Witness appeal after off duty police officer seriously injured in hit and run

I appreciate people responding to my comments, thats what they are put there for.

Speaking from experience we can offer an IP the world and it's never enough but some are really happy with a simple phone call.

Mind you there are certain areas of law that some cops can go their whole service and never deal with and have no knowledge of that subject.

It's just a shame that we cant give 100% results 100% of the time.

@ stumpy - I could never do your job. I have the utmost respect for the police. Sadly, my last few experiences have left me with a somewhat tainted view. Maybe it is the particular division and constabulary that is responsible for the region I live in I don't know. Sadly it just feels that as a cyclist who has been caught up in a number of incidents, the police show a total unwillingness to deal with it Do I have a right to complain? I know that as police officers you need to prioritise certain offences but to be dismissed face to face is a bit extreme. And again I am hoping that the officer makes a full recovery.

I will happily come on this forum and stand up for cops throughout the country who do their job properly and i could list job after job where this is the case.

However there will always be cases where people are unhappy simply because they dont like the Police.

OldRidgeback, i find your comment almost impossible to believe as every call to the Police is firstly recorded, secondly it goes through to the force's control room and the job is created regardless of how extreme or unrelated to Police work the call is, and trust me we have some real corkers !.

Thirdly there are numerous call takers so the chance of getting the same person is very rare.

I wont go as far as saying your lying but i have noticed that everytime there is an article about Police involvement you have a comment about how poor we did in a certain investigation, a coincidence possibly.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and i would never suggest anything other. Lets hope the cop who was hurt gets better just like every other cyclist who gets injured whilst enjoying what is still a great sport / pastime.

...and as for trying to report the theft of an expensive set of forks from my mountain bike, when I said I had a fair idea who had taken them the officer at Southwark Police Station responded, "I( could probably give you their names and addresses," and promptly hung up on me. When I rang back to try and at least get a crime number and report the theft I was told to stop wasting their time or I'd be charged with that offence. Now I do know a few cops and a couple come to my cycling club. But my cynicism, like various otheres here by all accounts, is based on actual experience.

I hope the perp is found. I wonder what has happened in the search for the crazed Renault driver in Embra? I still can't see how he avoided being on camera footage.

Sadly no smoke without fire - the consistency of reporst that crashes where the cyclist is hit by a car are not taken seriously, are rife - I was arrested because the driver of BMW rear ended me undertaking the line of cars passing me as we pulled away from lights, as I damaged his precious car when I landed on the bonnet

Fortunately one of the drivers overtaking me gave his details as a witness and I was released from a brief period in the cells - no apology or anything about being wrongfully arrested.

Recently I was hit by a driver setting off from being stationary in a queue after his traffic signal had turned red. The damage to the bike shows the impact was him driving in to me and my lights had just turned to green. He initially admitted fault but now is trying to wriggle out of it - although the damage to his car apparently included £500-worth of wrecked windscreen, where I rolled over the bonnet.

Have a lot of respect for the Police in general it is a thankless job. But I was once told after I was hit by a car by a Police officer that I had not been hit by a car. I had in reality been startled by a car passing close to me and just fallen off! He then left me on my own by the side of the road complete with broken bones, damaged bike and a black mark on the handlebars where the car hit me!! This has severely challenged my faith in all Police officers!!! I am sure most are first rate but this event seems typical

@Mike - Again another member who does not trust how the police deal with cyclist's, In my case, i was hit from behind by a car, the driver then found a "witness" to an accident where we were the only two on the road, he accused me of throwing my bike at his car after he "cut me up, but did not hit me"

Expert evidence from LBS and others about how the damage to my bike came about and the police did not give two sh*t to the way they dealt with it nor to backing the driver and charging me, it went to court and because of the police reports i was found guilty of throwing my bike at the car

The way the police deal with cyclist's whether in an accident or just in general up here, i dont know about else where is just shocking and their attitude just seems to be "get off the roads and we wont have a problem" thats why i'm interested to see what the charges will be in this case if they catch the driver AND i can almost guarantee if it goes to court, he'll get a proper sentence that all drivers who knock down cyclists should get but never do, just because he hit a police man

@mike - you may need to excuse the cynicism expressed by some members of the forum. One occasion when I was knocked off my bike the pc asked me "what I wanted them to do about it" when I reported it. On the occassions when I had a car driven at me and been threatened I have been told there is nothing they can do regardless of my having registration #'s etc.

The police in the article seem to be at pains to highlight that it was an off-duty PC and no stone is left unturned in tracking down the culprit. It just sometimes feels that when it's one of their own, more effort appears to be put in.

I sincerely hope that PC Coetzee makes a full recovery and is back on two wheels and that the driver does get caught.

Well Mike 78, not sure what force you are with and I applaud your attitude but you have to know that this is not at all how your average cyclist in London sees it working. I have had four minor scrapes and perhaps it is because I was not immediately showing signs of injury (on one occasion the injuries manifested themselves some time later) that when I reported them the police showed that they didn't give a rat's arse.

Londonplayer - Whenever anyone is seriously injured (whereby the injuries are said to be life changing or potentially so) or killed, the collision is investigated in line with the 'Road Death Investigation Manual'. This is directly comparable to the 'Murder Investigation Manual". Roads are closed for hours at a time so that evidence can be collected (no doubt you will complain about that too) and this is presented to the CPS/Courts. Please don't confuse the workings of the court with the investigation work of the police. I can assure you we are as frustrated as anyone by their decisions and the sentences passed down.
I am fed up with comments that seem to suggest cyclist are treated differently by the police than other road users. Many of my colleague's and I are cyclists and more importantly human beings. We have families and friends and conduct every investigation as we hope an investigation into their collision would be conducted.

I hope they catch the driver involved, just so we can see what kind of sentence or charge they get because it was a police officer they hit

They don't appear to be taking it any more or less seriously than if it were any other cyclist. What are you saying londonplayer?

I wonder why they are taking the investigation so seriously? hmmm....