Cop hooning at 240km/h dobbed in by colleagues

Admiral Thrawn · #1 02-12-2007, 09:45 PM

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html

Cops and Rubber
Exclusive by Evelyn Yamine
February 05, 2007 12:00
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

A COP who was part of a squad targeting yobbish behaviour reached speeds of up to 202km/h as he showed off in a police car in a bid to impress colleagues.

But Andrew Robert Cumming's idiocy backfired when the terrified and outraged constables reported his "reckless" behaviour.

And today he was fined after pleading guilty to the stunt.

Cumming, 30, today offered no excuse for his behaviour - which his barrister Les Nicholls described as "the most irresponsible and recklessly stupid act'' the cop had ever committed.

"He is extremely remorseful, contrite and embarrassed in respect to the matter, not only personally but professionally,'' barrister Les Nicholls said in Sutherland Local Court today.

Cumming was a specialist highway patrol driver attached to Operation Seta, which was formed in response to the Cronulla riots.

As part of the rapid response unit, Cumming drove with two operational support officers to target anti-social behaviour.

On January 18 last year, Cumming was driving on the F6 Freeway near Bulli with two constables and was explaining how the Holden Commodore worked before accelerating to a high speed.

One constable saw the speedometer reach 202km/h - although he felt he was going faster - and asked Cumming to stop driving.

According to the constable, Cumming replied: "Don't worry. That speedo, it stops at 202. We were actually doing 230-240km/h.''

Just two days later, Cumming was driving with two different constables when he reached more than 202km/h on the same freeway and overtook about 30 other cars while travelling at that speed.
In both cases, they were not driving to an urgent police job.

Cumming - who pleaded guilty to two counts of exceed speed by over 45km/h - was ordered to pay $800 fine for each offence.

His licence was suspended in June last year and for the first charge, Magistrate Antony Townsden suspended his licence for six months until December 2006.

But for the second charge, Mr Townsden disqualified him from driving for a further one year which will expire on December 7.

Mr Townsden described Cumming's behaviour as "gross carelessness and stupidity'' which put other lives at risk and said it was the highest speed he has ever dealt with.

Mr Townsden told the court he had reduced the fine from the maximum of $2200 because of Cumming's good character.

Cumming - who was removed from his position and put on restricted duties - has been an officer for seven years and in the past, has served as a volunteer for the RFS and SES.

Cumming did not comment outside of court and was driven away by his barrister.

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Do as I say, not as I do...

[355] · #2 02-12-2007, 09:53 PM

and the same cop will happily nab me for 103kmh on the FWY

**SPEEDCORE** · #3 02-12-2007, 10:25 PM

Yeah this was on the Tellie afew days back...

Great system we have...

**moretti** · #4 02-13-2007, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPEEDCORE

Great system we have...

it is !!

in a lot of countries they would just get away with it, at least some of these guys get done for this, I've even read of cops up here getting done for DUI and with speed cameras even they have to watch out for the revenue raisers

of course I have heard of some stories where an off duty cop got done by a camera so rang the cop shop and they went out to "inspect " the camera and the photos were overexposed

during the "inspection"

Jimbo49 · #5 02-13-2007, 09:43 AM

We were passed the other day on the melb freeway by a cop coming up the emergency lane doing about 160 and we were doing 110. Tsssk..
Who knows if it was an emergency or not, but you'd be hard pressed to escape a highway patrol car unless you were driving something pretty serious...

**moretti** · #6 02-13-2007, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo49

, but you'd be hard pressed to escape a highway patrol car unless you were driving something pretty serious...

what, like a Ferrari or Lambo ....... or even an M3 on the GC , they don't seem to be able to catch the M series of BMers lately here

[355] · #7 02-13-2007, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moretti

what, like a Ferrari or Lambo ....... or even an M3 on the GC , they don't seem to be able to catch the M series of BMers lately here

you may outrun them on the ground but its all over when the air wing is called in.

**moretti** · #8 02-13-2007, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [355]

you may outrun them on the ground but its all over when the air wing is called in.

this ain't the US ...... and haven't you seen Gumball Rally ?

Looney · #9 02-13-2007, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [355]

you may outrun them on the ground but its all over when the air wing is called in.

are there any tunnel's near you?

[355] · #10 02-13-2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Looney

are there any tunnel's near you?

yeah, but still fail to see how youd hide in a tunnel?

Jimbo49 · #11 02-13-2007, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moretti

what, like a Ferrari or Lambo ....... or even an M3 on the GC , they don't seem to be able to catch the M series of BMers lately here

Yeah, but for the majority of us, its game over if you come up against a highway patrol car.

**SPEEDCORE** · #12 02-13-2007, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [355]

you may outrun them on the ground but its all over when the air wing is called in.

HA!! By the time the airwing gets called in, the chase is long over. This isnt the states where there is constant birds flying about. The cops only has a set timelimit b4 calling chases off. The resources need to put a chopper in the air, doesn't really justify the use of them. Esp the constant whine we get that police are under resourced!!