Police bag almost two dozen traffic offenders in one hour
RCIPS traffic block
(CNS): A police traffic operation on the Linford Pierson Highway on Wednesday saw 23 drivers prosecuted for offences ranging from illegal tint to speeding. Responding to calls from the community for police to clamp down on rogue drivers, an RCIPS spokesperson said it was also an opportunity to emphasize safe driving ahead of the new school year. The road block was set up for an hour between three and four in the afternoon in partnership with the Department of Vehicle and Driver’s Licensing.
The RCIPS were targeting illegal tints, obscured license plates, and other traffic breaches with a view to enforcement of issues raised by residents in Community Clinics conducted by the RCIPS around the island in June.
The near two dozen tickets issued in one hour comes in the wake of the latest RCIPS statistics that revealed 2554 traffic tickets were issued by police between January and the end of June this year. Police said operations of this type in different areas will continue on a regular basis.
RCIPS Traffic Statistics
The driving i’ve seen here is worse than you would find in India.
Come on down to Andresen Rd in West Bay any weekday evening and all day on weekends. It is a race track more or less and has been for years. 1/2 mile straight shot with no speed bumps all the way to Cobalt Coast dive resort and no worries about the police, it’s guaranteed they won’t be there. There are illegal dirt bikes and cars racing and stunting all night long, never a cop. Just a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed, either a racer or maybe one of the young moms pushing a baby in a stroller out for a walk.
A couple of weekends ago police were chasing 3 dirt bikers causing chaos on the ETH near Camana bay. At the time all I saw was the bikers as it was a plain police car with stupid mini flashing lights chasing it. Had I realized I would have rammed one of them off, because with his dreadlocks, no helmet and weaving in and out the traffic the leader of this motley crew was a death hazard to all.
So the RCIP hand out around 5,000 traffic tickets per year. As a comparative Bermuda with a full time traffic department and similar population issue around 45,000 tickets annually. At an average of $150 per ticket that would equate to around $6 million in fines not to mention the reduced cost of insurance for everyone and fewer injuries and fatalities. So please Mr Baines tell us again why you can’t afford to have a full time traffic department.
If you want to reduce insurance just increase by a large amount DUI punishments. Everything else is of negligible importance compared to that.
Not sure why a “road block” is needed for such enforcement? It seems clear to most of us that if the Police were to do their jobs regularly, and without favour, that our roads would be far safer! Please start with illegal parking at supermarkets (always an issue) and also bus drivers driving carelessly.
Really, any observant and competent Officer, can do this every single day!
Hello. I was stopped in this area of the bypass during these checks.
Now normally do not have any issues with it but on this occasion it was different.
There was a tall, slim, white, sergeant, who spoke with a strong english accent and asked me for my paperwork. I complied and reached into my glovebox to retrieve it, but could not find it.
During this time the sergeant said “hurry up mate i dont have all day”. I tried to tell him had it and was trying to find it. He instructed me to pull off onto the side and i did.
After another minute of searching i found it and gave it to him. He rustled through it and handed it back to me.
As he handed it back to me he made the comment “well at least i dont have to f*%*king prosecute you for this”. He then told me i could leave and i did.
Let me say this is the first time i have ever come across such a rude police officer here in the islands. I find it very disturbing that this kind of attitude would be displayed towards the public. I hope it will not be tolerated.
Was this after you likely turned in traffic to avoid the road block? driving someone else’s vehicle and couldn’t find the insurance papers then made a point to mention your government position.
Hey, I thought the police weren’t allowed to talk to the press unless it came from official channels and the press officer. You definitely sound like the police sergeant in question.
Guess the boss condones this behavior then, cussing people during a traffic stop. Definitely proffesional, must come from years of UK training.
At least they are trained Johnny
Come on Baines………surely you get it now. Reinstate the traffic department……it will pay for itself.
Please keep the traffic checks coming, but it doesn’t mean that you can sit down for the rest of the month and do nothing. Two questions:
Last week a cop was a Country Side right outside Fosters dealing with some tourists who may have gotten into a fender-bender. He stood three parking spaces away from a taxi which had illegally parked in the handicapped parking spot. Why did the cop not take any initiative to ticket that driver?
Last week at Country Side, Fosters Parking Lot, a taxi van parked on the side walk/curb and a police car was parked in a parking spot a few feet away. Why wasn’t that driver who parked his van illegally ticketed?
Those are the kind of things that gets the public furious when there is a complete lack of motivation and/or initiative and the cops don’t even feel shame about it.
This is because the Jamaican Taxi drivers are being “looked out for” by their friends in what has now become the RJAPS.
Hey. Its not only them. Look at the amount of english people here and ask your self this question.
Knowing the reputation of the english and their love of alcohol. Why is there not more english people prosecuted for DUI’s. Everybody knows where they hang out. Just look at certain areas of south/north church street and the southern part of west bay rd. You can always see them stubbling to their cars and swearving out onto the road.
Do an FOI and see by nationality the prosecutions occuring each year for DUI and you’ll be surprised. Not to many english persons prosecuted for DUI.or anything else.
Now why is this. Perhaps because they protect their own.
What i can say i see is a large number of Philipino and Caymanian in court for DUI.
Since stats dont lie, according to the police. The UK has one of the highest DUI rates in the world. Could it be that the english in Cayman dont drink. Hummmmmm. I wonder.
You ever think the UK DUI rates might be because the UK actually enforces its laws!
So what your saying is that they don’t prosecute their own here, only in the UK, huh.
Yes, they are all on vacation here, why would they want to mess it all up for each other?
YES, wake-up people. Not hard to see is it!?
The only thing that makes any sense here is that clearly enforcement is lacking, and when that happens people take more risks (whether English, Caymanian, Irish or whatever) because the risk of getting caught is low. Most people would automatically take a taxi in the UK, because you know damn well you are going to get caught. And that’s the other issue here-normal priced taxis…there aren’t any.
Thank GOD for 8:50. Spot on!
They should check the same road at 6.45 am they could catch the same amount in 15 minutes.
If it bothered you that much, why didn’t you point it out after he’d finished dealing with the accident.
Most taxi drivers are disabled, well challenged anyway
Probably the car park is also private property
Real talk: I drove by a cop the other day talking on my cell phone and I waived at him. He did not even flinch and you know why……he was on his cell phone too lmao
YAAAWWWWNNN!!!!!!! This was just shooting fish in a barrel. Apparently most of the people they caught in this ‘crack down’ had been very visibly breaking the Traffic Law for months or years without being touched. I’d be more impressed if they got on with some real policing.
Yes, like how about having a police presence on West Bay Road. Tons of tourists, tons of people in and out of plazas etc, and not ONE police car patrolling. They use the turning lane for a speeding lane to over take and it’s disgusting!
Why only one hour? Is that the shift length now and reason why we need so many police officers? This needs to happen every day, somewhere, bring back a dedicated unit and cover the island little by little. The message will get through.
Meanwhile, just yesterday, they drove right by, on the left hand side of, a man talking on his phone whilst in the midst of an illegal right hand turn in to Dumpside apartments off the ETH, without a care in the world.
Lock them little wanna be gangstas up from now! Break the cycle of madness.
Can you also please do something about the mini-bus drivers that suddenly stop in the middle of the road blocking traffic to either drop off passengers, pick up passengers, or simply stop to talk to their friends on the side of the road?… Especially near the intersection by Flowers old block plant location at 7.30 am every morning…
Also there is a crazy motorcycle driver or two that speed past traffic in the mornings work-drive on the inside walk-path on the new bypass that leads to Newlands…
I am considering buying a big 18 wheeler truck to just push the mini-bus out of the way and also that might come in useful in helping the crazy motorcycle driver to pop-his-a$$…
Knot S Smart…I got a Sherman Tank if you are interested…complete with working turret and shells. If you are not interested I could get these traffic issues sorted in a day, but might need a fast boat to escape in.
Just buy one of those “fishing” jamaican canoes, they as well as their cargo are invisible to law enforcement,
If I took a career in the RCIP I would be promoted to 00-Agent status within 6 months for all of the crazy foolish driving I encounter each week!
It’s next to suicide trying to drive between 12pm – 5pm on a Friday
Isn’t it always the same timing – towards the end of each month – when RCIPS increases speed traps and apprehension for other traffic offences? Revenue earning measures no doubt.
How valid are such apprehensions & prosecutions if the Traffic Department has been disbanded? Is there some legal loophole?
Its this kind of knee JERK reaction to law enforcement that has the community pissed off and not confident in the RCIPS. This kind of enforcement should be happening EVERY day, not just when people make noise and the brand spanking new Superintendent wants to pretend like things are being done.
In any community it is the failure to enforce the law on small things which leads to people thinking the law will not be enforced and this encourages people to break the law in more serious ways. This is known as the broken windows syndrome and is well documented. If general traffic laws were enforced effectively by the RCIP and people knew the law would be enforced we would see less DUI and less causing injury or death by reckless driving which has become a disgrace in the Cayman Islands bearing in mind the size of our population.