Dear Editor,
The regularity with which police stations inform victims of crime that they are unable to respond to reports because of the unavailability of a vehicle hardly needs to be emphasised. It would seem that vehicles are a precious resource for the police force and one would therefore expect good judgment to inform how they are deployed.
Not so, judging from what I and other commuters waiting for a minibus on Regent Street observed last Saturday evening. We were forced away from the bus stop by police vehicle, (number supplied), which was driven by a uniformed rank. There were two other policemen in the vehicle. They parked on the bus stop and the driver, weapon-in-hand, left the vehicle and marched into the nearby Royal Castle outlet. Any remnant of belief that this was ‘official police business’ was wiped away when the policemen returned with a box of food. This cannot be acceptable use of a police vehicle. It does not seem to be far-fetched to also suggest that if it allows our lawmen to take such liberties, the police force is also undoubtedly encouraging them to take others.
Additionally, I noticed that the vehicle was outfitted with a DVD player in the dashboard, between the driver’s and front passenger seats. Are these going to become a standard feature of all police vehicles? As if policemen didn’t have enough to hold their attention! The laws against playing music on minibuses and using handheld mobile phones while driving were among the more progressive legislative steps taken in recent years. However, enforcement seems to be sporadic, if ongoing at all. With policemen driving around with DVD players in their cars, it’s becoming very evident why.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
