Road side fines from the Guardia

Ian I carefully said,    "I am sure you know Ian, but many don’t,  that the police do not paid on ‘results."

Over the years I have heard lots of people say, and I know many believe, that police get days off or get a bonus, etc. for doing their job.  I was just making it clear, before someone posted to  that effect, what the reality is.   During my career I had many rest days ruined and even a few times had to return from family holidays to appear in court.  Not an incentive to nick anybody I can assure you.

I have no doubt that the cops themselves in Spain don't benefit from any extra cash taken due to the extra motoring fines handed out, but as in the UK right now every extra cent they collect can go to, for one instance, road safety programmes, where as before the tax payer had to cough up, our police have been told to meet certain targets, why not Spain as well,  when any government is feeling the pinch where's the best place to raise some extra revenue from, us the motorist.

So yes more then likely the cops in Spain are now picking up on any, and every motoring offence, no matter how small that they can get away with.

Who generates cash quicker then a motorist does? Thats one tax you cant get any taxable allowance for.

They are given quotas to fill. If they dont issue enough fines the dont meet the quotas

blog.motorists.org/if-you-didnt-believe-ticket-quotas-existed-before-you-will-now/

Perhaps you belive this would never happen here?

Baz,  if all police reported every offence they saw,  I can assure you they would never be able to deal with all the offenders in their shift.    Even I can stand at a road junction and spot offences being committed every few minutes.  I can assure you that, contrary to popular (uniformed opinion) the police do see motorists as a ready source for income.  That said, if motorists obeyed the law,  there would be no fines imposed.  So work it out.  We are volunteers.  If we all stopped breaking the law, we could all relax dear !!!!

John when you said below that you dont know what this means (referring to the royals having veto power over our laws)

It means several things:

1 The popular belief that the royals gave up their powers to the peasants around a hundred years ago is very naieve.

2 That they still run the UK and all other countries that have a monarchy

3 The notion f democracy is a sham, a con. As no matter who wins the elections, the blue team or the red team, the ship of state continues to sail in the same direction on the orders of the elite.

4 We are peasants/peons/slaves and we dont know nada about the real state of the world.

Now get your wallet out and give us your money.

Barry, commenting on what happens in the UK. in Eye On Spain, is one thing, but your 2007 stories from USA are a bit beyond me, as I try to comment only on things which I actually know about, rather than making wild assumptions.  i try to leave that to others.

PS Having spent 6 months driving in a an RV (30 ft long motorhome)   around the States, for about 25,000 miles, nothing about USA surprises me.

Barry,  what I said about your post about UK was.    thanks,  I had not read that, and I have no idea what in reality it means,  that but as I live in Spain and this is EOS, I am not that interested either.

By that I meant,  this forum is principally about Spain,  I live in Spain and have no interest in what happens in UK, nor USA etc.

John, Spain is a monarchy, the same thing applies here as it does in the UK. The guarda carry the crown emblem on their cars.

Police everywhere are given quotas to meet, its silly to deny it just because the post i linked to was old. There are news items about it all over the internet. We are the cattle and they milk us on behalf of the elite.

Barry,   Police everywhere are given quotas to meet, its silly to deny it 

Well Barry, with my background  I don't think it is me being silly when in comes to knowledge about the police, but I maybe wrong !!!!

Here are a few up to date examples of police quotas for arrests. So now you cannot dismiss my evidence on a technicality ;)

http://www.storyleak.com/police-officer-fired-ticket-quotas/ - from 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-47442/Police-told-meet-quotas-motorist-fines.html - from the uk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378113/Police-chief-ordered-ticket-quota-HIGHER-number-citizens.html

Its all about the money John, its not about protecting us, its about milking us. They forget that we have rights. This is the problem

John i have no doubt that a long time ago the polive were gentlemen bobbies. They were public servants. Now they are policy enforcement officers, not public servants of peace officers and they are out there to make as much money aspossible for the corporations they work for. Fascism.

John.

The police in general don't see us motorists as cash cows, as in the Bobby on the beat,  it's the police boss's who are being told to do this by the governments, or should I say "Suggested" that they do it, your correct that if we all did not break the laws then no fines or other stuff would be issued but some of what is being mentioned on here are small misdemeanours that some years, perhaps months ago wouldn't have even raised an eyebrow, let alone a fine.

A motoring fine is the easiest way to raise money, it takes next to no paper work or time because the fine is issued and has to be paid, a proper criminal offence can take weeks, and tons of paperwork to get to court, then maybe thrown out, not to many motoring fines of any nature get thrown out.

It's also true that where ever you stand you can see laws being broken, talking on a mobile while driving is the best example, but the cops cant be everywhere.

Spain is no different to any other country now, they need money coming in, and it will come fair means or fowl, and for the most part it's got to be the easy way is best for cash.

True if no one ever broke the law it would be...No fines...Know any 100% honest folk?....Who haven't bent or broke the law in one way or the other.

I believe that this transition of Spain into what is increasingly looking like a police state is going to have extremely negative consequences for the country as a whole. One consequence will be a reduction in tourism as more and more people become aware of the situation. If we didn't have property in Spain that we need to look after we would no longer be holidaying there. Who wants to go to a country where you're scared stiff every time you go out in the car that you're going to be stopped?

Just like the truism in Spain that whenever you want to conduct a piece of administrative business, 'falta un papel,' it is now equally true that if you are stopped by the police they will get you on something. I've just checked my driving licence and it has my old address on it! Will I get stopped and fined for that? We're taking the children with us in February - what if the car hire company only puts two safety jackets in the car? Will we stopped and fined for that? What if we drive at a legal speed and the police stop us and say we were speeding? How can we prove we weren't? We have no confidence or trust in them (unlike in the UK, where I have no worries about the police and do trust them).

Anyone with a brain in their head can see what is happening and there is no point in denying it. We were on holiday in Spain 20 years ago and when I told the owner of the hostal in which we were staying that I had been stung by a jelly fish, she declared 'No hay medusas!' Well, sorry, but just as jelly fish can have a devastating impact on Spanish tourism and the economy (and this is largely a man-made problem with the depletion of the water table by the ridiculous proliferation of green houses and golf courses etc.), so can this heavy-handed, constant harassment of people by the police. And no amount of denying it, will change this fact that is staring us in the face.

Eggcup. I thought you wanted to sell a/some properties in Spain, If you keep whinging on about Spain and complaining about things which seem to only true for you and yours (most of the the rest of us don’t seem to have problems in not breaking the law and thus not getting stopped nor fined) then you will never sell, thus delaying ridding us of your constant complaining.

Is eggcup the one that thought you did not have to pay a Spanish speeding fine once you were back in the u.k?

 She thought it very unfair of the police to fine a tourist for breaking the  speed limit because her son's friend would not own up to the offence

Well said Eggcup

John goverments the world over are hiring thugs, its not like it was in your day. Police brutality is on the rise everywhere.

When i got stopped for speeding when i was stuck behind a huge slow moving lorry for the previous 10 minutes I had a black friend in the passenger seat. My guess is that you look either Spanish, or retired and "respectable" hence you not experiencing any abuse like others here.

HOw about this article, ok its not from Spain but these corporate goverments the world over are out for profit and to squeeze the sheeple/ cattle for al that they can, this article prooves it

Quote "Martin was arrested by Frisco police for warning motorists of a radar trap down the road. “Police Ahead” read his sign.

Cars slowed down – before they got to the trap. Before they could be issued payin’ paper. That they slowed down – what we’re told the cops’ desire most of all – mattered not at all.

What mattered was that Martin cost them money. And that could not be tolerated. Hence, the cuffing and stuffing.

It was punitive, pure and simple. Martin caused no harm, threatened no harm. Except of course the harm he caused to the quotas and balance sheets of the Frisco police. He committed the same “crime” committed by people who flash their headlights or use a hand gesture to advise fellow motorists of the presence of police.

If cops were really motivated by safety rather than money, they’d not only have no issue with what Martin did, they’d emulate what he did. They could use their mere presence to get people to “slow down.” They’d want to be seen."

http://ericpetersautos.com/2014/01/17/money/

Perhaps John yu might like to experiment over here, try this out by standing a few hundred meters up the road from a speed trap and tell the motorists that the cops are up ahead. What do you think would happen? Would you:

a) Be commended for helping the police to get people to slow down, or

b) be arrested for some made up charge as you had ddamaged the kings income stream

Would you be brave enough to try it? after all, you have nothing to be scared of, its not agaisnt the law and there would be no injured party. Or would there?

I sometimes wonder if I live in the same Spain as some of the people on here. Been coming here for nigh on 15 years. We retired here 3 years ago and have never, ever, been stopped by the police. Scared to go out? What a crock of whatever it is. Police state? If you'd ever been to a police state you may wish to retract that.

Oh, and if you get stopped by the police in UK and have the wrong address on your driving licence, you can be fined up to £1000 so think on.

Adminstrative work (getting paperwork and so on) has improved incredibly over the years.  Well, it has here. NIE, residency, healthcards, padron and driving licences are all so much easier now than years ago.

I think eggcup must be a definite half glass full type of person. And after reading some of her blogs (I did, not that I like reading blogs but I thought I would have a glance) I can tell you that if you think you have problems, can't handle things, have the weight of the world on your shoulders and bordering on paranoia then just read her blogs. You'll cheer up no end and realise your life isn't that bad after all.

 You are not permitted to warn other drivers of a speed trap in the,  not police state,  uk it's obsructing the police. If you know the police are there you slow down and most people will just put thier foot down after they have passed the trap.  That is why the police are hidden  then they catch the drivers that persist in  speeding