Can They Do This ???

InaGlo

InaGlo

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Ok, Im proud to say that my involement with the police is minimal, so if my question is naive, I dont intend to appologise for it! :D

Last night at 8:45 OH took himself & this old guy he knows off to the local pub popquizz. He drank the usual pint of lager (nothing more) then at 10:30pm got in the car to come home.

100 yards into the journey, he's pulled by police as it appears the front headlight is out (again, supposedly just been sorted by garage last week).

Anyway, policeman says OH had neglected to indicate pulling off pub carpark & 'staggered' out of the car, when he asked him to get out. As his eyes were apparently 'glazed', policeman decided to breathalise him. 'No problem' said OH.
The result was clear but the policeman wasnt happy, he said he didnt think the machine was working so insisted on testing OhHs passenger, which was also clear.
He then insisted he 'knew' OH was over the limit, and said he wanted him to go back to the station with him to breathalised there. So, for no real reason other than a faulty light, a poor old disabled guy is sent off to walk home alone in the rain, & OH is 'arrested' & taken across the side of town.
To irritate even further, the machine at the station didnt work either, so they had to wait for another policeman to come in with his machine!
Meantime OH was fingerprinted, DNA'd, & photographed & told that his details would be kept on file.
He was then breathalized yet again by another policeman who insitsed to the original pc that his machine was indeed working. He was now 'free to go' & original PC drove him back to his car & he came home!

Is this a common occurrance? how often are the breathalyzers faulty? Can they keep his details on file when he did absolutely nothing wrong?

We're none to happy as you can imagine!
 
Yep they can. I know it's annoying but having been hounded for months by a drink driver with an attitude problem I would be happy they were actually out to catch them. I know it's the inconvenience and the fact he lied to backup his allegations that would annoy me the most.

Had many 'run-ins' with a copper who felt I needed it so can fully sympathise with you.
 
just playing devils advocate for a minute.

I'm a traffic officer in xxx police, I'v e received information that mr xxxx is a regular at this pub at will always drive home after being there for a number of hours, I have reason to belive he will be drinking and is likely to be over the limit to drive.

I see him leave the pub car park, the car has a faulty headlight - now you must understand that someone who is willing to drive a car that is not roadworthy is likely to be commiting a number of offences so I pull him over for a chat.

I can smell alcohol and brethalise him which he passes, I susspect the machine is not working so invite him to the station to confirm it on the machine there, this has a second bonus - the longer I wait the higher his reading will go if he's only just stopped drinking.

he passess so he's released.

devils advocate mode off.

the copper was doing his job, your OH drove away from a pub and that will always leave you open to being stopped.
 
I don't think there allowed to keep your DNA and fingerprints on file though if your not found guilty of anything. Though i'm not 100% sure on this.
 
Thanks for the replies, and while I do agree with the above in principle.
I guess Im just really irritated by his determination... especially as once he got OH in the car he became very friendly & chatty, telling OH he thought he was a decent sort & hoped the result came back negative.
And Im really surprised by the faulty machine fiasco, and having to be 'arrested' to be be tested back at the station, and now being on police file.
How often are these machines 'faulty' then?
 
I think the headlight thing just gave him the excuse he needed. But they could have dropped the old chap off at home first, don't think it was very good he had to walk home. What if he had got mugged, he would have been an easy target.

Things will only get worse if they change the limits like they are talking about. It just won't be safe to even risk one drink if your in the car and I suspect loads of people will be caught out the next morning, even if they've been sensible and not driven the night before.

The Police used to follow me fairly often when I had my Fiesta Si, they never actually stopped me but followed me onto the housing estate where my Aunt lived and drove passed me really slowly while I parked up.

I used to have bulb problems in my old car, it seemed to be more the connection than the bulb.
 
My understanding of police powers to stop motorists and demand a breath test is they're seen committing a moving traffic offence ( OH qualifies with the duff headlight) or the officer suspects that he's been drinking.

All fair and good to go in my book, but this officer doubting the validity of the breath test, actually testing the passenger, and then taking OH to the police station for a further test, smacks of over zealousness in the extreme.

I'm sorry but as an ex 30 year career cop it sounds to me like a pantomime farce tbh, and it's incidents like this which aren't currently doing the image of the police any good at all.
 
I'd have thrown the key away !!!!!


And that's just for the defective headlight. ;)
 
I guess I just needed to vent really, but thanks for the responses peeps.... except DF! :p

CT, thats what pee'd me off the most, the stupid determination of the guy.
The farce gets better... the place he picked up OH was Finchfield ... just a few miles from Wednesfield station where he took him .... and he GOT LOST!!!!
OH said his SatNav wasnt switched on and he sure as hell wasnt going to direct him!

I think there must be an electrical problem with OH's car, though its been to the garage & theyve said twice it was just bulbs!
Im probably taking it so personal because OH rarely goes to pubs at all, except to this popquizz thing with the old guy.
When it comes to alcohol he can take or leave it, Im sure he'll be leaving it in future, its not worth the hassle.

Thing is after being held at the station for 2 1/2 hours he drove to work this morning after just 3 hours sleep ... & now he probably is a blooming danger!

tafflade said:
I'm a traffic officer in xxx police, I've received information that mr xxxx is a regular at this pub at will always drive home after being there for a number of hours, I have reason to belive he will be drinking and is likely to be over the limit to drive.
Click to expand...

Hmmm! perhaps someone is a tad pee'd off that he wins the comp everyone week and tipped them off! :lol:
 
I promised myself long ago that I'd keep out of cop threads because they usually end up as bad news. ;)

Legally, hubby has a statutory defence to the defective headlight offence if it's just happened, and he's had no reasonable opportunity to take steps to get it rectified. That doesn't change the validity of the cop's power to stop him though based on the headlight.

It sounds like OH and old timer being the good eggs they are have co-operated with this cop at every step. There's no power to breath test the passenger unless he consents, and I'm willing to bet OH agreed to voluntarily go to the station rather than being arrested.

Totally misplaced sense of where his job's at IMHO.
 
Thanks CT,
I know you dont normally get involved in these sort of threads & I didnt ask you about this personally as I didnt want you to feel obliged to respond.
However, its refreshing to hear your point of view & makes me feel a little less like I overreacted.... though if you'd have heard what came out of my mouth last night :gag: :lol:
 
tomh said:
I don't think there allowed to keep your DNA and fingerprints on file though if your not found guilty of anything. Though i'm not 100% sure on this.
Click to expand...

Yes they are. Welcome to Blair's police state.
 
I'd tell hubby to complain tbh Glo. Write a letter to The Chief Constable setting out the full circumstances. At the very least the officer will be seen and asked about his version and every official complaint goes on his record, so even if nothing happens, it's there, and eventually if enough people complain there's a 'no smoke without fire' reaction.
 
CT said:
I promised myself long ago that I'd keep out of cop threads because they usually end up as bad news. ;)

It sounds like OH and old timer being the good eggs they are have co-operated with this cop at every step. There's no power to breath test the passenger unless he consents, and I'm willing to bet OH agreed to voluntarily go to the station rather than being arrested.

Totally misplaced sense of where his job's at IMHO.
Click to expand...

Like CT I try and not get involved in police threads. There are a few points that concern me the first being why was the passenger breathalysed? It's fifteen years since I left that mob and I cannot find any reason why you would want to do that - a completely pointless exercise. Secondly, why did he suspect the machine to be faulty, just because it gave a negative reading? Not good enough in my book and as for the eyes being 'glazed' and your OH 'staggering' - this is standard 'police speak' with any drunk driver and I find it difficult to comprehend what he was trying to prove.

If it was me I would be putting in a complaint as this is abuse. When you consider the problems the police are facing at the moment with rising crime (contrary to government statistics) and Joe Public's perception of the police, this officer hasn't done himself, or his colleagues, any favours at all.

****** like this were one of the reasons I left after a fourteen year career.
 
What vehicle was the cop driving as a matter of interest?

If it wasn't actually a traffic patrol car, then the truth is all sorts of uniformed characters other than full time officers could be driving it these days *shudder*
 
Thanks for your input Colin, much appreciated.

The cop asked if the passenger had been drinking too & if he'd had more than OH, which OH said he had marginally, (an extra half but as he doesnt drive, so what), this seemed enough reason for him to breathalise him too.
Having never been in the situation before OH didnt know if breathalizing the passenger was the norm or not.

When the cop said he thought the machine was faulty and asked if OH would go back to the station, OH asked if he couldnt radio someone nearby to 'assist' which he said no he couldnt, it had to be done at the station .... and OH would have to be arrested in order for him to take him back.
Then for the blooming station machine to not work either, and OH have to go through the humiliation of emptying his pockets like a shcoolboy, fingerprinting, blah blah!

Im not a mouthy person (even though I am a Wednesbury wench, lol!) but its probably just as well I wasnt there, as I think I would have ended up giving them a reason to arrest me, because the whole thing just sounds 'wrong'.
The incident certainly hasnt done much for my sympathies with the police!


EDIT: I didnt think to ask what car it was CT, Ill ask him when he gets back later
 
Interesting thread. I NEVER drink any alcohol when I have the car, I got stopped once in my early 20's and that scared the life out of me at the time (I was under the limit btw).

What I don't understand though: I thought that if you were stopped and breathalysed, if the copper didn't get the result he expected, or if the unit was "faulty", they weren't allowed to ask you a 2nd time....

As for testing the passenger, that's just pointless, cann understand it if it were a bike (pillion has to be able to hold on etc) but an old boy, sounds like a copper with an attitude to me.

That said, most police officers I have ever dealt with have been very polite and relaxed - even when I may have been a little faster than the limit ;) And it's good to see that they're stopping people that they may consider over the limit.
 
Jelster said:
Interesting thread. I NEVER drink any alcohol when I have the car, I got stopped once in my early 20's and that scared the life out of me at the time (I was under the limit btw).
Click to expand...

I don't touch anything when driving either, had an odd experience where after a single point I felt unable to drive and had to get a taxi. Always amazes me when I see people having 3 pints with the old "it'll be out of my system by the time I drive home".

Jelster said:
That said, most police officers I have ever dealt with have been very polite and relaxed - even when I may have been a little faster than the limit ;) And it's good to see that they're stopping people that they may consider over the limit.
Click to expand...

Most I've dealt with have been arrogant and cocksure with no sense of reason :( Really makes it hard to respect the general but I do :)
 
I really don't understand why the passenger was breathalised? I don't know of a legitimate reason to do this.

Either way, I think it's clear the unit wasn't faulty, and he was only arrested because the officer didn't get the result he expected.
 
Its obvious that the officer had a preconceived notion about what he was expecting when he pulled your OH over....it seems that when this wasn't proved to be the case he got all authoritarian and decided to make it all a bigger deal...

I think it is excellent that the police are so determined to crack down on drink driving, which is something that definitely needs to be tackled.

On the other hand though, it seems that in this case they were simply wasting police time and resources when they could have been out and about actually policing something that needed policing once they realised that your OH was not in the wrong!
 
the passenger had admitted drinking more than the driver.

Breath test the passenger to try and get a confirmed "fail" result thus eliminating the negertive reading from the driver on the spot.

Seems like common sense to me : shrug:
 
It sounds like the police officer needed one more arrest on that shift to qualify for a travel iron.

Seriously, I think a complaint should be put in. Can you imagine how this could have escalated if a less understanding motorist had been stopped by this copper?
 
InaGlo said:
Thanks for the replies, and while I do agree with the above in principle.
I guess Im just really irritated by his determination... especially as once he got OH in the car he became very friendly & chatty, telling OH he thought he was a decent sort & hoped the result came back negative.
And Im really surprised by the faulty machine fiasco, and having to be 'arrested' to be be tested back at the station, and now being on police file.
How often are these machines 'faulty' then?
Click to expand...


i dont know if i am right in saying they have to arrest you to take you back to the station, because if they just ask you to accompany them you are well within your rights to refuse?.
 
seems a little OTT. but sorry, people shouldnt drink and drive . at all.
one pint or three. its still idiotic.
a friend of mine was killed some years ago by a driver who had one pint to drink.
the sooner the gov reduces the breath alcohol limit to zero, the better.
rant over.
 
That does seem a little OTT to me as well Glo especially leaving the "poor old guy" to walk home on his own that surely must be "worth" a letter of complaint alone :shrug:
I'll leave it there


 
Welcome to the Union of Socialist European Republics.
Next the local council will be spying on you to decide where your kids go to school.

I hope your OH never drops a nail clipping within 10 miles of a crime scene now they have his DNA on record. DNA never lies you know, I saw it on GMTV.
 
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