Police reluctant to charge motoring criminals

Inspector Clive Darvill told a meeting of Area One committee tonight (Monday) that police prosecuted 16 motorists and warned a further 55 for breaking the speed limit during a three-day operation in the street last week. Inspector Darvill suggested that speeding in the road was not as much of a problem as some residents think."

In the first place what’s the point of catching 71 speeding motorists and then prosecuting only 16 of them?

It's also very revealing that 71 crimes in three days is regarded by a police inspector as not much of a problem.

The message from the police is loud and clear: if you break the speed limit by 5-10 mph that’s fine with them. Ideally, Inspector Darvill should be put on a bicycle and then cyclists would be allowed to drive past him in 4X4s and white vans just inches away at “only” 35 mph. It might change his smug, complacent, dangerous and highly prejudiced perceptions.

The other reason why police catch few drivers speeding on residential roads after complaints from locals is that most drivers slow down when they see police officers up ahead dressed in yellow high-visibility gear. If the police had an unmarked vehicle with a speed camera inside they would catch far more drivers, but naturally the police have no real interest in pursuing motor criminals effectively. To them, driver crime is not real crime.