These incidents like you experienced do seem to be on the rise. Vehicles in the wrong hands are weapons, nothing more, nothing less.
I have been watching some of these traffic cops programmes for a while now on TV. While I am sure they help provide valuable funding to the forces that have taken part like North Yorkshire, Cleveland, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire police etc I have a number of concerns.
1. It helps criminals learn in advance police tactics and when they will pursue and situations where they wont. It inadvertently provides ideas to criminals on how to evade capture, a training exercise for them if you will.
2. It highlights the low risks of prosecutions after police chases and the minor sentencing that occurs even when caught unless drink and/or drugs are involved.
3. It highlights only the driver is ever likely to be found guilty of anything if anyone at all and accomplices (thats what they should be called, not passengers) in vehicles generally get away scot free.
4. Quite often accomplices (especially females) are not shown as being searched… why?, Drugs, money from crime etc may be on their person.
5. Why is it not an offence to fail to provide details of who the driver of a vehicle was? At least have them charged as being complicit for failing to assist.
6. A number of times a stolen car is used a chase ensues and the driver and accomplices detained, only for nobody to be charged as there was no evidence they stole the vehicle…. WTF…. Were they beamed up star trek style into it by aliens? Being in possession of stolen goods used to be a crime once upon a time.
7. Criminals with no licences, get a smallish fine and a driving ban. A driving ban when they have no licence to drive, how is that a punishment?
8. Driving without insurance is clearly a common practice highlighted that pushes up all our costs of insurance, we pay for their failures, how is a small fine based on personal circumstances equitable?
9. Above all, it offers some of these young people an opportunity for their 15 minutes of fame among their peers, it is like a real life challenge of various X Box games to give them their adrenalin rush and laughs afterwards as the punishments are not deterrents, they probably encourage them as the notoriety they get outweighs the risks.
10. It gives ideas on cloning vehicles and other methods to evade capture.
I could go on.
These programmes start off as interesting, but they go on to show that the police (and ultimately us law abiding citizens) are ultimately let down by the justice system as punishments never fit the crimes and as said offer an insight to criminals on how to evade capture and/or prosecution. They may actually encourage crime.
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