Accident chase men "tried to con OAP" (From Bucks Free Press)
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Accident chase men "tried to con OAP"
4:03pm Thursday 5th November 2009 in News By Oliver Evans
Emergency services at the scene of the accident
A VAN which hit a pedestrian in High Wycombe was being pursued by police after a report of rogue traders demanding cash from an OAP, officers revealed today.
A marked police car arrived in the Deeds Grove area after a report from an elderly women and followed a white van.
The van struck the man, in his 50s, by Marks & Spencer in Oxford Road at about 3pm on Wednesday.
Police today said he is in a critical and stable condition and renewed an appeal to find the two men in the van. The accident caused traffic chaos.
The van, registration RY54 USN, was later found abandoned in Bellfield Road Industrial Estate. Police are still looking for its two occupants.
Det Ch Insp Joe Kidman said: “An incident room, staffed by detectives and roads policing officers, has been set up and is actively pursuing lines of enquiry.
“Nevertheless, we really need to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision or saw the van before or after the crash.”
The matter has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission by Thames Valley Police.
Anyone with information should call Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505 or Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.
See Friday's Bucks Free Press for full report.
Comments(19)
kazza290
says...
4:39pm Thu 5 Nov 09
Slimster
says...
4:57pm Thu 5 Nov 09
Hans Schmit
says...
5:05pm Thu 5 Nov 09
DeepThinker
says...
5:09pm Thu 5 Nov 09
“An incident room, staffed by detectives and roads policing officers, has been set up and is actively pursuing lines of enquiry"
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As soon as they are "involved" in a situation then they suddenly start pulling out all the stops and throwing resources around like there is no tomorrow.
It is a shame that they don't get so involved when a police car/officer isn't part of the situation.
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Why is a pursuit allowed to continue, through an area with lots of pedestrians, at 3pm?
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Sadly you just have to watch the many reality cop shows on the television to understand what a buzz certain officers get out of it.
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I hope we will be told which senior officer authorised the pursuit and how many police vehicles were involved in the chase.
DeepThinker
says...
5:26pm Thu 5 Nov 09
Hans Schmit wrote:There is a diffeence between getting away unchallenged and calling off a pursuit when it enters an area where there are lots of pedestrians about.
So in your world 'richardhill' the Police should just let the crims drive away unchallenged?
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There are times when people should be allowed "to get away" if that means not putting others at risk.
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I take it that you are not related to the innocent man who was knocked down.
Better still, lets arm the police and let them shoot at the van before a chase develops!
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And as for Slimster, saying that it was the man's own fault for not noticing the chase ... then saying he has sympathy."
Next time I am affected by crime I won't mind a bit if a chase ensues and someone gets badly hurt. As long as the police are doing it for me!
erm
says...
5:44pm Thu 5 Nov 09
Tatty
says...
10:20pm Thu 5 Nov 09
I hope the man will make a full recovery, and thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and friends at this difficult time.
wanderer_man
says...
11:01pm Thu 5 Nov 09
Surely it's the two muppets in the white van who are at fault here?
Catflap
says...
8:44am Fri 6 Nov 09
aspen g
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9:10am Fri 6 Nov 09
Yes, first and foremost, the drivers of the van are responsible for this, however the police have to accept responsibility too for not following protocol.
And for all those who say, 'oh so you want the suspect just to get away' - yes. Imagine if this had happened outside of a school.. Or imagine if there is someone who disabled in the road, who cannot quickly move out of the way. We cannot have police driving recklessly through built up areas just as we can't have normal individuals doing it.
My sympathies to the chap who was run down.
Tatty
says...
10:37am Fri 6 Nov 09
aspen g wrote:aspen g, even if the police did call off persuit it wouldn't have stopped the van going down that road and causing this. So it doesn't make any difference if police followed or not, even if they should or shouldn't have followed it wouldn't have stopped the van doing this.
Considering police protocol dictates that they are not allowed to be involved in motor vehicle chases in built up areas, I find it shocking that someone has been injured as a result of this. Yes, first and foremost, the drivers of the van are responsible for this, however the police have to accept responsibility too for not following protocol. And for all those who say, 'oh so you want the suspect just to get away' - yes. Imagine if this had happened outside of a school.. Or imagine if there is someone who disabled in the road, who cannot quickly move out of the way. We cannot have police driving recklessly through built up areas just as we can't have normal individuals doing it. My sympathies to the chap who was run down.
erm
says...
11:31am Fri 6 Nov 09
aspen g
says...
11:37am Fri 6 Nov 09
Tatty - you are completely right I agree, it wouldn't have stopped the van, however it DOES make a difference. Being ran over once is bad enough, but twice is bound to cause you double the amount of injuries if not kill you.
Just because someone wears a uniform does not give them free rein disregard protocol. Should I make an error in my job, I get disciplined.... and I fully expect TVP to do the same (if protocol was breached). Rules are designed to protect people and society, so whether you are a criminal, a police officer, a nurse etc, if you make an error in your work that results in significant damage or consciously break rules, then it should be investigated and the person disciplined.
steve63
says...
2:28pm Fri 6 Nov 09
If a Police vehicle is involved and anybody hurt whilst this is going on Protocol prevents the police from continuing the chase and to deal with the injured party at the same time as any accident where there is a casualty the scene has to be secured so that any following investigation can take place. It is not a case as because it involved a police car that they all come out of the wood work its a case of how many accidents have you actually seen' from the comments on here you have probably only ever seen minor ones not serious ones. At the end of the day I was the one that donned the hi vis from sainsburys and kept the road clear for emergency vehicles still attending the scene so please stop gripping at the Police and start feeling for the people involved including those that attended the scene.
hetwend
says...
5:09pm Fri 6 Nov 09
drew1
says...
6:28pm Fri 6 Nov 09
DeepThinker wrote:So if a member of your family was run down by a hit and run driver the police wouldn't set up an incident room to trace the culprit? I have to ask, was it not Thames Valley Police that set up an incident room after a cyclist was hit by a car in the Chalfonts, and managed to track down the car and then the driver?
The police say ...
“An incident room, staffed by detectives and roads policing officers, has been set up and is actively pursuing lines of enquiry"
-
As soon as they are "involved" in a situation then they suddenly start pulling out all the stops and throwing resources around like there is no tomorrow.
It is a shame that they don't get so involved when a police car/officer isn't part of the situation.
-
Why is a pursuit allowed to continue, through an area with lots of pedestrians, at 3pm?
-
Sadly you just have to watch the many reality cop shows on the television to understand what a buzz certain officers get out of it.
-
I hope we will be told which senior officer authorised the pursuit and how many police vehicles were involved in the chase.
And please don't spout garbage that the cyclist was killed, therefore the police had to do that. Next an OAP is seriously assaulted, or a young lady raped, the police could always say " We weren't involved, so we don't need to investigate fully"
These days it seems to be the acceptable norm to knock the police, if they arrest a violent person in the street, it's police brutality, if they give a ticket to a speeding driver then it's petty and they should be going after real criminals, everyone is an expert in how the police operate, and the law, i'd like to know how many people would tell their doctor how to remove their appendix, or their car mechanic how to service a car!
I was fortunate to spend a shift with the New York Police Department, we attended the theft of a jacket worth about $25 from the back of a chair in a bar, the officer refused to issue a crime report because of the low value of the item, we were called to a fight, he stopped on route to but food as he was passing a particular shop, image that over here, maybe people should be thankful for the police service in the Uk.
Yes the police make mistakes, but try to remember they are human beings under the uniform, they go home to families just like you, and unlike you, some of the things they see weigh heavily on their minds when they do get home. Steve63, although i'm not a Wycombe officer, thank you for stopping and helping the way you did, to the others who have posted positive comments on here, thank you, because there are times when you stop and think "Why do we do this job?" especially as these days we can do no right in many peoples eyes.
Tatty
says...
9:18am Sat 7 Nov 09
Michael, HP7
says...
7:34pm Wed 11 Nov 09
~
Aren't there a number of TVP forums, elsewhere, for these dedicated public servants to peer-share their views?
richardhill says...
4:24pm Thu 5 Nov 09
Police drivers may be trained to drive fast, the average motorist has not.
In an age of modern communications this is not a requirement to intercept a potential criminal.