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Police who boasted on Facebook about crashing patrol cars keep their jobs
Last updated at 03:52am on 24.06.08
Eighteen police officers have been formally disciplined over a website on which they boasted about crashing cars and hitting pedestrians.
Pictures and stories were posted on a social networking site dedicated to bragging about road accidents in which Metropolitan Police officers had been involved.
The group on Facebook shows more than 30 pictures of accidents involving police vehicles and is called Yes I Have Had A Polcol - slang for police collision.
Thumbs up: This police officer seems particularly pleased with himself as he poses for the camera after crashing his car
It had more than 200 members before it was discovered in January and closed
down by senior officers.
One member said an officer had 'booked a month in the Maldives' with claim money after a crash with a bus.
Another Met officer posted a picture of a collision between a marked police vehicle and a small white car.
The officer wrote: 'I did him a favour. At 82 years old you just shouldn't be on the road and if you are, then most certainly don't go through a green light into the path of an innocent police car.'
Look what we did: Another photo put on the website
Ruined: This police car was left a complete write-off after it was wrapped around a lamp post in a high-speed smash
One photo showed an officer in uniform giving a thumbs-up sign while standing next to a police car that seemed to have hit a fallen tree.
Another picture, showing a badly-damaged BMW, has comments about onlookers. The officer who posted it said: 'This one's got to be top of the Polcol league at the moment. Particularly love how many gawpers there are on the other side of the park!'
Another picture showed the wreckage of a patrol car after it had mounted the pavement and collided with a lamppost.
Stuck: Another patrol car has been driven straight into this crack in the road
The Facebook group invited officers to post pictures and tell how the crashes happened.
Officers disciplined included both those involved in crashes and those who may have helped post the pictures or comments.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Our Directorate of Professional Standards has investigated those concerned as their behaviour clearly fell short of the high standards expected.
'In total, 18 officers were subjected to formal disciplinary proceedings and of those 18, 14 were given written warnings and four were given words of advice.'
Boasts: More than 30 pictures showing mangled patrol vehicles were posted
Last July, all Met officers were warned about the dangers of putting pictures or information on social networking sites and told that such postings could lead to their professionalism being doubted.
In May, a policeman who took his hands off the wheel to make thumbs-up gestures to a speed camera while on emergency calls was given an undisclosed fine by South Yorkshire Police.
David Mayes, 34, from Barnsley, was captured on camera driving at about 70mph in a 40mph zone twice in one hour. He was also fined £400 and banned from driving for six months by magistrates after admitting two counts of careless driving.
Reader views (7)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Laura, your right, some of these guys ARE idiots, but like you say, its a very small minority, and its not like they crash the cars on purpose.
Donna, 9 times out of 10 these collisions occur during vehicle pursuits, when the officers are trying to get the idiots who have stolen cars and are driving like absolute idiots through the streets, And its people like you, who would be on here complaining if the police just never bothered trying to catch these criminals and let them drive the dangerous way that they do.
And as for paying their wages, well that's just ludicrous, remember the pay dispute? You probably get paid a hell of a lot more than they do, and do you take the chance that you will get stabbed or assaulted every day that you go to work? Yes they choose the job that they do, but they sure as hell work their asses off to deserve the wages that they earn, not that you pay for.
- Angela, berkshire
With all due respect, just because some officers are silly enough to do this doesn't mean the rest of them are just as bad... this is just a small percentage of muppets, there are others that have accidents and that's exactly what they are 'accidents'... its not fair to say ALL police officers are thugs in uniform or irresponsible drivers.
- Laura, Cambridge
These guys aren't exactly the best and the brightest. As can be seen most of them should not even have driver's license. But, it is much better to give them a car then a gun. They don't kill quite as many this way.
- Rich, San Angelo USA
The police call themselves 'professionals' clearly they are nothing but mindless thugs in a uniform.
We pay their wages so we should call for these officers to be thrown out of the force without pensions.
- Donna, cambridgeshire
Twenty or more years ago I would have said that it was just bad luck for a police officer to have an accident, as they were highly trained and responsible drivers.
But the type of recruit, and the lowering of standards, that now makes up the police forces tells me that it is bad and irresponsible driving in most cases.
- P.Robinson, Northants
Killjoys of the world unite! Looks like a harmless bit of fun, but then some boss has to get all bossy about it, and consequently the world ends up with a little less joy in it.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
The police still refuse to release information to the public (who pay their wages) on exactly how many cars they trash every year and how many civilians are injured or killed in these incidents.
Nice to know that they think it's all a big laugh.
- Jimbob, Kensington
