Law -
Police
Cops were nabbed flouting
parking restrictions they were meant to be
enforcing by parking on a single yellow line to
nip out for some takeaway food. They ignored a
“no parking at any time” sign and left
their van to buy cakes and coffee. The single
yellow means you can only stop there at night,
and just to load. Traffic had to drive around
their van, dumped half on the pavement at an
accident hotspot in Walthamstow, East London.
But two officers were clearly in no rush to
return to their vehicle as they swaggered out of
the coffee shop. Fuming motorists looked on in
disgust as the van obstructed one lane. An
onlooker, who was fined for parking at the same
spot the previous week, said, “I think
it’s outrageous how they can get away with
it. Some cops clearly think they are above the
law.”
A Met police spokesman said, “Officers are
expected to operate within the boundaries of the
law and adhere to traffic regulations as
appropriate. It would be inappropriate to comment
about this case at this time without knowing the
exact circumstances involved.”
A DVLA clamper van parked with its hazard lights
flashing, breaking FOUR road traffic laws. It is
on double yellow lines, has two wheels on the 
pavement, blocks a cycle
path and has been left at traffic lights. The van
was snapped by a furious motorist. The van driver
was hunting cars without tax discs in Bristol.
Once clamped, taxless drivers would have to cough
up £80 and a tax disc to be freed. The RAC
Foundation said, “You can’t have one
law for the motoring public and another for those
enforcing it.” DVLA chiefs are
investigating.
Two
cops stopped on double yellows outside a kebab
shop, just feet from a legal parking bay. The Met
pair were snapped in Petts Wood, Kent, the latest
of a string of cops and traffic wardens caught
flouting parking laws.
--
--
Local
police spokesman Frank Parker seemed unconcerned
about the cops’ behaviour, declaring,
“It is not exactly a murder, is it?”
But he later said the incident would be
investigated. Nothing more has been heard about
the matter.
Two cops parked their
patrol van illegally on a kerb in a pedestrian
zone in the middle of Oxford while nipping for a
burger. Then they ate their snacks in the vehicle
leaving mums with pushchairs to squeeze past on
the pavement.
A
gay cop sacked after being convicted of indecency
with a boy of 16 has got his job back. PC Matthew
Cowling was reinstated, even though a judge put
him on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
The extraordinary decision by a tribunal has
shocked Metropolitan Police top brass and
rank-and-file officers used to seeing offenders
booted out of the force for ever. One well-placed
Scotland Yard source said, "It's ludicrous
but unfortunately is typical of the way the
police is going." Cowling will even get
about 12 months' back pay of £24,000. The Old
Bailey heard how the boy was 15 when Cowling met
him.
A 16-year-old girl on work experience at the
police station in Bexleyheath, south east London,
told the PC her friend had come out as a
homosexual. She offered Cowling the lad's phone
number and the officer arranged to meet him
outside the police station. Cowling denied they
had full sex and insisted he believed the boy was
older. The officer, who continued seeing the boy
after he turned 16 in October 2000, was arrested
and accused of a series of sexual encounters in
an alleyway at Bexleyheath.
Cowling denied all charges and was cleared in
April last year of a serious sex assault and
charges of indecent assault and gross indecency.
But he was convicted on one count of gross
indecency in the alley when the boy was 16. As he
was given a conditional discharge, even his
defence lawyer accepted it meant the end of his
career. Cowling, a cop for three years, was
sacked by a Met discipline board two months after
the trial. But he put his case to the
Metropolitan Police Authority appeals tribunal,
which reinstated him last month.
The Home Secretary heard such cases until the
panel took over the role last year. Now officers
can get their jobs back on a majority ruling by
the four members - a lawyer, an authority member,
a former chief constable and a retired chief
superintendent. A MPA spokesman said, "The
tribunal will consider arguments from the officer
and police and reach a decision in accordance
with the evidence." Cowling, who now lives
near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, said, "I don't
wish to discuss this." I bet he doesn't.
A
cop was allowed to resign after being caught with
cocaine in a nightclub. Detective Constable Peter
Gow avoided an investigation which could have led
to the sack, and he will keep his pension. Gow,
whose duties included drugs cases, was arrested
in a club in Nottingham last February and
cautioned for having the cocaine. When he learned
Thames Valley Police professional standards
department had been alerted, he gave in his
notice and was allowed to quit.
Thames Valley Police spokesman Paul Anthem said,
“If he had not resigned he would have been
subject to a full investigation, which might have
led to his dismissal. We insist on the highest
standard of integrity from our officers.”
Gow, who was based at Loddon Valley police
station in Reading, Berks, was described as a
“good cop” by colleagues. Inspector
Martin Elliott, chairman of the Police Federation
in the Thames Valley, said it was a tragedy Gow
had thrown away his career. He said, “It was
a sad case because he is a very good detective.
It is a waste of a career. I knew Peter
professionally and he would have been devastated
at the demise of his own career.”
He added, “You have to put it into the
context that he was arrested at a social event.
While we condemn the taking of drugs, I think
that you have got to expect that drugs are widely
spread in society. It is right that it does not
send a very good message to the public but while
not condoning it, there should be some
proportion. He is the second officer in three
years and that is probably far less than other
occupations.” Thames Valley Police did not
reveal Gow’s arrest when it happened but
denied there had been a cover-up.
Next >>>
Home
These articles
have been collected from various sources. If you
are the copyright owner of any of them, contact us for
either a credit and link to your site or removal
of the article.
--------------