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15
Apr 2021
Coughed at and facing aggression - being a Harrogate traffic cop during covid
We joined TC Tim Healey on a shift driving around Harrogate —he tells the Stray Ferret that working during covid has been like "trying to catch water in a sieve".
After a year of intense challenges, we spent a morning with the Harrogate traffic cops to learn about the year they've had and to get a glimpse of the job as we re-emerge from lockdown.
Whilst patrolling the town's roads in an unmarked car with TC Tim Healey, he told the Stray Ferret that changing covid rules has meant catching offenders has been like "trying to catch water in a sieve instead of a bucket" and why he doesn't mind being unpopular.
Covid challenges
The three covid lockdowns have presented multiple new challenges to the police and the government's guidelines for travel have frequently been tested.
TC Healey said they've received many excuses for people on the road when they shouldn't have been.
He said:
"Travelling for mental health reasons can be the first thing that someone throws at you."
The officer said the government's guidelines could have been clearer, which has resulted in people making up the rules to fit what they want to do.
He added that officers have been "pulled in many different directions" due to the changing rules.
"Sometimes it's been like trying to catch water in a sieve instead of a bucket."
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Covid has also meant police officers have had to deal with some unsavoury and potentially dangerous incidents in the line of duty.
In Ripon earlier this year, TC Healey stopped a car suspected of drink driving. The passenger wasn't happy and decided to blow and cough in his face saying "coronavirus" over and over.
Another new phenomenon due to covid was neighbours reporting on other neighbours for suspected covid breaches, which TC Healey said he did not agree with.
Criminality
As the roads in Harrogate become busier as lockdown restrictions ease, we are out with TC Healey as part of Operation Boundary, a campaign to clamp down on criminality and traffic offences.
Whilst observing traffic on Skipton Road, TC Healey spotted a man using his mobile phone whilst driving a white van.
After being pulled over, the man was rude and aggressive to the officer and said, "Do you also want to know what my mum had for breakfast? Why so many questions?"
TC Healey said they regularly face hostility from the public for doing their job.
He added:
"They say you should be catching real criminals like rapists and sex offenders. Or they say have you got nothing better to do than pick on decent people going about their life?
"Were you bullied at school is another classic.
"But road policing is important and until you've dealt with a serious collision you look at what we do in different light."
Criticism
NYP says Operation Boundary has been successful in targeting road offences across the county.
But the force recently received criticism from some residents in Harrogate for the speeds its police cars travel from Harrogate Police Station off Otley Road into the town during lockdown.
In February, a Harrogate police officer who drove through a red light in Harrogate at 50 miles per hour and then crashed into a car carrying two elderly women was found guilty of dangerous driving.
On the balance between driving fast through our urban areas and catching criminals, TC Healey said officers are trained to drive at high speeds as the extra few seconds can make all the difference.
He added:
"It's not about going fast and flying around. You're a professional and take your job seriously. You don't want to put anybody's life at risk."
Spring into life
As our three hours in the police car draws to a close without much incident, a message comes through the radio that sees TC Healey's expensive, high-powered vehicle spring into life.
The blue lights come on and its sirens ring out down Skipton Road as he attempts to catch a vehicle failing to stop reported by other officers near Ripon.
We approach the Little Wonder roundabout at a high speed and my adrenaline threatens to go into overdrive, but TC Healey's colleagues radio to say the culprits have been apprehended.
The two men are arrested and held in custody on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and the driver on suspicion of drug driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to stop for police — which to TC Healey means a job well done, even if he wasn't the one to catch them.
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