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news
Mike Barton (via BBC Radio 5 Live on Twitter).JPGDurham police chief calls officer who drew up force's cycling policy a "single-issue zealot" (+ video)
The head of Durham Constabulary has branded one of his officers who drew up the force’s cycling policy “a single-issue zealot.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, chief constable Mike Barton – who later ripped up the policy – also said that “nervous” cyclists should not ride a bike.
"Bradley Wiggins doesn't work for me.... so I just swept it [our cycling policy] aside"
Durham’s Chief Constable Mike Barton calls a cycling sergeant a "single-issue zealot" for having a 30-page police cycling policy - which he then scrapped. pic.twitter.com/45RUsbA5w4
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) September 10, 2018
“We had a bicycle policy,” said Chief Constable Barton, whose comments were widely criticised on Twitter.
“So if police officers were riding a bike there was a policy. It was 30-odd pages.
“So the sergeant who had written it, he was a single-issue zealot. I know that’s being rude.
“He wanted the world to be cyclists and he wanted them to be safe cyclists. So he was going to surround them with rules.
“I think page 32, he described how police bicycles shouldn’t be used as police pursuit vehicles,” the c chief constable continued..
“And you know, Bradley Wiggins doesn’t work for me, so the chances of one of my officers riding a bicycle chasing a car is frankly ludicrous, so why put it in a policy?
“So I just swept it aside. ‘Look’, I said, ‘if you’re nervous, do a Cycling Proficiency Test. If you’re really nervous even after that, don’t ride a bike. By the way, if you think you can get away with Lycra, by all means wear it, but I’m not telling you to. And deal with it with a bit of humour’,” he added.
At that point the show’s presenter interjected with “That’s 30 pages condensed right down there in three lines.”
“Precisely,” he replied. “In any given circumstance, do the right thing regardless of the consequences.”
The chief constable’s comments come just a month after his own force launched a close pass operation targeting motorists who overtake cyclists too closely.
Just as they do for other areas of policing, many police forces across the UK have cycling policies in force – although when it comes to bicycles, it’s something that has been met at times with derision from some elements of the press.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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52 comments
Poor clickbait headline
Not sure how you come to that conclusion, I would say that the headline is entirely accurate in that a CC does indeed 'slam' an officer who wrote a policy doc. The only thing that we are unclear on is whether the doc was 30 odd pages of mindless H&S or good valid advice. My suspicion is the former (I didn't need to read 30 pages before I hopped on a bike aged 5) but we don't know. I appreciate that not knowing the facts never stops us having an argument though
My initial thought was that the Chief is a typical motor-centric policeman. Then I thought that 32 pages sounds like a lot of paperwork that in the real world, no-one is going to read.
Then I came to the conclusion that the Chief is probably right about the 32 page policy, but also has a sucky attitude towards policing on bikes.
I don't see why we don't have more police on bikes as they're cheap to run (as long as you don't keep buying the latest stuff advertised here) and very agile. Bikes are probably the easiest way to catch motorists using mobiles, but then that might not be something he wants to concentrate on.
‘if you’re nervous, do a Cycling Proficiency Test...'
not quite a "is there life on mars" - "beating up the wrong guy" flashback moment but Cycling Proficiency was renamed/redesigned in 2007 as Bikeability (only one word to remember) suggesting that the Chief Constable lacks any interest or concern for cycling. (thats a full stop)
I'm with mungecrundle here, 32 pages of policy before a copper is allowed on a bike is ridiculous, this document had no relevance to the policing of cycle law.
Why was it even mentioned on the radio, I suspect the writer was more of a misguided HSE zealot than anything else .
Let's judge him on how his force performs in relation to cycling in general, though his nervous comments don't leave me with a lot of hope
Nervous cyclists should not cycle.
Nervous drivers should not drive.
Nervous walkers should not walk.
Nervous speakers should not talk.
Nervous walkers is a new one on me!
What about a nervous pooh, what do we do with those?
We keep well clear.
5a2a7bbcba6f77901c5d56c4176b2e30.jpg
Hunny. Lots of hunny.
So there's no policy now? While an over the top policy could be a hinderance, writing off a whole group of people as not worth the effort is pretty ridiculous, not that it's much of a surprise.
To be clear, this is (was) a policy for use of bicycles by Police Officers in the course of their duties, not a general diatribe against cyclists and was ripped up for being an exercise in policy wording health and safety overkill rather than a practical / pragmatic / useful docment.
Is that correct, or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
A copy of the deceased document would be interesting. If it was full of policy recomendations such as helmet specifications, the appropriate use and fitting of bicycle bells, the correct way to avoid cross chaining, and standard forms for reporting punctures then maybe the Chief Constable has a point.
It wasn't just the police policy, he went on to give his views on all cyclists, hence the comment about nervous cyclists staying off the road, but if there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that being nervous keeps you safe. It's the idiots who are supremely confident in their abilities who are most likely to be involved in or cause a collision, a rule which applies to all areas of life.
Go back and relisten to the video. Its quite clear that he is referring to a policy about police officers riding bikes for their policing, including the nervous cyclists and wearing lycra comments. And to me a 32 page policy on riding a bike for work does sound like OTT Elfin Safety.
Probably better to have a word count.
I don't think a 32 page work based document is that long really. Have you read any of your HR work policies ?
[/quote]Probably better to have a word count.
Have you read any of your HR work policies ?
[/quote]
I would if they existed
I'm not sure he's being as much of a d1ck as the heradline suggests here.
If 30 odd pages actually put people off then it's a stupid document. One persons opinion, militant cyclist or lycra hater is just as dangerous as the other (read any helmet thread for proof).
The nervous issue and cycling proficiency is potentially the worst bit - maybe the first 10 hours of driving tuition shouldn't be on the road, maybe if you're a nervous driver then you're a potential killer etc.
Irrespective of his stance on cycling, anyone who comes out with such empty shit as
"In any given circumstance, do the right thing regardless of the consequences"
is exactly and entirely a dick.
If I came out with such useless twaddle to my kids they'd laugh me out of the room.
If anyone in a leadership position comes out with such bluster while addressing policy, their staff or superiors should rip them a new one.
Indeed, some subjective notion of doing the 'right thing' trumps all consequences? As in 'I'm sorry everybody died, but I was just doing the right thing'.
The nervous cyclist comments are pretty wretched from someone in his position. Imagine the outcry if a senior office responded to concerns about increased street crime by saying 'if you are worried about being mugged, just don't go out'. Complete disavowal of the whole point of having the Police...
"In any given circumstance, do the right thing regardless of the consequences" is exactly and entirely a dick.
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Maybe, but on the other hand he may just be suggesting that if a Police officer saw a murder and the suspect running on foot then you wouldn't want bike plod to check the air pressure in his/her tyres, fasten his bike helmet and second check it, adjust the handlebar mirror to an appropriate angle and ensure daylight lights were both on before giving pursuit.
It is entirely possible that the process document written was over-zealous piffle!
Of course... and you'd expect us, kicking around examples on a Web forum to come out with a silly extreme example like that, or the bloke in the pub to come out with the CC's fatuous shit.
What we've actually got is a CC, in very public communication, making the kind of non-cop member-of-the-public-type knee jerks that are right at home on here or in the pub. I'm inclined to expect 'more'.
It's entirely possible that it wasn't and was a well written and concise document that followed protocol for vehicle use by the police, both constables and PCSOs and everything else associated with it.
People here are guessing based on the page length and the reaction by someone who clearly doesn't have a clue about safety, cycling nor the responsibility hierachy on our roads. He also doesn't understand how these types of documents can run to hundreds of pages - probably because he's a box ticking handshaking PR person and nothing more, he's forgotten where he started from and now is a power crazed fuckwit who is out of touch.
That a constable went to such lengths to then be described in such a derogatory way publicly is disgusting, in fact he should be disciplined for that. The document content and how it's drawn up and dealt with should be an internal matter and not be airing his personal views about a person below him and indeed instead of binning it off, if he had anything about him he would actually have said we've trimmed it down so that it fits better for a modern force not bound by rules for the sake of rules but taking fully on board Health and safety of our officrs and members of the public, or some shit like that. But he didn't he laid straight into someone and ripped it up simply because he has a beef about cycling in his police force for his officers and also for cycling as a whole, it's so fucking obvious.
Basically he's a dinosaur, and a dangerous dinsosaur to boot.
It can't be any surprise that some police forces ignore crimes agains cyclists with the attitude displayed by this chief constable. The ethos of an organisation comes from the top, and this man clearly doesn't care about the safety of vulnerable road users. Don't they have a Police and Crime Commissioner in Durham, so that all the local cyclists can write to them and get him to enforce the law.
Not sure I'm all that impressed with the interviewer either, but her approach was exactly what I've come to expect from the BBC. They treat cycling as a bit of a joke or dangerous, when they mention it at all.
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