How to discover cop's name after incident?

[Beemer]

I was the fourth car in a group of eight travelling loosely together this morning (other vehicles were in between us) when I suddenly noticed the guy behind me swerve violently to the left as he was overtaken on yellow lines by a red Commodore. I thought "bloody idiot" then noticed red and blue flashing lights and realised it was a mufti cop. I immediately put my indicator on and moved as far as possible to the left (it was on a blind corner coming up to an overbridge, hence the yellow lines) to allow him to pass as he was hoofing it and I assumed he was on his way to an accident or other serious incident. The three vehicles in front of me did the same and he overtook at least one on the overbridge. We were all travelling at about 100-105kph so there was no need to check the speedo to see if we were speeding.

A few seconds later we came around another corner and found the cop had pulled to the left, jumped out of his car and was standing in the middle of the road waving for us to stop. I thought there was perhaps a serious accident up ahead and the road was about to be closed. He went to the first vehicle in our group, then the second and third, then came to my car. He stuck his head in the window and said "your group was going a bit fast back there in the passing lane and one of you - I don't know which one - was doing 136 so you need to keep an eye on your speed." I said it certainly hadn't been me.

After speaking to each of us in turn (but waving on the car we had both overtaken), he got back in his vehicle and did a U-turn on SH1 and headed south. When we got to our destination it was the hot topic of conversation and we found more bizarre elements to the saga. Apparently the last car in our group had seen him do a U-turn and he then tailgated him for approximately 4kms before overtaking him and the other four or five vehicles behind me - and at least two of these drivers said he overtook them on yellow lines and at high speed.

We certainly all dispute that we were going anywhere NEAR 136 (all but one of us were driving 1970s and 1980s classic cars) and nothing we were doing warranted this cop doing a U-turn, following us for several kilometres before overtaking us on yellow lines through blind corners and waving for us to pull over, then just giving us a warning.

I want to make a formal complaint about his behaviour, but unfortunately, as I was the fourth car in the group and the others who also wish to complain were further back, we didn't get the chance to get his registration number and we were a bit dumbfounded and didn't ask for his name either.

Is there any way of finding out this officer's name and where he is based? This incident occurred just south of the Marton turn-off where the Halcolmbe Road also comes out, so I'm not sure if he'd be from Bulls or elsewhere. I have a good description of him and this happened at about 11.30am today.

There was a lot of traffic on the road and he was lucky he didn't collect anyone when he did the two U-turns, but it's the extremely dangerous overtaking behaviour on blind corners and yellow lines that concerns me and the others. His tailgating was also not appreciated and the driver of the one later model vehicle he did that to said he wondered if he was hoping he'd put his foot down and he could get him for speeding. One driver is in the 60-plus age group and he said he had never seen such dangerous overtaking and thought the cop must have been on his way to a serious incident. When he realised he was trying to get in front of us all so he could give us a warning, he was disgusted.

If anyone can give me any pointers on how to identify this officer, as in which station to ring, I'd appreciate it. Perhaps the weight of seven or eight complaint letters may hold more sway than just one.

[scumdog]

Time, place and car rego might be a good start?

Just like any other driving complaint.

[Beemer]

He pulled us over just after a corner, on a straight, but there wasn't much room so we all stayed in our vehicles. Only the guy at the front was right behind him but he didn't know what we had all seen the cop do so he didn't take his rego. The cop came to each of our vehicles in turn then did a U-turn and we didn't get the chance to get his rego.

Happy to ring around the stations to find out who was driving the red mufti at that time today as I have a description of him, but would like to know where to start!

[MSTRS]

Fuck me. There's about 5kms of straight after that bridge too. Bridgeman's brother?

[Beemer]

Fuck me. There's about 5kms of straight after that bridge too. Bridgeman's brother?

Yeah, not exactly the safest place to stop as he pulled over all eight of us, plus a few vehicles that were travelling in between us, and we all had to brake to a sudden stop in a hurry and pull over to the left. Lucky no one ran up our arse as we did so.

By the way, not wanting to have a go at this cop publicly by saying who he was, just want to try and identify him so the complaint can go to the right person in charge. None of us were given a ticket, only a warning, so it's not like we're moaning because we did something wrong and were hit in the pocket, we just think this guy's driving behaviour was appalling. We would have tolerated it if he was on his way to a serious incident, but not just to give us a warning for allegedly speeding. The fact there were other cars in amongst us and we were all spaced evenly (less than 1km from the first car to the last) illustrates we were not driving fast or dangerously.

[Headbanger]

Interesting, I passed him earlier today, parked up on the side of the road just a couple km out of Bulls.

I'll go past the Wanganui cop shop later tonight and see if that wagon is there.

[rustic101]

You may not want to focus on the driver but rather the behaviour.

There are a number of options available to you:


Letter of dissatisfaction - Sounds like District Commander, Central Districts.
Lodge a complaint to the IPCA - can be done online
Ask to talk to the Road Policing Manager - again sounds like Central Disticts
Lodge an OIA requesting Units logged on in the Area you mentioned
Complete a Driving Complaint on the Police website - you would need the rego to add substance


Almost sounds like a Highway patrol Unit

[Beemer]

Thanks! He must have been heading south as we were heading north but it was a hell of a long time after he spotted us before he pulled us over, which is why all of us were surprised as we were all tootling along at about 100kph. In all that time, the four lead cars had each passed a VW in the passing lane and one of our group had also passed me. We had already seen heaps of marked cars on the road so certainly weren't acting like idiots. Fine day = lots of cops!

[Beemer]

You may not want to focus on the driver but rather the behaviour.

There are a number of options available to you:


Letter of dissatisfaction - Sounds like District Commander, Central Districts.
Lodge a complaint to the IPCA - can be done online
Ask to talk to the Road Policing Manager - again sounds like Central Disticts
Lodge an OIA requesting Units logged on in the Area you mentioned
Complete a Driving Complaint on the Police website - you would need the rego to add substance


Almost sounds like a Highway patrol Unit

Thanks - the cop was pleasant and none of us gave him a hard time, we just all believe his driving behaviour was unwarranted and dangerous. I only really want to identify the driver (as we don't have the rego) to ensure the right person gets talked to about his driving behaviour. He was pretty distinctive so it's not like he was an average guy of average build with dark hair and that could be most of the cops on duty that day! It probably will be Central Districts but I've not had much to do with the police outside Levin (and only then in a professional capacity as a journalist!) so don't really know who to report this to. At least one, possibly two other drivers with us will definitely be keen to complain too, and maybe some of the others as well.

His driving behaviour was in the manner of a police chase - he overtook us doing well in excess of 120kph - and yet none of us had our regos recorded or our licences asked for. He didn't breath test us or anything like that, so I personally believe doing a U-turn, following us and then overtaking about 10 vehicles at high speed on yellow lines through blind corners before pulling over, throwing on a high-vis vest and standing in the middle of the road to wave us over was not acceptable behaviour.

[Mom]

Are police cars fitted with a "snitch" type GPS system? Be easy as to establish who was driving if you have the time and a vehicle description.

[Beemer]

I would assume they have 'areas' to patrol and they would report in on a regular basis. I certainly don't think it's like me saying "the guy looked like this and he drove a blue Subaru and it was this time and place" - the police will know who the tall/short, fat/thin, white/non-white, cop with/without glasses was who was driving a red mufti car near Bulls/Marton at about 11.30am today - if they say they don't have a clue, I would be pretty surprised! He was in full uniform so not an off-duty or non-uniformed officer. There can't be many who look like this guy, that's for sure!

[Rogue Rider]

Just make a complaint stating the time, date and description of the vehicle. There won't be too many cars in the force with that description.
His conduct, if as described was ridiculous and worthy of a reprimand. There is no excuse for reckless or dangerous driving. Police are to follow strict guidelines in enforcing traffic regulations.
I would suggest making a formal compliant, and requesting a follow up. If no resolve, send to police complaints authority. There is none above the law!

[Mom]

Just make a complaint stating the time, date and description of the vehicle. There won't be too many cars in the force with that description.
His conduct, if as described was ridiculous and worthy of a reprimand. There is no excuse for reckless or dangerous driving. Police are to follow strict guidelines in enforcing traffic regulations.
I would suggest making a formal compliant, and requesting a follow up. If no resolve, send to police complaints authority. There is none above the law!

Pardon, you should repeat that for the deaf :D

[Big Dave]

I'll go past the Wanganui cop shop later tonight.

Bail conditions?

[Beemer]

Yeah, will do - will ring Palmerston North cop shop tomorrow as they should know who to direct it to. As my husband said, they should know who was driving the mufti cop in that location today. I should have worded my request better - it's not so much I want to know who the cop is, it was more that I wanted to know where he was based so I could register a complaint with the officer in charge that he reports to.

If I had been further back in the group I would have just assumed someone up ahead had been driving like a dickhead but I'd been driving with the leading two (then three when one overtook me) since Sanson and they had been pretty much sticking to the speed limit all the way. We weren't in a hurry to get to our destination and we all like to try and keep together when we're on a run.

If his motivation for stopping us was to promote road safety to us, he didn't go about it in a very safe manner. We have no problem with him stopping us and telling us to watch our speed, but he had been heading south moments before so would have known the road he had just travelled on and the fact there was a huge straight where he pulled us over, so he could have overtaken us safely and at much lower speed along there. If he'd got in front of us and waved his hand out the window to indicate we should pull over, I doubt we would have felt this way.

[Mully]

nothing we were doing warranted this cop doing a U-turn

Was there a motorbike (or two) coming?

[Beemer]

Was there a motorbike (or two) coming?

Luckily for this cop, no! But when he did the second U-turn after speaking to us, that unfortunate 'accident' immediately came to mind.

[Taz]

The cowboys are getting worse it seems. What a dick.

[Beemer]

We had seen HEAPS of cops on the road between where we started from in Levin and where we were stopped so we would have been nuts to put our foot down. With our car you KNOW when you are doing much over 100kph as the T-tops whistle - no whistling today!

Like I said, no problem with us being warned to watch our speed even though none of us can recall doing 136, the only problem is with the dangerous overtaking and what we feel was over the top behaviour to give out a warning.

[rustic101]

Like I said, no problem with us being warned to watch our speed even though none of us can recall doing 136, the only problem is with the dangerous overtaking and what we feel was over the top behaviour to give out a warning.

Option one:


District Commander
Central Districts,
Civil Defence House,
180 Cuba Street
Palmerston North
Private Bag 11-040

Superintendent Russell GIBSON

Option two:


National Manager
Road Policing Support
Level Five
PNHQ
180 Molesworth Street
Thorndon
Wellington

Superintendent Paula ROSE

[Beemer]

Ta, will maybe copy the letter to both.

[Winston001]

Not sure how I feel about this. The officer appears to have taken risks in order to stop a line of cars. His attitude and conduct towards the stopped drivers was courteous. No tickets were issued.

Sounds like an error of judgement. How many of us can say we've never made a passing manoeuvre or something which we regret? I do think we should hold police to a high standard but none of us are perfect.

[rustic101]

Not sure how I feel about this. The officer appears to have taken risks in order to stop a line of cars. His attitude and conduct towards the stopped drivers was courteous. No tickets were issued.

Sounds like an error of judgement. How many of us can say we've never made a passing manoeuvre or something which we regret? I do think we should hold police to a high standard but none of us are perfect.

You are absolutely correct this was an 'error of judgement', the consequence of which could have or may have been tragic if this type of driving behaviour continues. Complaining; is not about 'getting the Constable' in the shit, but rather drawing attention to the dangerous situations those upholding the Law in are putting themselves and other road users in.

[Beemer]

Not sure how I feel about this. The officer appears to have taken risks in order to stop a line of cars. His attitude and conduct towards the stopped drivers was courteous. No tickets were issued.

Sounds like an error of judgement. How many of us can say we've never made a passing manoeuvre or something which we regret? I do think we should hold police to a high standard but none of us are perfect.

If he'd passed ONE of us and pulled us over then I doubt any of us would be drawing attention to this, but he overtook all eight of us and at least one or two other vehicles. He passed at least four of us in dangerous spots - yellow lines, blind corners, on an overbridge - and then made us all pull over and stop at the beginning of a huge long straight instead of travelling along it further and pulling us over then. No tickets, courteous cop - absolutely appalling driving. If this had been a member of the public, I'd still be trying to track down the rego so I could lay a complaint. Very much a case of do as I say rather than do as I do if their ad campaigns are anything to go by. Maybe driving was 'in his blood'?

[MSTRS]

You are absolutely correct this was an 'error of judgement',...

I don't agree. In cases like this, it is more a dangerous decision. It was an HP on SH1...do you think he didn't know his patch well enough to know there would be a better place to overtake all those cars? Just like all the other ones that have/have not got away with it.

[rustic101]

I don't agree. In cases like this, it is more a dangerous decision. It was an HP on SH1...do you think he didn't know his patch well enough to know there would be a better place to overtake all those cars? Just like all the other ones that have/have not got away with it.

Not arguing, rather being diplomatic as I do not know the full situation.

[Beemer]

I don't agree. In cases like this, it is more a dangerous decision. It was an HP on SH1...do you think he didn't know his patch well enough to know there would be a better place to overtake all those cars? Just like all the other ones that have/have not got away with it.

Agreed - unless he materialised out of thin air (you never know with cops...), he'd just travelled down the very stretch of road he then turned around and overtook us on, so I would assume he knew the long straight just a tad further north. We were NOT travelling at warp speed nine (not even warp speed three...) and he could have caught up with us easily, or if we WERE doing the excessive speed he reckoned, surely calling ahead to another unit would have been wiser.

[MSTRS]

Agreed - unless he materialised out of thin air (you never know with cops...), he'd just travelled down the very stretch of road he then turned around and overtook us on, so I would assume he knew the long straight just a tad further north. We were NOT travelling at warp speed nine (not even warp speed three...) and he could have caught up with us easily, or if we WERE doing the excessive speed he reckoned, surely calling ahead to another unit would have been wiser.

What? And miss his quota/bonus? Surely you jest...

[scumdog]

What? And miss his quota/bonus? Surely you jest...

Bonus?

We can get a bonus?

Surely you speak in jest?

[MSTRS]

Only on roads with sufficient traffic volume.
Best be spending your prowling time only on major roads, eh? That'll leave the 'better' roads less stressful...

[rustic101]

What? And miss his quota/bonus? Surely you jest...

Clearly there are some unknown payroll issues between the Districts???

[Hitcher]

If anyone can give me any pointers on how to identify this officer

They have microchips inserted behind their left ear. All of the information you need can be found there.

[Clockwork]

This was an opportunity not to be missed! The officer would have recorded eight or more "customer" interactions in one event. With is daily target reached or exceeded he probably got to take it easy for the rest of the day. I'd have been excited about this too, if I were in his shoes.

[Pixie]

I got stopped for "passing in the dark" (a new offence) on Old North Rd through the Riverhead Forest.

Conversation:
"Why did you stop me?"
"Speeding and passing."
"What speed do you think I was doing?"
"Frankly,I don't know."
"Well,I can assure you I was not exceeding the (100km) speed limit and the pass was safe,I could see 600M of road ahead.Unlike what you could see when you followed me and passed in that dip in the road"
"You couldn't see an on coming car that had it's lights out,though"
I give him a "what an idiot" look and think to myself: no,fuckwit, and I couldn't see an unlit UFO parked in the middle of the road,either.

[Pixie]

Not sure how I feel about this. The officer appears to have taken risks in order to stop a line of cars. His attitude and conduct towards the stopped drivers was courteous. No tickets were issued.

Sounds like an error of judgement. How many of us can say we've never made a passing manoeuvre or something which we regret? I do think we should hold police to a high standard but none of us are perfect.

He's a professional driver and should conduct himself as such

[Beemer]

They have microchips inserted behind their left ear. All of the information you need can be found there.

NOW you tell me! I posted both letters yesterday and they will NEVER be able to track this guy now, lol!

[Patrick]

Bonus?

We can get a bonus?

Surely you speak in jest?

He does... its all about the Flybuys.... I almost have enough Flybuys for that single slice toaster..... but they keep on expiring... bugger......

Highways from Palmy/Ohakea Weigh Station would be my guess.

They are the only ones with mufti in these parts.

[Headbanger]

They are the only ones with mufti in these parts.

I find that hard to believe, The intersection by my house is a favorite hang-out for mufti cars,and they don't get taken to Ohakea at the end of the day.

[Patrick]

I find that hard to believe, The intersection by my house is a favorite hang-out for mufti cars,and they don't get taken to Ohakea at the end of the day.

Maybe not to Ohakea.... but Highways for sure.....

There is one going through your fair town...? And he will be based at W(h??)anganui.....

They must be watching you.......

[Headbanger]

They must be watching you.......

Nah, A JP lives on the corner, They try and impress him so it all goes smooth for the warrants.

Thats also how I know when some raids are about to go down, There is a cop car parked outside his house for half a day.


A while back 2 mufti-cars spent near two weeks working the corner.