[pete555]

I was driving home from a friends house who lives about 2 miles away, I had one passenger in the car with me and as we approached an island a paramedic vehicle came in front of us and took the same exit. it had its lights 0n but was not driving very fast, it over took two cars which had pulled over and I went passed the two cars as I felt since they had pulled over and were still indicating left it was safe to do so. The paramedic car then came to a queue of traffic and began forcing its way through at which point i remained at the back of the queue. I thought nothing of this and basically queue'd in the traffic for a quarter of a mile and then drove the remainder of the journey home. my passenger left the vehicle once it was parked on my driveway and left in his own car i then went inside my house. about two minutes later two CPSO's knocked on my door and said they wanted to talk to me as I had been driving dangerously. They accused me of tailgating the paramedic and speeding at 40mph which is not possible on the road we were on which is why the paramedic was not speeding. I explained that I was not speeding and I only overtook two cars which were already pulled over. the car they had followed me home in was completely unmarked and had no lights fitted to it. they claimed they tried to pull me over but when I questioned them about this they admitted having no flashing lights fitted and they did not flash me or give any indication, they also appeared to have no radio's and did not give me thier names or which station they were from. they took my name and wrote it on a scruffy notepad, they did not ask for my licence or for any ID and walked off down my driveway claiming I may get something in the post summoning me to court.

Did these CPSO's have any right to follow me home in a completely unmarked car with no lights and make these accusations?

[tenpinn]

Did they provide ID? Uniform is not enough ID and if they didn't you didn't even have to talk to them as they would of been powerless until they provided ID i believe.

[tenpinn]

just had another thought if they wasn't in uniform or had ID maybe they were one of the cars you overtook and decided to give you a scare, and another thought, if they were going to send court summons wouldn't they of had to issue a notice of intended prosecution first?

[Snowball]

pete555. I think those CPSO's were very OTT. And this type of action can get the police a bad name. When they came to your door you should have demanded ID, and their base station phone number.

If they were in an unmarked car, you would not have been obliged to stop for them, even if they had flashed you. Anyone can flash another driver to stop, and hi-jacks have frequently occurred in this manner.

If you are ever stopped at the roadside, even by a marked police car, first ensure your doors are locked, and speak through a partly open window. If the police officer asks you to get out of the car, demand to see ID first. If you get out of car, and you have a passenger, give car keys to the passenger and lock doors after getting out. If being stopped is related to your driving, the passenger does not have to get out.

Bogus uniformed police have hi-jacked cars in the past, and you are entitled to be cautious. A genuine officer will not object to a polite but cautious manner

[pete555]

I did think it was a bit odd that they didn't ask for my licence or any documents, I'm pretty sure they weren't even on duty as they had no radio's. I did ask a real police officer about it the other night and he advised me to make a complaint as they apparently had no right to set foot on my driveway.

Thanks for posting your oppinions guys.

[Rolebama]

Your question: "Did these CPSO's have any right to follow me home in a completely unmarked car with no lights and make these accusations?" The simple answer is yes. If they believe you broke the law, and they identify themselves. You had the opportunity to ask for ID during the conversation. It is quite possible that you may receive a Summons, you do not need to be issued an NIC if the Summons arrives early enough.
As to following a paramedic, and using it to pass traffic which has pulled over, although as far as I am aware, this is not in itself against the law, it is quite commonly prosecuted under driving without due care. Shame on you for doing it!

[Marcusdarkus]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

As to following a paramedic, and using it to pass traffic which has pulled over, although as far as I am aware, this is not in itself against the law, it is quite commonly prosecuted under driving without due care. Shame on you for doing it!

Here Here:(

[FI214]

Originally Posted by Snowball

pete555. If you are ever stopped at the roadside, even by a marked police car, first ensure your doors are locked, and speak through a partly open window. If the police officer asks you to get out of the car, demand to see ID first. If you get out of car, and you have a passenger, give car keys to the passenger and lock doors after getting out. If being stopped is related to your driving, the passenger does not have to get out.

Bogus uniformed police have hi-jacked cars in the past, and you are entitled to be cautious. A genuine officer will not object to a polite but cautious manner

There is a number you can ring, which I believe does not require credit or signal on your phone. They will be able to tell you whether a car is an unmarked police vehicle or not. It is normally advised that you do not pull over until you reach a garage, if it is found it is not an unmarked police vehicle back up will be sent straight away. I believe this happened a few times last year and a known rapist was subsequently arrested. The number to ring is 112.

[galaxymadbaz]

112 does exactly the same as 999, not sure if you can dial for such a reason.

[FI214]

Originally Posted by galaxymadbaz

112 does exactly the same as 999, not sure if you can dial for such a reason.

You definitely can, it is perfectly acceptable and the switchboard is only too happy to assist.

[98selitb]

112 sure is the same as 999. It's the emergency number that works in all EU countries, just incase you don't have the real emergency number to hand in another country. Ringing 112 and asking about a non-emergency matter is the same as ringing 999 and saying you can't tune your television. Don't do it!

[Watcher]

112

112 is the Pan-European EMERGENCY number and functions exactly the same as 999. Abusing it, as you suggest doing in this case, is extremely irresponsible and illegal.

Whatever the circumstances you claim, you should demand to see prper ID AND get the PCSO's numbers. They have no powers to behave like traffic police and they know it - or should do.