Police bullying

Reckless drivers who use legal loopholes to avoid conviction are being targeted in a new police initiative, reports the BBC.

Police are frustrated, we are told, that "lawyers well versed in motoring laws are using small print to win acquittals for those charged with reckless or drink-driving".

Of course some of the lawyers' legal manoeuvrings have been despicable, but that's lawyers for you. But it is not for the police to decide which parts of laws are "small print". They are there to enforce the law as it is, not as how they would like it to be.

Acpo is also introducing a team made up of a lawyer and a former police officer to help prosecute speed camera cases.

The association hopes motorists will avoid contesting their speeding charge because if they lose, their costs will include up to £4,000 for the cost of the team.

This deliberate policy of pricing people out of the right to defend themselves is immoral. People who can afford "celebrity lawyers" will not be deterred, but poorer people will be.

Like it or not - and the police evidently don't like it - the law is the law.

The BBC reports that "Campaign group Liberty raised concerns that police may unlawfully target individuals who they believe have been unfairly acquitted of motoring offences".

That's a concern with any targeting of offenders - but in principle there's nothing wrong with that. Indeed, it's good policing. The Liberty group have picked the wrong issue. The police are there to enforce the law, not to bully people into pleading guilty by threatening them with high legal costs.