Police: Friends or
enemies?
It was closing in to Christmas 1966.
England was still bathing in the glow of
becoming world football champions and
the papers were talking about whether
Bobby Moore should be made a knight! I
was driving a number 26 bus between
Aldgate bus station and Leyton having
recently become London’s youngest bus
driver – a title I proudly held for just
11 days!
It was around 4am and we had arrived at Aldgate. My conductor for
the day was Bow Garage T&G union rep,
the ultra-left wing Ernie Clancy and we
made our way to the canteen that opened
just for bus crews. Ernie had been
around a long time and there was little
that he didn’t know about anything, but
we were both about to be shocked.
Although the rule was bus crews (and inspectors) only, there was
one unofficial exemption to the rule. In
those far-off days, London had 6-foot
burley policemen walking around on the
beat. Crime was still around, but London
felt fairly secure because wherever you
were, there was always a bobby somewhere
close. But walking around London’s
deserted streets at 5am deserved a quick
cuppa and the bus station was the only
place in the City area where they could
get one. It certainly didn’t bother us
and besides, Ernie knew most of the
police crews and their experiences of
the nightshift always made interesting
listening. Interesting, sometimes
humorous – but never in any way
dishonest. But this one morning was
different and it stuck in our minds
because coming across a copper who was
not 100% honest was just so unusual.
The police are not and should never be treated as different to the
rest of us. They too have families, a
sense of humour and are just as capable
of mistakes as are the rest of us, but
Ernie and I were still shocked when this
policeman told us how he had followed an
Indian – his tone showed immediate
prejudice - riding his pushbike the
wrong way up Houndsditch in the early
hours some months previous, but that he
wanted to see if he "…could get him for
something else as well!"
He obviously succeeded in his quest because the cyclist pulled up
and entered a phone box. After a minute,
the policeman opened the kiosk door and
saw a bag full of pornographic photos.
He nicked him and later in court
discovered that he had been selling the
photos and was looking at them to
describe the contents to his customer at
the other end of the phone.
In court, the cyclist was found guilty and as was common at the
time, the Magistrate ordered the
arresting officer to destroy the
evidence. Destroy them! Obviously, that
officer never heard the Magistrate
because he brought the photos to the
Aldgate canteen and while showing them
to whoever was listening, was laughing
about the whole thing. In all honesty,
both Ernie and I had seen worse photos,
but to arrest
someone
because you didn’t like their skin
colour and then to do almost the
identical thing to that |
for which he had made the
original arrest was, in our opinion, a
disgrace. It was also very, very unusual
and why it still sticks in my mind.
Call Sign has no doubt that there are many good policemen still
around, the trouble is finding them. How
often have you, as a driver, needed the
services of a policeman? Ok, not every
day, but when you have, did you find
one? If you phoned, did they come? When
a member of my family was burgled
earlier this year, the police didn’t
come round until the next day – about as
much use as a carrot is to a dead
rabbit.
Strangely though, when it came to putting in a mobile speed trap
along Loughton High Road, there was no
shortage of police officers because if
you read last month’s Call Sign and
TAXI, you will know that two
officers both claimed I was there, yet
neither had any photographic evidence or
a correct registration. Yet somehow,
after receiving a Notice of Intended
Prosecution (NIP) for a car that wasn’t
mine, 8 days or so later, another NIP
arrived – this time with my correct
number. So where did it come from,
because it certainly didn’t come from
the police officers reports as they had
written a different number down? Is the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) so
desperate for something to do that they
not only put in hidden mobile speed
traps, but then make up their own
version of what they would like the reg
number to be?
And why,
when my barrister pointed out to the
prosecution at Epping Magistrates Court
that there was no evidence whatsoever
linking me to the offence – in fact
quite the reverse as my registration was
different to that in the police evidence
– did the CPS not pull the case when
their own prosecution on the day told
them they couldn’t win?
The responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service is to prosecute
criminal cases investigated by the
police in England and Wales, but
according to one ex-policeman I spoke
to, the CPS don’t bother to check the
evidence on cases such as mine and
writing to them (as I did) explaining
that they have made a mistake, is
totally worthless. They are just too
busy. My barrister on the day confirmed
that. So justice now depends on how busy
the CPS is.
And
the police? How busy are they? Well, I
went to my local police station prior to
my case after receiving the incorrect
NIP and in addition to showing my
licence as requested, thought I’d show
them my log book to prove that my car
and the car on the NIP were different.
Yes, it was
rather stupid of
me because after queuing for just over
an hour, I discovered that the only
person in this
police station (dressed in what |
looked
like the shirt Fletcher in Porridge used
to wear) was not even a policeman and
knew very little about procedure other
than how to fill in the form - 10 out of
10 for that bit! If you can’t even find
a policeman in your local police
station, you know things are bad!
And the trade police?
Contrary to what other trade papers may
say, at least the cab tout squad from
the Met (TOCU) are out there and yes,
they may well nick some taxi drivers for
parking on a taxi rank, but they also
nick an awful lot of touts who hopefully
will now be identified separately from
real taxis following the complaint by
Call Sign to the PCO – which they
have answered in this issue.
Whilst the PCO claim that they were "surprised" Call Sign
interpreted the figures the way we did,
they have agreed to look again at the
way they put out the figures to the
trade. With a total of just 13 taxi
drivers caught touting out of a total of
1095, we felt justified in asking that
both groups not be lumped together for
one grand total. And yes, we did find it
rather surprising that no one else in
the trade press felt the same way as
Call Sign.
I started this piece at Aldgate bus
station in 1966 and no, the days when a
policeman behaving incorrectly was a
huge exception, will not return. I’m
sure the majority of police do as good a
job as they are allowed to do, but we
live in a different world – one where
revenue has overtaken the need for
justice, where the need to be of a
minimum height to be a policeman has
gone, a world where being a policeman is
just a job – and one apparently where
eyesight good enough to read a number
plate is no longer a requirement.
Motorised Tuk Tuks
I recently spent a few days in Brighton,
current home of the motorised Tuk Tuks
that go from the station to the Marina.
They were hardly rushed off their feet,
but what was of concern to the local
cabbies I spoke to was that within weeks
of their launch, they were already
leaving the designated route they were
supposed to follow. If they come here in
May, although they will have no set
route, look out for a "we rule the
world" attitude.
If they do anything they are not supposed to, take the time to
write their licence number down and
report the incident. The Brighton
cabbies aren’t bothering, they are just
moaning about it – another reason why we
taxi drivers get pushed about. We’re all
scared of losing 5 minutes work.
Concierge cliché?
I do enjoy reading Steve McNamara’s
column in Taxi (20 September), but
surely he knows by now that DaC’s
Concierge is not a "minicab booking
system" as his well-worn cliché calls
it. It has helped DaC drivers be part of
record trip numbers and probably
classifies as the best £25,000 ever
spent in this trade.
Alan Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com |
