Auckland waterfront police overkill?

[N4CR]

Today I had the pleasure of going along the waterfront four times - saw cops 3 times hiding behind moving trucks (semi tailgating) and nabbing oncoming traffic with the radar.. twice lucky. Then another 3 or 4 undercover cops casing the same section of road.

Surely we dont need that many cars to 'keep us safe from the speed demon' while so many other crimes are happening...?

Any cops know why this happened today? (Out of curiosity).. national traffic blitz day?

[John]

Was talking to tristan how I saw minimum of 5 cops today in town within the space of 20mins going to tech, alot of pulling over etc to - saw 2 people getting pulled over..

Wonder whats going on?

[Waylander]

Maybe they are huntin for you two.

[crashe]

well I had 3 cops cars in my wee cul-de-sac AGAIN this morning at 7.30am.
They Arrested the dude AGAIN.... just wish they could throw the keys away on this pratt.

This time he had also even turned off my power and the place where he lives at 1.30am and I found out what he did by 8am... He switched off the switches at the outside box on the front the the other house. He was getting back the people where he lives and didnt know which switch so turned them both off... the areshole..

He was arrested for breach of bail conditions AGAIN. He was boozed and was throwing stuff around the house. Not allowed booze.
Very noisey at my place as the units are joined...

All I can say is that the judges are tooooo damned soft...
They just keep on fining him... been sent to dry out once...
why cant the judges look at him and just chuck him in prison for a very LONG time. At one stage he was being arrested every week...
The court system sucks.... the police are great cos as soon as they hear his name on their radios, the cops are there within 10 minutes, as this dude is so well known to them.
Just wish he and his g/f would move on and annoy some other people in another street.
This was and is a quiet street...

OK thats my rant... so much for getting peace and quiet to recover.

[Coldkiwi]

beware of quay st going past the port/old railway station. The thieving swine have been known to sit behind unmarked cop cars and parked buses in the dusk and ping people travelling above the ridiculous 50kmhr speedlimit with glee using lasers from 400m.
pillocks should be spending more time casing the intersections for the hundreds of red light runners (now THATS actually dangerous!)

[tl_tub]

Is red light running becoming more common? I was amazed while living in Chirstchuch last year - it was not uncommon to see 3 cars travel through the intersection after the light had turned red! I know we all have a lot to do these days, but come on! :no:

[Skyryder]

Is red light running becoming more common? I was amazed while living in Chirstchuch last year - it was not uncommon to see 3 cars travel through the intersection after the light had turned red! I know we all have a lot to do these days, but come on! :no:

You got it right there. City driving peak time: can't go far without seeing someone running a red. If you're smart in this city green light means caution before proceeding. Pity the road plod don't target this more often instead of siting in the one way sytem with their speed cameras'.

Skyryder

[What?]

Is red light running becoming more common? I was amazed while living in Chirstchuch last year - it was not uncommon to see 3 cars travel through the intersection after the light had turned red! I know we all have a lot to do these days, but come on! :no:
Have a look around Tauranga - and half the buggers running reds are cops!

[Coldkiwi]

So the reason the cops patrol that stretch of road so vigilently is beacause that is the danger spot for that particular section. it is 50 for a reason...YOUR SAFETY!!!! Unless you want to have a cop stopping you.. or worse still seeing my sorry ass looking over you... then I suggest you do the speed limit along there and be done with it.. easy aye!

Hope that answers your question.

if only.

tamaki drive I can understand a little more as the cars inevitably park too far out and push cyclists right into the path of cars behind due to the relatively narrow lanes. Having said that, there is a cycle lane on the footpath.

The bit I think is a crock is Quay st before it gets to the Stanley st intersection. dual carriage way, no driveways, perfectly straight wide lanes and little to no cycle or foot traffic. patrolling that with lasers in lieu of stopping the normal mid town intersection madness is just money making. I'm quite happy to see them scouting the queen/customs intersection, but its pretty rare

[Zed]

Today I had the pleasure of going along the waterfront four times - saw cops 3 times hiding behind moving trucks (semi tailgating) and nabbing oncoming traffic with the radar.. twice lucky. Then another 3 or 4 undercover cops casing the same section of road.

Surely we dont need that many cars to 'keep us safe from the speed demon' while so many other crimes are happening...?

Any cops know why this happened today? (Out of curiosity).. national traffic blitz day?I lived right on Tamaki Drive "the waterfront" eight years ago and even then there was a large presence of police.

When the traffic is light along the waterfront (which is quite rare) it is an excellent road to ride fast on with nice twisties and scenery, etc. No wonder every day is a field day for the cops down there! :whistle:

[texmo]

Wasnt 2 asain dudes kidnapped and takenb to banks to withdraw thier cash when one of them handed over the withdrawl form saying his was being held hostage the security gaurd called 111 and couldnt get through......... the line was bussy. Maby he just bypassed the cops all together and ran cheep cabs?

[N4CR]

As above.. STU.. It is there Job to patrol the road.. not attend incidents... thats what the "I" cars are for. And speeding is a crime anyway.. one we are all guilty of to different degrees.. lucky your speed hasnt killed or maimed anyone... yet

I got my 90 ticket a while ago now and I have learned a lesson from that eg no more stupid crap, I just go with the traffic. I don't even go on country/100kmh rides anymore because I'm always thinking 'what if'... scares me which I suppose is good.

Okay so they have dedicated cars.. fair enough. I'm used to seeing cops there every day, just today there happened to be many many more police than usual.

Thanks for the info though!

[Biff]

I didn't think cops were allowed to hide with radar guns anymore?

[madboy]

I had that same discussion with a friend who's in traffic, Biff. He said they were not allowed to be "covert", and apparently "covert" does not mean a dark green camera van parked in the shadow of a tree-lined verge behind the armco barrier on a downhill multi-lane stretch of urban motorway... so I don't think standing behind a car will meet the definition either.

[N4CR]

Actually it reminds me of the time on tamaki drive that two bikey cops were lasering on the corner closest to the port intersection, getting speeders down the hill. They were WELL hidden, only thing that made me notice was a 'BMW looking' front wheel/light assembly when I got withing 50m or so. They were doing a good 250m plus as well :D .

They got the usual wave and nod when I figured out where the lazer was :msn-wink:

[spudchucka]

The reason Quay St and Tamaki Drive (the waterfront you speak of) is flush with police is because Auckland Central have an STU (Strategic Traffic Unit). There are not many (if any) streets in the inner city patch that they patrol where it is common for cars to speed along during the day...except Tamaki Drive.

It is 50 kph which may seem a bit ridiculous to you lot but I work a lot out of St Heliers Station which means Tamaki drive is my patch too.
This road is VERY popular with cyclists, rollerbladers, joggers and mums pushing those three wheeled contraptions.
I attend at least one accident in my set of shifts on Tamaki drive each four days.
Most are not serious but a LOT involve Car V Cyclist. These would have been very serious often fatal if the speed limit were 60 or 70..remember people travel 5 to 10 over anyway generally. The last one I did attend was fatal.. albeit on Long Drive not Tamaki drive but there next to each other.
So the reason the cops patrol that stretch of road so vigilently is beacause that is the danger spot for that particular section. it is 50 for a reason...YOUR SAFETY!!!! Unless you want to have a cop stopping you.. or worse still seeing my sorry ass looking over you... then I suggest you do the speed limit along there and be done with it.. easy aye!

Hope that answers your question.
Now if I had said that I would have been just a blind cop towing the company line. Thanks for sharing your experiences and for your commons sense approach to this question.

[spudchucka]

Wasnt 2 asain dudes kidnapped and takenb to banks to withdraw thier cash when one of them handed over the withdrawl form saying his was being held hostage the security gaurd called 111 and couldnt get through......... the line was bussy. Maby he just bypassed the cops all together and ran cheep cabs?
Boy, you obviously keep yourself well up to date with current events.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3292359a10,00.html

[Lou Girardin]

Wasnt 2 asain dudes kidnapped and takenb to banks to withdraw thier cash when one of them handed over the withdrawl form saying his was being held hostage the security gaurd called 111 and couldnt get through......... the line was bussy. Maby he just bypassed the cops all together and ran cheep cabs?
Unaccustomed as I am to defending the Po-lice. Part of this affair happened outside work. If the cops didn't answer 111 they must have bloody good intuition, the area was swarming with them. Funny how the little fucker in the car didn't move much with a hulking detective in his face and with his hand on the Glock.

[Lou Girardin]

The reason Quay St and Tamaki Drive (the waterfront you speak of) is flush with police is because Auckland Central have an STU (Strategic Traffic Unit). There are not many (if any) streets in the inner city patch that they patrol where it is common for cars to speed along during the day...except Tamaki Drive.

It is 50 kph which may seem a bit ridiculous to you lot but I work a lot out of St Heliers Station which means Tamaki drive is my patch too.
This road is VERY popular with cyclists, rollerbladers, joggers and mums pushing those three wheeled contraptions.
I attend at least one accident in my set of shifts on Tamaki drive each four days.
Most are not serious but a LOT involve Car V Cyclist. These would have been very serious often fatal if the speed limit were 60 or 70..remember people travel 5 to 10 over anyway generally. The last one I did attend was fatal.. albeit on Long Drive not Tamaki drive but there next to each other.
So the reason the cops patrol that stretch of road so vigilently is beacause that is the danger spot for that particular section. it is 50 for a reason...YOUR SAFETY!!!! Unless you want to have a cop stopping you.. or worse still seeing my sorry ass looking over you... then I suggest you do the speed limit along there and be done with it.. easy aye!

Hope that answers your question.

Perhaps if the cyclists, rollerbladers, joggers and mum's with 3 wheeled contraptions stayed on the footpath where there's even a cycle lane there wouldn't be a problem.
The biggest threat on Tamaki Drive would be driver distraction in Summer. The cops need a S B U (Strategic Bikini Unit). You up for that Spud?

[curious george]

When I rule the world, Tamaki drive will be shut down to cars.
Hey Lou, you ever tried to ride/walk/push/rollerblade on that stinking footpath?
It's BS. Tamaki drive is full of morons in cars that dont take any care, that only thing that slows them down is the amount of traffic that makes them crawl.....
As far as I'm concerned, it Aucklands biggest 'recreational road' and police want to patrol it in a stealth bomber, I'm all for it.
I'm voting for the next guy who wants to put guided rocket launchers on speed cameras. That'll take care of the bastards. Speed now muddafuggers!

[Lou Girardin]

When I rule the world, Tamaki drive will be shut down to cars.
Hey Lou, you ever tried to ride/walk/push/rollerblade on that stinking footpath?
It's BS. Tamaki drive is full of morons in cars that dont take any care, that only thing that slows them down is the amount of traffic that makes them crawl.....
As far as I'm concerned, it Aucklands biggest 'recreational road' and police want to patrol it in a stealth bomber, I'm all for it.
I'm voting for the next guy who wants to put guided rocket launchers on speed cameras. That'll take care of the bastards. Speed now muddafuggers!

If it hasn't got an engine I don't want to know.
Gee, I bet you don't get out of 2nd on that RGV in the 'burbs.

[Zed]

The biggest threat on Tamaki Drive would be driver distraction in Summer. The cops need a S B U (Strategic Bikini Unit)...You dirty old man Lou! :o

[Zed]

When I rule the world, Tamaki drive will be shut down to cars
Yeah I like that idea. ONLY bikes allowed, and of course the speed limit will have to disappear...:soon:

[curious george]

Gee, I bet you don't get out of 2nd on that RGV in the 'burbs.,
Urmmmm OK, point taken, but that's different, innit? :whistle:

Actually, I am a bit of a speed wuss, (just look at my track lap times.. :-p ), and dont really go faster than allowed to on the road. Have done of course, but have really buttoned off in the last year or so.
Reformed rider blahblah yadda yadda etc etc

Tamaki drive is just an old favourite road I used to cycle on a lot, and in the last 5-10 years gotten bussier and bussier, when I feel major traffic should be diverted away from the waterfront.
And I was a member of the S.B.U unit for some time.
Gotta love the waterfront :Punk:

[What?]

... The cops need a S B U (Strategic Bikini Unit).
Might just join up myself if that eventuates...

[johnsf1980]

I live in St Heliers and ride to work downtown on Tamaki Drive every morning and back home every evening sun, wind or rain.

And Im quite pleased that they have cops out there patrolling Tamaki drive with some of the stupid things I see being done by cagers..... and also quite a few motorcyclists & scooter riders who pass me by riding on the median, or on the left, etc :nono:



The reason Quay St and Tamaki Drive (the waterfront you speak of) is flush with police is because Auckland Central have an STU (Strategic Traffic Unit). There are not many (if any) streets in the inner city patch that they patrol where it is common for cars to speed along during the day...except Tamaki Drive.

It is 50 kph which may seem a bit ridiculous to you lot but I work a lot out of St Heliers Station which means Tamaki drive is my patch too.
This road is VERY popular with cyclists, rollerbladers, joggers and mums pushing those three wheeled contraptions.
I attend at least one accident in my set of shifts on Tamaki drive each four days.
Most are not serious but a LOT involve Car V Cyclist. These would have been very serious often fatal if the speed limit were 60 or 70..remember people travel 5 to 10 over anyway generally. The last one I did attend was fatal.. albeit on Long Drive not Tamaki drive but there next to each other.
So the reason the cops patrol that stretch of road so vigilently is beacause that is the danger spot for that particular section. it is 50 for a reason...YOUR SAFETY!!!! Unless you want to have a cop stopping you.. or worse still seeing my sorry ass looking over you... then I suggest you do the speed limit along there and be done with it.. easy aye!

Hope that answers your question.

[bikerboy]

beware.......pillocks should be spending more time casing the intersections for the hundreds of red light runners (now THATS actually dangerous!)

When they did on the intersection of Ponsonby rd, K road, Newton, Great N road, instead of hiding, about fifteen stand on all four corners with cameras and note pads wearing bright green vests.

They are so visible everyone stops when the light turns yellow instead of the usual minimum of three cars going through the red. Seems stupid as once the police clear off, it's back to the usual.

[scumdog]

As above.. STU.. It is there Job to patrol the road.. not attend incidents... thats what the "I" cars are for. And speeding is a crime anyway.. one we are all guilty of to different degrees.. lucky your speed hasnt killed or maimed anyone... yet

Good point SM, went to an incident last week, bunch of scatter-brained 4th formers (is that what you still call them?) standing out on the roadway waiting to cross, little old lady comes along in her new Maxima, sees the girls and as she got near to them slows down to just under 40 "just in case one stepped in front of me".

Sure enough when she was only a short (unknown) distance away two of the girls start running across the road side-by-side, girl nearest car sees it and comes to a screaming halt, second girl does not notice and keeps going, the l-o-l stands on the brakes, hits 2nd girl who slides up the bonnet until her face is about a metre away in a straight line from the l-ol-s, much shitting of knickers all round, luckily 2nd girl o.k. enough to walk away (impact knocked her out of her shoes though).

Point is, if l-ol-l hadn't been so cautious and had been like certain posters on KB and did the old "fuckit, 63kph ain't too fast for in town" I'd guess the 2nd girl would still be in hospital or worse - and if l-o-l had been on a scoot of some sort? Not good eh?

[Ixion]

.. little old lady comes along in her new Maxima, sees the girls and as she got near to them slows down to just under 40 "just in case one stepped in front of me".

..

Point is, if l-ol-l hadn't been so cautious and had been like certain posters on KB and did the old "fuckit, 63kph ain't too fast for in town" I'd guess the 2nd girl would still be in hospital or worse - and if l-o-l had been on a scoot of some sort? Not good eh?

But - by your statement: l.o.l SLOWED DOWN from some (unknown higher) speed to 40 kph. In other words l.o.l detected hazard and adjusted speed accordingly. Why do you assume motorcyclist would not do the same ? So hypothetical motorcyclist following l.o.l , doing 63 in stretch with no hazard (and you don't know that the l.o.l was not doing > 60kph before she slowed down ) , also sees girls and slows down "just in case".

And if the l.o.l had been doing 50 kph (completely legal)? Odds are the girl would have ended up in hospital ?

The objection to blindly enforced speed limits is exactly that - people will drive at the speed limit and think that's all they need to do. "I'm not speeding so I MUST be safe". Rather than adjusting speed for conditions and hazards. As l.o.l sensibly did.

[scumdog]

But - by your statement: l.o.l SLOWED DOWN from some (unknown higher) speed to 40 kph. In other words l.o.l detected hazard and adjusted speed accordingly. Why do you assume motorcyclist would not do the same ? So hypothetical motorcyclist following l.o.l , doing 63 in stretch with no hazard (and you don't know that the l.o.l was not doing > 60kph before she slowed down ) , also sees girls and slows down "just in case".

And if the l.o.l had been doing 50 kph (completely legal)? Odds are the girl would have ended up in hospital ?

The objection to blindly enforced speed limits is exactly that - people will drive at the speed limit and think that's all they need to do. "I'm not speeding so I MUST be safe". Rather than adjusting speed for conditions and hazards. As l.o.l sensibly did.

Point I was trying to make was that it's not mandatory to drive/ride at the speed limit but there are a lot of people on the road who think because they are 'only' doing the speed limit (or 63kph?) they are safe, speed limits are there partly because if they WERN'T there so many people would cruise through town at 80kph or more -unless a hazard was actually right in their path and waving a red flag, - asked one woman doing a little bit more than 50 "How many metres do you think it would take you to stop from 50kph?" and she quite straight faced said "Oh, one or maybe two?" asked to show me how long a metre was and she held her hands about the right distance apart so it wasn't llike she didn't know how long 'on or two' metres was.

Limits cater for the lowest common denominator - the slack-jawed, mouth-breathing, lack-witted, improvident oxygen thief who is driving on his "L" licence (and probably with 4 unlicenced 'tard mates in the car).

[speedpro]

Good point SM, went to an incident last week, bunch of scatter-brained 4th formers (is that what you still call them?) standing out on the roadway waiting to cross, little old lady comes along in her new Maxima, sees the girls and as she got near to them slows down to just under 40 "just in case one stepped in front of me".
The average KBer would have slowed down to check out the little school girlies, especially if it was a catholic school. Mmmmmmmmmm, catholic school girls :love:

[spudchucka]

The cops need a S B U (Strategic Bikini Unit). You up for that Spud?
Where do I sign up?

[DEATH_INC.]

Back in the old days (about 10 years ago....)we all used to cruise down town on friday/saturday night,and meet up in one of the sidestreets off queen street,then head out along tamaki drive to the point at about 11pm.....What a great road at that time of the night without all the traffic! I'll never forget chasing lance lowe along there on his dads V-Max with sparks coming off the undercarrige at every corner!
I'd like to know why there aren't more redlight camera's too,there's prolly more $$$$$ to be made with those(and more of a safety issue)than those dumbass speed cameras....

[madboy]

Limits cater for the lowest common denominator - the slack-jawed, mouth-breathing, lack-witted, improvident oxygen thief who is driving on his "L" licence (and probably with 4 unlicenced 'tard mates in the car).Agree.

What I don't agree with is the rigid enforcement policies at the moment. I don't see how 111km/h on a 4 lane median barriered motorway in my 1998 model car with 4 wheel discs, ABS brakes and expensive directional tyres (with 5mm+ tread depth) and 14 years of driving experience gets the same treatment as said 'tarded up boys in car older than them, drum brakes, retreads and 6 months maybe driving experience on some narrow backroad. Yeah okay, they'll get the added bonus of license infringements yada yada yada, but they'll also get the same speeding ticket I will.

Where's the common sense in that?

What happened to the good ole days when common sense prevailed. And don't feed me that shit about what the road toll was like back then - cos they didn't have bugger all cars with ABS, pre-tensioner seatbelts, effective crumple zones and all that.

Of course, Scumdog, you strike me as the type of cop who would apply common sense and may "choose" to not see the 1998 stationwagon at 111km/h, whereas you may "choose" to see the said old shitter. But sadly many of your colleagues don't operate that discretion.

On a side note, saw 5th Gear on TV other day, did a frontal offset test on a 9 year old Renault Espace (ugly people mover) vs a brand new 5-star NCAP rated Renault Espace. Scary. Very scary. Almost made me want to trade my 98 wagon for a new one! Driver of old one would have been killed despite airbag, new own barely deformed, didn't even trigger airbags. Just about drove right through the old one.

[hondacmx450]

Back in the old days (about 10 years ago....)we all used to cruise down town on friday/saturday night,and meet up in one of the sidestreets off queen street,then head out along tamaki drive to the point at about 11pm.....What a great road at that time of the night without all the traffic! I'll never forget chasing lance lowe along there on his dads V-Max with sparks coming off the undercarrige at every corner!
I'd like to know why there aren't more redlight camera's too,there's prolly more $$$$$ to be made with those(and more of a safety issue)than those dumbass speed cameras....


has lance got his own bike now or is he still using other ppls still :whistle: :rofl:

[SPman]

Had his own bike last year, didnt he?

[Lou Girardin]

Good point SM, went to an incident last week, bunch of scatter-brained 4th formers (is that what you still call them?) standing out on the roadway waiting to cross, little old lady comes along in her new Maxima, sees the girls and as she got near to them slows down to just under 40 "just in case one stepped in front of me".

Sure enough when she was only a short (unknown) distance away two of the girls start running across the road side-by-side, girl nearest car sees it and comes to a screaming halt, second girl does not notice and keeps going, the l-o-l stands on the brakes, hits 2nd girl who slides up the bonnet until her face is about a metre away in a straight line from the l-ol-s, much shitting of knickers all round, luckily 2nd girl o.k. enough to walk away (impact knocked her out of her shoes though).

Point is, if l-ol-l hadn't been so cautious and had been like certain posters on KB and did the old "fuckit, 63kph ain't too fast for in town" I'd guess the 2nd girl would still be in hospital or worse - and if l-o-l had been on a scoot of some sort? Not good eh?


Good argument for 30 or 40 km/h school speed zones and tough enforcement.
Believe it or not, I wouldn't have a problem with that. Plus it'll keep you guys off our fun roads.

[Lou Girardin]

Where do I sign up?

I didn't mention that the role is undercover, you'll wear a thong, and need a brazillian. But if the reality is anything like your avatar you'll need an entire South American.

[spudchucka]

I didn't mention that the role is undercover, you'll wear a thong, and need a brazillian. But if the reality is anything like your avatar you'll need an entire South American.
No worries. So long as I can get a fake tan first because on a sunny day my arse is white enough to dazzle a 747 pilot at 60,000 feet.

[Lou Girardin]

No worries. So long as I can get a fake tan first because on a sunny day my arse is white enough to dazzle a 747 pilot at 60,000 feet.

Far too much info.
Why don't you put a blue filter on one cheek and a red on the other, sit on the car roof and you'll get to emergencies much quicker.