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Investigation concludes that Dorset Police money making activities are increasing injuries and deaths

This is a terrible thing to say, but as this comprehensive investigation over many years indicates that it is true, it is absolutely right to say it in order to try to bring it to an end. 

One of the factors that supports this is that during the investigation I have become aware of a number of other accomplished real world engineers and business people with safety responsibilities and proper, extensive training and understanding of formal safety requirements, and similar concerns, and we all know that if we had behaved as the Dorset Authorities have, we would probably have been fired and maybe even locked up by now.

I’ve also been contacted by someone with wider and somewhat staggering concerns about Dorset Police. Years ago, I’d have considered him crazy, but now, it’s simply another perfectly fitting piece of the puzzle: http://www.dorsetpolice.tv/ . But surely, we could not have such failures in a UK police force? Yes we could, just look at Hillsborough or Orgreave. But they wouldn’t get away with it, other organisations wouldn’t allow it? Yes they would, those other organisations, such as councils and the DfT, are just as bad. Two more pieces of the puzzle slide into place.

What you see demonstrated above is a basic part of a proper investigation: not only do you look for the factors that support your result, you look for those that don’t. I have and I have been completely unable to find any. This principle is of course completely missing if you look at anything that Dorset Police has produced (which is almost nothing) during this investigation.

Things looked bad when the investigation of Dorset Police started many years ago, and everything that has come up since has sadly backed up these suspicions.

With the final complete point blank refusal under formal complaints procedures to deny or explain a SINGLE ONE of the many very serious concerns over the years and presented formally in this complaint http://www.dorsetspeed.org.uk/news/sog102.aspx, by Mike Glanville, Chair of the DSRSP, and now from the (ex) Chief Constable Martin Baker, the Chief Executive of the Dorset Police Authority Martin Goscomb, and above them, the Chairman of the Professional Standards and Diversity Committee Colin Weston, and the Chairman of the DPA Michael Taylor, there is absolutely nowhere further to go. How can we possibly have ended up with such people in such senior positions of responsibility prepared to simply try to sweep such important issues indicating serious and dangerous multiple failures under the carpet?

Dorset Police have been given every opportunity possible to demonstrate that these concerns are wrong and that it is in fact operating in the best interest of the public but the persistent refusal to do so can now only mean that it knows it is not and this is how it intends to continue operating.

Just to recap, here are some of the apparent failures of Dorset Police which have been put to them on multiple occasions and that they have flatly refused to deny or explain:

- unacceptable, irresistible interests by "road safety" staff in making money (to keep their jobs)
- perverting the course of justice
- misuse of resources, not using them how they will have the best life saving potential
- misuse and dishonesty about use of public money
- refusal to respond at all to serious, legitimate concerns
- breach of statutory duty of care
- failure to carry out proper risk assessments
- active refusal to communicate with staff about the distraction / danger caused by cameras
- failure to carry out FOI obligations properly
- demonstrating multiple conflicts with fundamental principles of safety and ethics
- silencing of any Police staff prepared to properly communicate
- attempting to cover up all these and other problems by refusing to communicate about them

And more recently, in a desperate attempt to keep use of  “driver awareness course” profits secret after nearly 2 years of refusal for various irrelevant reasons (including simply trying to ignore FOI requests), even going as far as lying to the Information Commissioner in order to persuade it to agree that simple questions about finances are vexatious, so they don’t have to answer them.

Even before a motorcyclist was killed resulting from the presence of a speed camera, Dorset Police had been made aware of the dangers they cause over and over again but they chose to dismiss such dangers as “speculation” presumably so they could carry on using enforcements where they conflict with normal safe driving the most, in order to make the most money, rather than where they could possibly have a safety benefit (near schools at busy times, etc).

Even now, there is absolutely no proper independent evidence (from anyone whose job does not depend on enforcement cash) suggesting safety benefit and answering the concerns, on the Dorset Road Safe website, or anywhere else. When Dorset Road Safe comments on statistics, any reduction is due to them (and there has been a significant downward trend for many years due to many things, recession, priced out younger drivers, better car design, etc, etc) and any increase is due to something else (weather, etc).

It could not be more clear that all that everyone is thinking about in the Dorset Authorities about traffic enforcements is the money, and that this priority is entirely incompatible with and totally prevents any impartial or effective thinking about safety. This terrible distortion can only result in higher accident, death and injury counts than we would have if those with the responsibility were thinking about safety. The greed is therefore resulting in deaths and serious injuries that would not be occurring without it, this is the conclusion.

This is not just about the Police. Of course, the structure is bewildering, there is Dorset Police, the DPA, Dorset Road Safe, Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership, Councils, etc. all with their snouts in the trough, all keen to see the money flow continue and in an easy position to consider any complaint as “someone else’s problem” in apparent blissful and deliberate ignorance of the actual unfortunate end results, by the way, I just googled that and found a very interesting website, http://www.snouts-in-the-trough.com/ .

The incompetence of the councils (who by the way, set speed limits) is also simply staggering, I have provided plenty of information about Poole and Bournemouth Councils on road safety decisions and they of course also refuse to discuss the issues as any communication will result in progress, and the only progress that is possible is realisation of the incompetence and waste. Then of course there is the DfT who are totally useless, also refusing to answer serious concerns, and basically having nothing to do with it (“it’s a matter for local authorities”) rather than taking any responsibility for it and with no interest whatsoever in the fact that local authorities don’t have the basic skills or even aptitude to do safety work.

So it all fits together perfectly – these authorities really can be as bad as I and others have found them to be as they don’t have to answer to anyone. They don’t have to be efficient or effective as expensive / dangerous mistakes can just be soaked up by the endless amounts of public money (put traffic lights on a roundabout that doesn’t need them probably resulting in increased accidents – never mind, we’ll just tell them we’re saving, say £300,000 a year, we could never justify it but it doesn’t matter because we can just ignore any complaints that come in and carry on making more mistakes).

And it seems consistent with other things that happen in this country – the DfT were found out by Richard Branson (mess up a train contract, no worry, we’ll just take £40m from the plebs to pay for it), the MPs were found out about their expenses, the bankers were found out (why on earth did we bail them out – just think about how the 100s of billions could have been spent). How many other things have we not yet found out that are ruining the country? Do you know what 100 billion looks like if you write out all the 0’s? £100,000,000,000.

If everyone just picked up something that was wrong and tried to do something about it, the world would be so much better a place. This is what motivates me to uncover the failures of the local authorities in my area.

And the way in which the Dorset authorities are behaving in the face of these concerns is now becoming just as, if not more serious than the original concerns themselves, just as perverting the course of justice is a more serious offence than speeding, (if you try to get someone else to take your points).

Although it is clear that the Dorset Authorities will never face the facts and start undoing this damage without significant further pressure, I have plenty more to do and will continue until we see better honesty and competence in those we are meant to have trust in.