VERY IMPORTANT POLICE NOTICE - EVERYONE PLEASE READ

[John the old'un]

No. Police Sergeants are PS. ..............
Just like Detective Constables are DC ......
and Detective Sergeants are DS ...........

[Dombo]

Thanks, those are their professional titles eg for addressing them formally in writing or describing their actions eg in newspaper reports.
But is there an accepted form of address when speaking to a policeman? eg "constable" to a uniformed officer? what about a plain clothes detective? Or the desk Sergeant in the police station?
On "Traffic Cops" and "Police, Camera Action" the coppers seem to refer to everyone as "mate". The Sweeney is no help either.

[Jon H]

I find the best way to address WPCs is to take the DCI Gene Hunt approach; "Bollyknickers" always goes down well.

[Dombo]

"Sugart1ts" - always a winner. Just ask Mel Gibson.
As fo PCSOs "Boo!"

[Andrew G]

[quote="Dombo"]
As fo PCSOs "Boo!"

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

[quote="marco"]Me too, police Ive met face to face and had an actual conversation with have been fine , and chatted to loads of them riding around on critical mass in the past. plus the PCSOs in my area all stop to say hello.

I still think we should work *with* PC Cox - I really want to put a sticky up in the rides section with his details on so that people can let him know when motorists are speeding on the mobile phone or driving antisocially on his patch. If it doesn't get reported it just gets ignored.

[John the old'un]

[quote="Dombo"]Thanks, those are their professional titles eg for[color=#FF0040] addressing them formally in writing[/color] or describing their actions eg in newspaper reports.
But is there an accepted form of address when speaking to a policeman? eg "constable" to a uniformed officer? what about a plain clothes detective? Or the desk Sergeant in the police station?
.

[jptaberdo]

Snoop Doug...

I met one of the officers that wrote the letter on Box Hill 2-3 weekends ago. He was handing out the letter to riders that day and discussing the issues. We had a good 10 minute discussion about road safety for cyclists. I told him that one of our club members posted the letter on our forum, and that he should check out the responses to see what kind of reception the letter is getting. (Sorry if that means anyone will be facing legal action! ) Not too sure if he has actually read the forum posts though...

He seemed genuinely concerned about helping to make roads safe for all road users. He's a MTBer, so he knows that motorists often cause potential accidents and most often get away with it. He said when he rides in Dorking (where he lives) in his spare time, he has his book ready to fine naughty motorists!

I told him about our club rules on riding etiquette, and he seemed very happy with the way we conduct ourselves - i.e. with the understanding that we don't always follow the rules to the book.

He said that his team wrote the letter to local cycling clubs (rather than to motoring organisations) because the clubs are much smaller and able to communicate with their members effectively, whereas motoring organisations are often too big to do so, and most motorists are not members of them anyway.

There were other things we talked about, but I can't remember any more!

Cheers
jp

[Snoop Doug]

thanks to marco and jptaberdo for some constructive input, I appreciate it.

[Roy Green]

Got a speeding ticket while following Andrew and other ACCs in the National Champs 24 hour TT 2 weekends ago (36 in a 30mph limit). Motorists, eh? Didn't knock off any bikies in the middle of the night hours though ....

[Mike I]

[quote="Roy Green"]Got a speeding ticket while following Andrew and other ACCs in the National Champs 24 hour TT 2 weekends ago (36 in a 30mph limit). Motorists, eh? Didn't knock off any bikies in the middle of the night hours though ....

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Yesterday riding down Rendell Road - a fast descent from Bletchingly Village - I was overtaken by a car. The road then bends round to the right by Hawthorns School. You can take this at speed no need to brake and then there's a short, sharp little climb and with momentum you can blast up it.

Anyway, the car driver though it would be a wizard wheeze to stop - for absolutley no reason other than to make life difficult for a cyclist - just after the bend near the top of the brow of the hill. I hadn't seen this as it was round the bend and I came hammering round the corner to be confronted by the stopped car. I couldn't overtake as i couldn't see past the car because of the hill (it's a narrow lane). I had to brake hard and come to a stop then he drove off having a good laugh.

Please pass this on to the Officer next time you see him. Typical of the harassment cyclist face from some sad motorists.

[Dombo]

Unfortunately without a reg no. there's not a lot he can do. And even worse, if you had smacked into the back of him the driver would claim you were too close and that he had braked for any number of valid reasons.

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

[quote="Dombo"]Unfortunately without a reg no. there's not a lot he can do. And even worse, if you had smacked into the back of him the driver would claim you were too close and that he had braked for any number of valid reasons.

[Marky Mark]

TWAT