TV prog COPPERS on channel 4

[ROG]

What a great programme which concentrated on the traffic cops at Cambridge

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/copp ... e/series-1

If you didn't see it then it's available online or on 4OD if you have catch up TV at home

Much more realistic than any other traffic cop prog I have seen - shows what these cops normally do such as nose picking !! - seriously, well worth a look

[Porker]

I did see about 20 minutes of it but didn't find it particularly compelling, especially given the somewhat "holier than thou" image which the officers being observed at the time portrayed.

I thought the part where they were on their way to a crash on the A14 was quite revealing, with the police driver making sarcastic faces at the driver who'd failed to get out of their way quickly enough and the name-calling of ordinar drivers going about their business being low points.

The section I saw wasn't, to my mind, a great advert for Cambs Police.

If we turned this around, with a driver being observed by these officers "making faces" at them, how do you suppose they'd react? I was decidedly unimpressed.

P.

[Custom24]

Just watched it now.

I did not really resonate with Porker's "holier than thou" take on the police depicted. The bits where the cop was gesturing to other road users were mild compared to what I've seen on other such police stop nonsense programs.

The program as a whole was a bit different than what you normally see, more warts and all.

However, it left me decidedly unimpressed for different, but the usual reasons. These programs do nothing for road safety, nothing. They are eagerly consumed by a section of society who do indeed live their lives by a "holier than thou" mantra, and by another section of society who lap up scare-mongering and would like to live in a hermetically sealed bubble.

For example, an almost fatal double head on collision was investigated, initially suspected bad overtaking, which (hate to spoil the plot) turns out in the end to be the fault of a third party who is given 5 points and a smallish fine. What did this 3rd party do which led to the collision? Unanswered. Was it bad overtaking? Unanswered. How should the public go about overtaking? Unanswered. Should the public be scared witless of driving? Yes, of course. Should the public assume that other bad drivers will kill them? Yes, of course.

Another example - the traffic cop and the husband of a RTC fatality agree that sentencing for causing death by careless/reckless is too light (in the end, the obviously evil man gets 18 month driving ban and 300 hours community service for death by careless because of the leniency of our "joke" judiciary). Is causing death by tantamount or even equivalent to murder? Yes, of course. "He might as well have put a gun to her head".

The only message with any takeaway value for people watching (apart from "be scared on the roads, Britain!") was itself flawed. The cop says "People think offences such as driving using your mobile phone, or not paying attention, or speeding, these are minor offences. But the truth is, these are the things that get people killed".

Yes, pay attention, or you might kill someone. Yes, treat driving seriously. But for God's sake, it's not bomb disposal. If you encouraged people take responsibility, enjoy it and get good at it, rather than scaring them into law-abiding automorons, who knows, the world might become a less fearful place, less frequented by programs such as these.

[daz6215]

What this program did show was the emotion on the officers face when he was driving the NOK of the woman to the hospital!

[Horse]

The section I saw wasn't, to my mind, a great advert for Cambs Police.

Worth noting that progs. such as these can lead to change in the system.

Some of the original 'fly on the wall' programmes were made in Reading, initially with 'The Family' then (by the same producer) a six-part series about the police, each episode focussing on a different team.

One episode featured a rape allegation, and the treatment of the woman making the allegation. That led, eventually, to a massive change in the system. OK, there may have been other factors - but the TV programmes was the catalyst.

[Standard Dave]

One episode featured a rape allegation, and the treatment of the woman making the allegation. That led, eventually, to a massive change in the system. OK, there may have been other factors - but the TV programmes was the catalyst.

Thats shown in training school as how not to do it. But at the time thats how all detectives dealt with victims.

Quite a few of these programmes show bad practice it has been the same in all the fly on the wall documentary type programmes think of some of the customer service on things like airport but this is balanced by those going beyond to sort something out for a customer.

[michael769]

Worth noting that progs. such as these can lead to change in the system.

There was a fly-on-the-wall following Strathclyde Fire Service a good few years ago. One episode showed the kind of hazing of new recruits that went on and one watch was filmed taking things a little too far (IIRC one recruit was effectively water boarded, and was shown on camera having to leave his post as a result), as a result of which the participants faced disciplinary action.

This, of course led to a pretty determined effort by the service to contain what they realised had become a very serious problem.