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Author Topic: a balcony, a weed, and the police  (Read 4573 times)

kevkev57

  • Joined Sep 2008
a balcony, a weed, and the police
« on: August 06, 2009, 08:34:44 am »
A friend of my oldest son stayed over last night. He told us about something that happened to him recently.

To set the scene....

He lives in a small flat opposite a police station. His balcony over looks the street.  Recently the police installed CCTV as a security measure for their building. CCTV is rare in public places in Belgium, as it is against privacy rules.

So a keen policeman looked into the screen and saw the lads balcony. To his horror he spotted a cannabis plant in a pot. 

The lad was chilling out in his flat, when there was a knock at the door. Four police barged in, headed straight for the balcony and confiscated the plant. The poor lad was hand cuffed, and taken across the road to the police station. Despite him saying that it was not a cannabis plant, but some young tree that resembled one,he was ignored. He was charged with possesion of cannabis. Finally after begging, they decided to call in a expert to examine the plant. 

Eight hours he was there !   Waiting for an expert to be found. Upon arrival it was quickly established that it was a young tree and not cannabis.

He was let free but demanded to see the police commissioner. An apology was given and accepted.

The lad was quite happy to leave it like that. So he left via the lift.

He is now in the lift with his plant.  Two floors down, two policemen get in. They take one look at the plant and............arrest him.

This time he was only kept for 10 minutes.

Kevin

sellickbhoy

  • Joined Jan 2009
  • Muiravonside, near Linlithgow
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2009, 08:49:39 am »
so, the police used the CCTV that was installed to protect their building to snoop on the general public?

and in a country where CCTV is against privacy laws?

I think i'd be demanding compensation and the removal of the CCTV - they might be watching me get up to all sorts of things in my own house!

kevkev57

  • Joined Sep 2008
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2009, 08:56:19 am »
The idea of the camera was to view the police entrances, but it was probably fitted wrongly. It is certainly against the law here, and has actually been taken down now.

In Wallonia we do not have fixed speed cameras. Police are allowed to have a mobile camera for speeders, but....

They have to inform newspapers and radio channels 24 hours before they set them up !   They have to state exactly where the trap will be down to the last metre on the motorway. They have to state the car, colour and reg number. Also they can only use it for two hours max.

kevin

Hilarysmum

  • Joined Oct 2007
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2009, 09:18:22 am »
Here (Brittany) they have signs on the roads warning about 100 metres before the cameras.  They also publish in the local magazine sent to every householder where abouts of the cameras.  Yet they do have policemen in fields with speed guns.

jameslindsay

  • Joined Feb 2009
  • Nr St Andrews, Fife
  • "Blossom" one of my Pygmy Goats
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2009, 09:26:42 am »
Here in the UK the speed cameras are used as a means of taxing the motorist.

sellickbhoy

  • Joined Jan 2009
  • Muiravonside, near Linlithgow
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2009, 10:20:13 am »
Here in the UK the speed cameras are used as a means of taxing the motorist.

damn straight!! the future Mrs SB was flashed yesterday - now we wait for the ticket to arrive!! boo hiss.

what annoys me is what is the point of speed cameras? Simply to enforce the speed limit or has it anything to do with road safety?

why do they place them in the middle of nice long featureless straight stretches of roads and NOT a few hundred yards before a sharp/dangerous bend, blind summit or junction??

Also, if a stretch of road is dangerous - why haven't they redesigned the road. Would the argument "it was too expensive to fix so we exposed people to a hazard" hold up for any other business? imagine if a landlord was letting his flat and it had a gas leak killing the tenant? would the argument that he knew it was a bit dodgy, but he couldn't afford to fix it absolve him??




sandy

  • Guest
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2009, 02:58:42 pm »
 had to smile to myself last week :) I wanted the cheapest microwave just to defrost the odd thing and warm up milk etc. I went to my Local Tesco and saw a few other things then remember the microwave so went to where they were,I picked one for £23, the shop was very quiet and I had a job getting into my trolley, after which I continued to do a bit of shopping, and sensed I was being "followed" as everywhere I went people kept fiddling with the shelves, by the way I had no large bag on me just a coat, and remember, I have a limp and am 5ft 1 inch tall, so not exactly an athlete.I got to the checkout with a few items and the young man was very chatty and cut open the microwave to remove the security tag and left the box obviously open with the flaps out, Oh, and the checkout was about as near to the door as possible, the first trolley till!!!! I noticed the security chap on the door look and sure enough, on my way to the door he stopped me and of course I had a receipt.......I did not say anything but wondered what he thought I was going to do with a bulky microwave, did he really think the man on the checkout had not charged me......strange, I must look shifty!!!!

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2009, 03:04:44 pm »
Oh, you DO, you DO!!! ;) ;D ;D ;D
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

rustyme

  • Guest
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2009, 03:39:33 pm »
Here in the UK the speed cameras are used as a means of taxing the motorist.

damn straight!! the future Mrs SB was flashed yesterday - now we wait for the ticket to arrive!! boo hiss.

what annoys me is what is the point of speed cameras? Simply to enforce the speed limit or has it anything to do with road safety?

why do they place them in the middle of nice long featureless straight stretches of roads and NOT a few hundred yards before a sharp/dangerous bend, blind summit or junction??

Also, if a stretch of road is dangerous - why haven't they redesigned the road. Would the argument "it was too expensive to fix so we exposed people to a hazard" hold up for any other business? imagine if a landlord was letting his flat and it had a gas leak killing the tenant? would the argument that he knew it was a bit dodgy, but he couldn't afford to fix it absolve him??




another thing ..if someone trespasses on your land , slips and breaks a leg , or trips over your doorstep , they can sue you for thousands .Even thieves who do the same can sue the cr*p out of you !!!! Yet if you crash your car, on a known danger spot, and either seriously injure yourself , or someone dies, YOU get done for dangerous driving and you get nowhere if you try to take the council to court for continuing to allow a known danger spot to be used .....???

cheers

Russ
« Last Edit: August 06, 2009, 03:41:31 pm by rustyme »

sellickbhoy

  • Joined Jan 2009
  • Muiravonside, near Linlithgow
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2009, 04:10:49 pm »
cheers Russ, that was the point i was trying to get at!


on a lighter note, the Highland police regularly have to move on Japanese tourists who have stopped beside the signs warning of speed cameras on the A9

you've all seen them, the signs depict a large camera

the tourists thought it meant it was a beauty spot from which to take photos!!




sandy

  • Guest
Re: a balcony, a weed, and the police
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2009, 04:42:40 pm »
Maybe I should stop going out in a balaclava ;)( you know a scarf covering your face with slits for your eyes and mouth...if only I could spell)

 

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