Police chopper leaves drivers nowhere to run
RCIPS helicopter
(CNS): The seasonal police crackdown on rogue drivers was in full swing this weekend with the RCIPS helicopter also reporting to units on the ground about vehicles trying to avoid the checks. Along with a number of arrests for traffic infractions, one driver who failed to stop at a road block was pursued by officers and the driver, once caught, was arrested for possession with intent to supply when ganja was found in his car.
“Our officers were out in force on Saturday night to send a message that people should not give themselves permission to behave irresponsibly behind the wheel during the holiday season,” said Police Commissioner David Baines. “We want all persons in Cayman to have an enjoyable and safe Christmas, regrettably a small minority place themselves and other in jeopardy.”
During the multiple road safety operations across the island on Saturday night, including on Esterley Tibbetts Highway and the Seven Mile Beach corridor, 24 motorists were ticketed for road or registration violations, including failing to wear seatbelts and driving without insurance.
Three drivers were also arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and one person was arrested on an outstanding warrant. The operations were conducted into the early morning hours with officers from George Town and West Bay, Uniform Support Group and Operational Support Group, as well as the RCIPS helicopter flying overhead.
Road operations will increase, police said, leading up to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
$1500 or more in fuel cost alone chasing one car for a petty infraction the street cops should have taken care of long ago. Bragging about “we have a bird in the air”, what a laugh. Invest in some tech like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXMPc9hpBj0 and you might get half the job done, sorry it can’t do the paperwork for you yet though. Quit Christmas joyriding and save the fuel and resources for more serious endeavours.
But the idiots can’t or won’t try and catch the same motorcycles that use the new road after the yacht club round about as their personal race track every day at 5pm…..
3 DUIs on the last Saturday before Christmas….. Not trying very hard are they!
If the officers knew how to setup proper road blocks they wouldn’t need to use such an expensive asset. So let me tell the officers how to do it right, have an unmarked car parked in a strategic position in front and behind the block and have available patrol to peruse suspected offenders. I feel so sad to know that officers at RCIP cannot properly conduct a simply operation this is truely sad. But then I forgot they don’t have a leader.
How long do you seriously think an unmarked car on this tiny island is going to remain anonymous?
That’s why they use rental cars…
What bothers me here is that the police spend a lot of their time putting the fear of God into small criminals and all the time, we have major criminals running about with reckless abandon. Perhaps we need martial law to keep us peeons in line?
Do you think the police helicopter would have caught some of the current well know (alledged) fraudsters before it was too late? I think not!
Hardly a cost effective use of this very expensive asset.
Please don’t even mention the per hour operating costs.
Easy… just add a “helicopter surcharge” to all those who are ticketed 🙂
Can we please have these checks happening all year round?
Exactly…it scares me on a Saturday when I am out and see cars swerving everywhere clearly being driven by DUI drivers! Although, the quality of driving in Cayman could mean that the police think these people are driving “normally”.
I must add that this is also “driftwood” and locals alike before I get rebuked!
So they burn thousands in fuel to write a $100.00 ticket lol
Firstly, this needs to be done consistently throughout the year.
Secondly when you have a road block, have police monitoring those doing quick u-turns at the back of the line. They obviously haven’t left the oven on at home, have they?
I was living in TI resort when they used to put road blocks there. All people coming out of GT who were worried about being stopped did was park up in our lot and pop into the lobby bar to watch the fun until RCIPS got bored and left.
I have not seen police in action between Savannah/Newlands and GT for the last few weeks. If they would be, all they have to do is stand at the gas station in Savannah and watch the speeders and maniac drivers going by………
What about that half hazard man-made illegal trailer that is parked on the median at Lantern Point? It broke down in the middle of the roundabout the other day. The trailer has been in use for a long time and was just a matter of time before it would break down. Luckily it didn’t hit any other vehicle. I would suspect that the “owners” of that trailer also run a yard maintenance business without a business license etc. Anything going to come of this or is police just going to keep eyes wide shut again?
Saturday night on the last weekend before Christmas and RCIPS only made three arrests for suspected DUI? You got to be kidding me!
Anon that’s local because they are the only ones who drink and drive in Cayman!
I got waved through after attending a Christmas party, don’t know if I was DUI or not but best bet is I was. It all looked pretty impressive but they didn’t seem to be stopping anyone, they certainly weren’t doing document checks or even getting drivers to wind down their windows.
You should be ashamed of yourself for getting in a car after drinking!