Deb Hann
It has been another busy week in Cambridge and a foggy one. Frustratingly, we continue to have drivers not using their headlights in the fog, which is madness.
Deb Hann – Senior Constable at the Cambridge Farmers’ Market. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
If your headlights are set to auto, they will not turn on for heavy rain or fog. Auto only differentiates night from day. We do not want to have avoidable traffic crashes because people haven’t taken turned lights to manual. Any time your lights are on, your car is more visible to other motorists. Make it a habit, be safe, be seen.
In good news, we had a drink-driving catch last weekend when police were alerted to a vehicle driving dangerously, swerving across the road and even hitting a barrier. The caller followed it, providing updates on location and police stopped it on Tirau road.
The driver was found to have a breath alcohol level of over four times the legal limit. He will be appearing in court accordingly.
We are thankful for the call as a crash was almost certainly avoided.
In the last week, the team have dealt with a range of jobs, including found property, two burglaries, four theft incidents, three fraud matters, five family harm incidents, four drink driving incidents, three vehicles failing to stop, two other driving matters, two traffic crashes, two incidents of car theft, assaults, mental health incidents plus reports of suspicious behaviour.
When it comes to suspicious behaviour, what sort of thing are we talking about? We periodically have vehicles which continue to come to our attention for all the wrong reasons, often fleeing from police. In terms of vehicles, if something doesn’t look right, it often isn’t, so trust your gut.
Signs a vehicle may be up to no good however include it having no – or obviously fake – registration plates, a different plate on the front when compared to the back or being in an obvious state of disrepair or non-roadworthiness (for example cracks in the windscreen, damaged quarterlight window, missing bumpers, shredded tyres etc).
If a car is parked up randomly, particularly in a secluded spot and is met by a second vehicle, particularly where an exchange of items happens between the occupants, or the occupants appear to be consuming drugs, we want to know.
In terms of shoplifting or other dishonesty offending, the driver of the car may remain seated in the vehicle with the engine running, while occupants go inside a store or business. Any time people run back to a car, jump in and it speeds off, it is a clear sign something is up. Obtain detailed descriptions of the vehicles and registration plates, plus driver and occupants and let us know.
