I know these officers were probably taking an advantage of a rare quiet moment. But I don’t think it’s ok to leave a police car on zebra’s, in a bus lane and with lights on when they’re not responding to an incident. Instead they’re buying cigarettes and sandwiches, which really doesn’t help the Mets current pr image. Kindly pull into a side street or use the car park like the rest of us.
Sorry to question, but are you absolutely sure of that?
Unfortunately I watched them both casually purchase food and cigarettes then eat them in the squad car. At the very least just one of them could have gone in and the other park on the red lines a few metres up.
There is a blue light on the car light bar in your third picture. I didn’t think police could use sirens/blue light unless an emergency.
I’d like to think they’re using a quick moment to grab something whilst attending a call, the police are overworked and are human so need to refuel too.
Yes they had their lights on, which they shouldn’t do unless attending an emergency. I know they are over worked so I post this with regret. But it’s irresponsible to leave their vehicle there unattended and expect others to abide by the law…. I mean maybe there was an incident in sainsburys and they took advantage of the situation, but I find that very unlikely.
Is that outside Forest Hill Sainsburys? It’s a pelican crossing, not a zebra crossing. They’ve parked on the zig-zag lines of a pedestrian crossing, having crossed the traffic to park on the wrong side of the road, facing oncoming traffic, on the South Circular.
I don’t think anything less than being called to a life-threatening incident would justify that parking. Send the picture to the Met - they’ll be able to identify the car and driver.
Yes it’s forest hill and yes sorry I meant zig-zags not zebras.
I really think you’re overreacting. Why would you want police parked far away from their car if they get a call for an emergency situation? Parking on a pelican crossing is not what’s giving them a bad public image at the moment.
I’m not sure why you’d find it ‘unlikely’ that they’d grab something in the aftermath of a call. They’re not using their lights and parking that way so they can grab a meal deal. If you want to make their lives harder by filing a complaint that’s your right, but I’d urge you to consider the amount of time and energy of yours that’ll waste, let alone theirs.
Is that a great place to park? No.
Do I have an issue with it. Not really.
Is there a law against parking against on coming traffic? I am not sure of any personally and that’s a genuine question.
While I’m sure you shouldn’t park on a pelican crossing plenty do. Agreed I don’t think it’s a great look but without the full context hard to comment. Police officers have to deal with an untold amount of grief. Appreciate the original post said saw them shopping / eating but I would be inclined to cut them a bit of slack and give them the benefit of the doubt. Contacting the met to track down the driver seems a bit much and I’m sure there are better uses of their time. Also the original poster could have just asked the officers in question if they think it’s such an issue.
Maybe they saw the new car parking faff via the app only and thought f*** that!
Would you have an issue with it, if the woman crossing the road or the cyclist approaching the crossing ended up in an accident?
Would you have an issue if they had parked far away to get their snacks which made them late to an emergency?
I don’t think these sort of statements help, so I apologise for mine. To answer yours I suspect an accident would be unlikely - I think you said the lights were on. So the cyclist, if it was me, would be extra cautious cycling around the car, and the person you would assume would only cross when the lights change so should not really have much additional danger.
Fundamentally, as I said I agree with you - it’s not a great place to park.
But I am not really concerned as I think there are far greater things to be worried about at the moment, inc with the MET. That is what I meant.
This is absolutely not a dig at you, and you are correct here, but it sometimes just feels like as a society nowdays everything is so them and us, you see it on here and elsehwere with the car / cyclist threads, and when it comes to the MET I feel they often get attacked when really we need them and they need us, and the atmosphere, some no doubt caused by them but not exclusively, makes it so hard to do.
I saw a few years ago near my house officers trying to rescue a young child from a man with mental health issues - they ended up using a tazer on him (quite rightly IMO, he walked out into the busy road carrying the child and was clearly not well) and they got nothing but abuse from the onlookers - it was incredible.
Cool, yeah not really worth the long thread. I just think they could have done better in this instance. If they’re responding to an emergency they can park inside Sainsburys for all i care, but they’re a public service who’s priority is towards upholding the law and public safety.
Agreed 
