

"The officer acted quite appropriately and within the law. I would hope that the public would recognise that the officer did use discretion."

[rags Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rags]

The booked driver must have been driving a 120s and was trying to prevent his dash from cracking.,leaving windows down so car didn,t cook.
Me says good on our cops,a shit job with not much praise.

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Don't blame the cops for that, blame the silly laws...

Here in SA back in the days when cops used to man the radar traps, if you got pulled over they would show you the reading. Fair enuff too.

I got done up in Qld by a radar on the gateway bypass before it was a freeway, 75 in a 70 zone or something like that. Interstate car. Anyway the cop was really aggressive when I asked to see the numbers. Told me they don't keep them on the radar and motorists have no right to see them.

Different set of attitudes up there, haven't had a run in with them since so don't know if things have improved...

[Danda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Danda]

Don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant...

BRISBANE COURIER MAIL SATURDAY 4 JANUARY 2014

POLICE Commissioner Ian Stewart is making no apologies for slapping motorists with fines for leaving their car windows down, saying his officers are preventing crime and saving resources.

Mr Stewart says an officer who issued a Brisbane father with a $44 ticket did a "good job'' and the motorist got off lightly after also parking illegally on the footpath on the wrong side of the road.

"The law was put in place for a simple reason. It was to stop people breaking into cars stealing things and from stealing the car,'' Mr Stewart said.

"That's exactly what our officer was doing, within the law and with discretion. He was simply doing his job.''

Mr Harris said he was visiting family on Sunday when he decided to leave two windows down "three to four" centimetres to let hot air escape from the car on a 34C day.

Under Queensland law, vehicles must be "secured" with the engine off, hand brake applied, ignition key removed and windows up with a gap no more than 5cm.

Mr Stewart said the officer checked five vehicles - issuing warnings in three cases when he could locate the owners and fines in the two other cases.

"I would back the judgement of my officer,'' Mr Stewart said.

"The officer was acting on an intelligence brief in that area that there had been a number of thefts from motor vehicles and unlawful uses".

"The vehicle actually commits three very obvious offences. One is that it is parked on the incorrect side of the road. The second is that it's parked on the footpath. And the third that it doesn't obey the law in relation to the window being open.

"The officer didn't give them three tickets. The officer simply gave this car a ticket for the matter he was doing his job for, which was to try and drop the number of unlawful entries into cars."

"The officer acted quite appropriately and within the law. I would hope that the public would recognise that the officer did use discretion."

Seriously , you think leaving a window open is the greater of the 3 offences committed ..............?

[t303 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close t303]

It's a pity that the police couldn't spend more of their hours chasing miscreants down rather than writing frivolous warnings and fines, but I guess that activity is difficult and revenue negative. Many members of the constabulary and their superiors show little interest in activities that create work, like property crime or antisocial behavior, but seem to have a keen interest in those that generate favourable "crime stats" and revenue with minimal work: look, we caught all these drivers who did not stop for the required three seconds at the stop sign, or didn't put on their seatbelt to move their car from second in line to the next available fuel bowser on the servo forecourt! (a big "attaboy, way to go!" to the hard working police in Toowoomba QLD) :cheers:

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

The 'founder' of modern policing from the United Kingdom, Sir Robert Peel, came up with the nine basic principles in policing:

Principle 1 - “The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.”

Principle 2 - “The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.”

Principle 3 - “Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.”

Principle 4 - “The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.”

Principle 5 - “Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.”

Principle 6 - “Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.”

Principle 7 - “Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”

Principle 8 - “Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.”

Principle 9 - “The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.”

Another that could easily have been added and would round these off, in my opinion, is: "To know when to apply and when to relax the letter of the law."

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

The law probably goes back to the days when large numbers of cars were stolen from car parks and train stations because they weren't locked, closed etc (and yes they were probably easy to steal, they used to run campaigns at shopping centres by leaving warning/information notices on cars left in a vulnerable state.

More than likely the fine he got was the cheapest of the the three therefore they thought they were giving him a break, maybe post him the other two fines for a complete set

[meatman61 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close meatman61]

And if the driver is not careful, he will have his vehicle defected as well, (with another fine)... he admitted the air con wasnt working. If its in or on the vehicle, it must be working/functioning properly .

[bucket Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bucket]

As a now retired cop who worked in the traffic section for 11 years (along with other areas) I can say that generally police don't have to go out of their way to find offences, they are generally thrust upon them. I can also say that if your air con isn't working, you won't get a defect notice, they are for safety issues only. Think about it, when you get a roadworthy done, do they check the air con, fan and interior light?

As for the leaving the vehicle insecure, I did not issue a fine for it although I did have to warn many motorists to lock their vehicles. The greatest number of vehicle burglaries and stealings happen from vehicles that are left unlocked. By getting people to take precautions it helps reduce more major crimes from happening and thus allows them (the police) to deal with other 'miscreants'.

Finally as far as issuing a ticket without the owner present, it happens all the time...parking tickets are the most obvious. If the motoring public does the right thing, that then allows the police to deal with other matters, but while there are always people who think that the road rules are for other people, they won't be out of a job.

Rant over.

Bucket

[t303 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close t303]

As a now retired cop who worked in the traffic section for 11 years (along with other areas) I can say that generally police don't have to go out of their way to find offences, they are generally thrust upon them.

Bucket

"Generally" they may not, but it only takes a couple of these little sociopaths in uniform (and many seemingly gravitate to traffic) who apparently enjoy their fast cars and power just a little too much. They become rather, umm, lets be polite and say "enthusiastic" about exercising their authority, and unfortunately they taint the whole force. If you have been in the job you know the ones I mean.

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

I wonder how they go with topless coupes, Jeeps etc. See a few of them parked.