Auckland waterfront police overkill?

**N4CR** · 26th May 2005, 17:36

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** · 26th May 2005, 17:39

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** · 26th May 2005, 18:01

Maybe they are huntin for you two.

**crashe** · 26th May 2005, 19:04

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** · 26th May 2005, 19:05

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** · 26th May 2005, 19:09

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!

**Skyryder** · 26th May 2005, 19:29

Originally Posted by brent_b

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!

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?** · 26th May 2005, 20:02

Originally Posted by brent_b

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!

Have a look around Tauranga - and half the buggers running reds are cops!

**Coldkiwi** · 26th May 2005, 20:16

Originally Posted by SpeedMedic

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** · 26th May 2005, 20:20

Originally Posted by tristank

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!

**texmo** · 26th May 2005, 20:31

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** · 26th May 2005, 22:12

Originally Posted by SpeedMedic

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** · 26th May 2005, 22:16

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

**madboy** · 26th May 2005, 22:27

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** · 26th May 2005, 22:34

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

.

They got the usual wave and nod when I figured out where the lazer was