Traffic Rodeo and Wild West Un-enforcement Show

Leo Olivero
Traffic Rodeo and Wild West Un-enforcement Show

Where Are The Police?

Where are the police, or a police officer when you want one or where they should be? But more importantly, where the public expects the police to be? 

You would honestly think that a uniform presence of a police officer at a major arterial road junction in the mornings and every morning would be at least serve as important shop window or public display from the RGP, that the Police service really are serious about ‘Safer Roads’ as claimed or is stated as ‘Priority 3 in the current Police Authority 2019-2020 Policing Plan’ but it’s obviously not. An important policing requirement woefully missing at the Winston Churchill roundabout and it’s approaches into the city area, as I witnessed yesterday morning during peak traffic time!

Where Are the Police?

I have held back for some time in submitting a report on this matter, even after many personal approaches, emails, text messages and photo’s were sent to by members of the public, not only complaining, but simply asking - Where Are the Police?

However yesterday morning, I had reason to pick someone from the frontier at 8.45am, a time which most road users, cross frontier commuters or just people taking their kids to school would know, except it seems the Police, if their continuous absence is anything to go by!

Traffic in this area and at that time of the morning, midday and afternoon/evening is extremely heavy all through the day. But yesterday morning on my return journey back into the city area, for periods, traffic remained static along the airport runway as vehicles approached the dreaded Winston Churchill roundabout. The latter junction is a pinnacle point. And one, without a shadow of a doubt requires the presence of a uniform police officer directing and facilitating the traffic flow, but also importantly enforcing the many traffic offences that are a danger to road safety and pedestrians.

Like the amount of bicycles and the controversial e-scooters, who causally mount the pavement and use it as an additional personal side slip road channel weaving in-and-out between pedestrians, young and old or whoever gets in their way!

It’s a case of to ‘hell with road safety and traffic laws’, which the police also very causally wish to ignore it seems. Because they obviously do not have a traffic plan that complements the RGP’s ‘Safer Roads Policing Priority’ which they are committed to delivering or not it seems, and if they are, certainly not in any effective manner!

Yesterday, it looked and was a chaotic situation, as it is on most days.

19-09-2019 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR