Jottings
News from the UK and around the World compiled by Dave Jamieson
. . . the wild, the wacky, the wonderful, the weird and the downright infuriating
Boys in Blue
Greater Manchester Police caused
confusion amongst drivers last month
after posting a Tweet which stated that
the “only legal place” to affix a sat-nav
screen is in the bottom right-hand side
of the front window. It was quickly
removed, but not before it sparked a
furious debate.
Photos were posted showing police cars
with their sat-navs in the middle of the
windscreen and even the AA admitted
that official government information
related to the changes to the driving test
show a sat-nav centrally mounted. In
fact, there is no UK legislation stating
where devices have to be placed, as long
as it does not cause an obstruction.
The force later replaced their Tweet
with another showing a list of options on
where a sat-nav could be placed, and
acknowledged that their original
message was “factually incorrect.”
(Police-speak for “wrong.”)
Police forces in England and Wales spent
£120,000 (€137,000) over three years on
patrol cars which had been filled with
the wrong fuel. A Freedom of
Information request was responded to
by only half the forces contacted so the
actual figure for clearing out the tanks
will be even higher.
The Met fared worst with 157 mistakes
since 2015 costing them £50,000
(€57,000). However, a Met
24
representative said this was a “tiny
proportion” of the total number of times
their cops fill up.
AA President Edmund King said, “These
actions are more from the school of
Keystone Cops than that of Inspector
Morse who would never put diesel in his
Jaguar.”
A policewoman has been awarded
£15,000 compensation because she
couldn’t carry a German shepherd (dog,
not farm worker) up a hill. PC Kim-
Louise Carter had applied to join the
Gloucestershire canine unit and one of
the tests given to applicants involves
carrying a dog up a 70-yard gradient.
When she failed to carry Hulk, a 5.5