Those who aspired to become a police officer as a kid probably dreamed of kicking down doors, keeping the streets safe from bad characters, and going on adrenaline-pumping, high-speed car chases. Everyday city cop life, as it turns out, isn’t always that exciting…or dignified.
Despite their growing fleet of cool patrol cars, police in Australia are notoriously harsh on speeders and will apparently go to great lengths to catch people driving faster than they should. Seen in the town of Petrie in Queensland, Australia is an officer literally hiding in some bushes radar-gun-in-hand, reports News.com.au, and residents are not happy.
A woman from Brisbane reportedly posted pictures to Facebook of a Queensland cop crouched inside the hedges of a median, on the lookout for speeders. “Is a copper actually allowed to crouch in the hedges in the middle of the road?” she questioned.
Commenters, unsurprisingly, were less-than-impressed with one writing “This is poor form for positive community engagement,” while the words “ridiculous” and “revenue raising” were bandied around by others. “Wish they would go to that much effort to catch real criminals,” notes another Facebook user while another says they had seen an officer doing the same thing in the same spot a few weeks ago.
On the other hand, some Australians say this not only completely okay but even encouraged. “They are allowed to do it they are doing their job,” one comment reads. “They are allowed I think and should do it more often,” writes someone who sounds fun at parties.
Despite the support, Queensland Police have apparently told the officer to stop hiding in bushes.
“The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is aware of photos depicting an officer conducting speed enforcement circulating on social media,” Road Police Command Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating told News.com.au. “The officer in the photo has been identified and was requested to cease operating from that position immediately. The deployment will be reviewed against the guidelines for the operation of this particular type of device.”
Police in Australia has previously made a habit of ruthlessly and snarkily shaming speeders on social media. Oh, how the tables have turned.