Police investigate patrol car ‘bald tyre’ claim
Thursday, 20 November 2008
THE PSNI are investigating why a response car in the Ballycastle area was allowed to carry out its duties in spite of having a defective tyre.
The issue has been brought to public attention by independent Moyle District Policing Partnership member Kevin McAuley, who says that Moyle is being offered none other than a "second class police service".
A PSNI spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a police car was found to have a defective tyre while on patrol in the Moyle area.
“It was promptly changed on site before the vehicle was allowed to continue on the road.
“The matter is being investigated and we have informed the Office of the Police Ombudsman of the incident."
According to Kevin McAuley, the incident is believed to have happened at the weekend, and he has called for the Police Ombudsman to also fully investigate the matter.
“This [incident] poses a number of questions as to how this car was allowed on the road, with such a serious defect," he said. "The TV commercials say 'Bald Tyres Kill!' and I want this to to be taken up at a very senior level within the police service; this car was putting the lives of the officers that were in it and public lives at considerable risk."
Mr McAuley, who has been vocal about the lack of resources available to police, and the numbers of police available to the public in the Moyle district, said he intends to find out what basic procedures, if any, police officers are meant to carry out when they take cars onto the road.
“Is it not up to them to check the basics of this car as to it's road worthiness, just the same as a member of the public is expected to do. The tyres on this car did not become defective overnight so one could only assume that this car was in service.
“If the answer to this is yes, then there is a serious situation needing to be addressed. This means that a number of qualified police drivers drove this vehicle with its tyres in this state, which poses a serious safety issue.
“After all, this car would be used to respond to serious incidents and would be driven at excess speed to get to these calls in a 999 situation."
The Ballycastle man also questioned how the car was allowed to be used on the road in the first instance, when he says, there are PSNI Motor Transport Departments at regional stations.
“The question that also needs to be answered is how many other police vehicles have tyre or other mechanical defects for that matter that we do not know about, so I would call for a complete fleet inspection.
“This reaffirms my views of the second class police service that is being offered in this Moyle district command unit."
