Bike cop @140 mph: Was it a pursuit...or was it a race?

[bradzdotcom]

i don't know if you guys have seen this yet, but it's a interesting video.

background: guy is riding along on his bike, reportedly running about 10 mph over the limit. a bike comes up VERY quickly behind him...
...and so the guy in front thinks "Cool, this dude wants to race me!" and starts to take off.

problem is, the other guy is a cop, on a cop bike (not an unmarked), but doesn't turn on his lights or sirens....despite following this guy for miles. you can call it pursuit, but it feels like a race to me...

the cop had plenty of opportunities to turn on the lights and take the guy down, but he doesn't identify himself and, if ya ask me, keeps "racing" with the guy.

i was trying to decide which one of these two yahoos is the bigger idiot: ricky racer or super cop.
i think it's a pretty close tie.
both of these jerks endangered a whole bunch of people, and the cop could have stopped it with a flick of a switch.

the whole clip is 10 minutes long, but you can skip around and get the idea.
at one point, the cop almost runs some guy off the road...still no lights.
and there's a spot where he does 100 in a 30 mph zone.

the criminal/victim got a two-year suspended sentence, no license for a while and 240 hours of community service (picking up roadside trash).
the cop got to have the biggest penis at his station, and probably gave out autographed dvd copies as christmas presents.

ps: i wonder if this particular police station is hiring. if that's standard procedure, i'd say it looks like a pretty fun job! where do i sign up? do they have qualifiers? practice days? can i audition?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2PBMGmUjTE

[Steve Carlton]

How do you figure the cop wasn't unmarked? My take (per the description and comments) was that he was unmarked, perhaps only able to document the violations until an official stop could be made. Seemed like the cop was very relaxed during the whole thing.

[IvanTT]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

How do you figure the cop wasn't unmarked? My take (per the description and comments) was that he was unmarked, perhaps only able to document the violations until an official stop could be made. Seemed like the cop was very relaxed during the whole thing.

So was the other rider, Calm that is. I actually think most of the passes the "perp" (is that the right term?) made were safer then the Officer.

The police bike is un-marked and not signaling to the rider to slow down. Watch the reflections in the passing cars. The cop does use his high beams to "flash" a few cars to move out of his way but does not have a chrismas tree or strobes (which seems weird) Does anyone know if these un marked bikes at least have a siren and a loud speaker/PA.

Over all it did not seem faster then a zrated ride .

[chewie]

might have been their 'busa

[flatbutt]

Brit LEOs tend not to engage in a chase ever. They prefer to grab them later.

[chris846]

the official line (reported in MCN) is that the biker was such a persistent nuiscance that it was necessary to observe him for some distance in order for the court to have sufficient evidence to properly convict him.
Yes the guy is a loon, but it's also pretty evident that he's racing/showing off to the rider following. In any other area of police evidence-gathering, this would easily qualify as 'agent-provocateur', which basically means you have to bin the whole prosecution case, and then go away and learn and understand the rules of fairness.
It beggars belief that, in these circumstances, the police officer criticised the guy in front: yes, we're all happy to assume that the trained officer was less of a risk than the mere mortal in front, but any motorcyclist with a brain must surely go 'ouch' at some of the things the officer did - in the rain!
The video horrifies me; the officer's actions caused the rider in front to go faster. Policing is not about making nutters expose themselves to greater danger.

[bradzdotcom]

ah, the interweb.
version i got was that it was a police bike with markings and such.
wouldn't matter. the mirrors on the "perp"s bike probably only shows a blurry, bouncing headlight anyway.

so let's say it's an unmarked, trolling for a habitual offender.
even still, how much video do you have to shoot?
tickling the guy by keeping up with him and thereby, possibly "encouraging" him to continue...i dunno.

you guys are right: neither the cop nor the rider are very good.
and yes ivan, i seem to remember spending time on some z-rated rides where it was very similar, but with better riders, less exposure and a "brisker, friskier" pace.

[signit98]

...Brad, you don't think that the title kinda tells the story?

"140mph Motorcyclist filmed by unmarked police bike"


Was in GB anyway... cops there are a little more on the nutty side... any which way you look at it

[shreddr]

if thats the UK why is the speed readout in mph? looks like a "movie" to me

[signit98]

Originally Posted by shreddr

if thats the UK why is the speed readout in mph? looks like a "movie" to me

What else would it be?

[lightfighter]

that sort of thing wouldnt float where i work.

[shreddr]

Originally Posted by signit98

What else would it be?

kph?

[IvanTT]

Originally Posted by shreddr

kph?

Not in GB...

Remember they also kept the Pound instead of the Euro..

[chewie]

shreddr - whats the Brit currency called?

Reminds me of a story...

My Dad's Dad was in WW1 with the Poms and he met his wife in Germany (though she was French). They lived in Germany after the War for some amount of time, anyway he couldn't speak German and she could. This day he decides he wants to buy the meat from the Butchers, so she let's him do it.

"A pound of sausages please".

confused look from butcher

louder tone
"A pound of sausages!"

repeat

Yelling now
"A pound of bloody sausages!!"

she stepped in and bought them.

He figured that the louder he got, maybe there was more chance the guy could understand him...uh huh...

shreddr - dude, how could you not know that? You been in that garage for too long me thinks. Geez you must have got really confused seeing the guy on the 'wrong side of the road' but everything in imperial...lol

[signit98]

Originally Posted by IvanTT

Not in GB...

Remember they also kept the Pound instead of the Euro..

They are not part of the EU... never wanted to be... probably never will! Smart Move...

[shreddr]

ive been there 3 times, somehow i recall the road signs in kilometers, but its been a while, and I was attending the Peterborough Beerfest the last time.

[IvanTT]

It seemed to me there where a couple of places he could have lost the cop if he was really trying... and then at the end he even waits for the bike in back to get caught up.

He was more of a show off... not really racing.

Too much rain mixed with painted lines for me.

and when the Cop was passing cars with traffic going full speed in the other direction. Also a moment or two

[chewie]

Originally Posted by shreddr

ive been there 3 times, somehow i recall the road signs in kilometers, but its been a while, and I was attending the Peterborough Beerfest the last time.

say no more

[throttlemeister]

Originally Posted by signit98

They are not part of the EU... never wanted to be... probably never will! Smart Move...

They are part of the EU, just not the Euro. And how smart that was, we now see by the Pound exchange rate, which is now about 1.10 euro instead of the 1.80 euro it was when they rejected it with their nose stuffed up the wind. The UK is hit harder than any other EU country by the economic crisis, and that is not because they are more dependent on the US, but because they small and insignificant on their own. Countries like Denmark, Sweden etc did the same thing, and are having exactly the same problems.

[YellowRacer]

Interesting...