skydriller wrote:
I think for me its the “Im being told what to do and checked on to make sure I follow the rules” rather than " Im being asked nicely to follow the rules". Can you see what I mean?
You are referring to “policing by consent”? yes you will find that in UK, Canada, Australia and New Zeland but surely not in France, Germany, Netherlands or United States 
I suspect what has happened with the police in certain countries, and yes in the UK too to some extent, will be closely examined over the coming months and years – because much of what they have been doing has been purely gratutious exercise which, certainly in some places, has been well outside what the law permits.
Specifically, for example, about 2/3 of the UK “regs” is guidance, not law, and the police have no right to do what they have been doing in some places.
Are the police doing random road-block type stopping in the US?
Peter wrote:
Are the police doing random road-block type stopping in the US?
No road blocks or any enforcement of ‘stay at home orders’ that I’ve heard of. My observation is that police have been stopping fewer people than normal, virtually none. I’m sure the highway patrol in particular has had a policy of minimized engagement with the public as a self protective measure.
Recently I’ve seen a few police cars stopped in the typical ‘radar’ locations again, moving somewhat back to normal. Speeding has been a well publicized issue during the period where road traffic was reduced.
Peter wrote:
Are the police doing random road-block type stopping in the US?
I think this depends on the culture and legislation of the individual State. In some areas this would be extremely hazardous.
My experience of UK bobbies is that too many of them are overbearing control-freaks (spoiling the few genuine nice ones I have met). I have found US law enforcement officers much more pleasant and accommodating (maybe just because I have a British accent?).
One thing that I’ve been thinking for the last few weeks, when the law here started encroaching freedoms in the name of public safety (isn’t it always?), was that after this is all over there is going to be a reckoning.
Memory is not always immediately reliable… I just remembered hearing that the Navajo tribal police are apparently stopping people at the edges of their (gigantic) reservation. Somebody came from Los Angeles or someplace and infected them (73 deaths so far) so apparently they’ve decided to set up road blocks and isolate the reservation.
Coda wrote:
I have found US law enforcement officers much more pleasant and accommodating (maybe just because I have a British accent?).
Probably entirely because of the accent and you were polite to them.
So many people in the US are “I know my rights” types in an impolite or belligerent way, that most US cops are caught completely off guard by someone who happens to be entirely polite to them. I got away with 5 speeding tickets in 5 months mainly just by being polite to the officer and treating them as another human being. It was still a bit of a nerve wracking experience, at the time I owned a truck that kind of looked uninsured (an old Dodge Ram, which was more “They Dodge while I Ram” (it had a lot of dents)) and (because of Texas) had tinted windows, so the policeman approaching from the rear always looked really on edge, and as a rule, I don’t like armed people to be on edge…
My only experience of US cops was being driven by a friend/colleague in San Diego when he got pulled over for going slightly too fast past a school.
The process of being ticketed took quite a long time because the cop, standing on the driver’s side, would not come forward of the B-post so everything was kind of being passed around it by two people who couldn’t really see each other. Also she was doing everything with only her left hand, the one furthest from the car, because her right hand stayed on her gun the whole time.
Also my friend’s dog climbed from the backseat onto my lap and peed on me.
I have heard that the UK traffic police have very little to do at the moment so checks on things like large loads are increasing. Some tradespeople we had round recently told us that their skip-carrying trucks were being stopped a lot to check the load was within legal limits, properly secured, etc.
Changing the topic slightly, I wonder how many more GA-friendly airfields we will have in the future and how many would be threatened by closure.
Gatwick seems to be feeling the brunt of complete airline operations shutdown such as BA and Virgin – based on the way the press announcements are worded it doesn’t like they are planning on coming back that soon.
Then add no Flybe which affects a lot of mid-sized UK airports…
Graham wrote:
I have heard that the UK traffic police have very little to do at the moment
They are standing on motorway bridges everywhere pointing radar guns at motorists, with their cars hidden out of view.
Peter wrote:
Are the police doing random road-block type stopping in the US?
No, and I don’t think they’re even allowed to do that. Two things I have noticed over the last few weeks here in greater Los Angeles:
- very visible patrol car presence. Either they’re out more or just more visible in the empty(ish) streets
- during the first days of beach closure, police choppers flying low over the beaches and sometimes telling people to get off (or out of the water) via loudspeaker
- last weekend the cops were out in force again along the beaches, asking people to move along or away. No tickets or anything like that.
For those who wonder about the beaches: here in California beach access is sort of the holy grail of individual freedom, considered a birthright. Closing them will spark a revolution, which the governor (Mr. Newsom) who otherwise did a pretty good job during the pandemic, quickly realized and reversed. After all, he wants to get re-elected…
