I've returned!
I hope you are all well and you are all enjoying your VWs. Before I get into my ordeal I must say I am in love with my POLO GTI+. The car is unbelievable and if anybody is debating whether or not this car is for you, I stand by the vast majority of VW Polo GTI owners and say that the car is a definite head turner. General public, thief's and as I will get onto, the police as well.
Broken Into
I just recently had my car broken into (05/08/21). The car was left in an undriveable state. Like most of you; if not all of you, the car was maintained to be in pristine condition. I have CCTV images of the person who broke into my car and ended up accumulating up to £8,000 worth of theft and damage. Within 30 minutes they were done and gone. Only thing they didn't take was any of the Beats amplifier, speakers or subwoofer otherwise the car would have been stripped completely. The Police disappointingly didn't do anything to help me or go out of their way to find the person who broke into the car despite CCTV images. The car had been in the garage for just short of 2 months having the necessary repairs done to it. I have just recently this past week received the car back.
Here's a picture of the damage:
Moving swiftly on...
My stupid mistake (Police Incident)
To understand whether the harassment I am experiencing is justified I must be completely honest with you. Here's some key background information.
Roughly March 2021: I had been pulled by a Police BMW (blue lights) and stopped just after a bypass that I was not familiar with for doing 87mph in a 50mph zone (Speed Gun). Apparently it's an area which the police monitor a lot due to the bypasses likeness to a motorway. It goes from a 70mph zone to almost instantly to a 50mph. I must say this does not condone and excuse any of my actions but as in the notice I received from the Police Officer, I was driving in 2 OF 2 lane, clear day, clear road with no car or pedestrians in sight. The police officer advised that I should expect something in the next 2 weeks through the post. Never received anything until early August (Court Notice). I pleaded guilty and I am expecting to hear something very soon. Once issuing, he did kindly advice that due to the profile of the car, it's necessary to have an Immobiliser due to the likeliness of the car being stolen or broken into.
Here's where I'm starting to feel as though there's a marker or my car or driving profile.
I have been stopped twice by police without committing an offence. Multiple times I have noticed Police drive past my car, break almost instantly, turn around and head towards the direction I am going to do full checks on my car, in which had lead to police interactions that were patronising, interrogating and rude at time despite my manners, politeness and respect. I must also note, everything regarding documentation for the car and myself is up-to-date as expected; for example; insurance and tax etc...
Yesterday: Police Incident
Last night I was driving through a village that is very close to home at approximately 10:00pm with my brother after a football match. We both noticed a Police car drive past. Due to our experiences with Police we both instantly dread the worse and check if they are going to do a full 'U turn'. The Police car continued ahead but 2 cars behind that Police car was another Peugeot Police Car which to our fear did a full 'U Turn' and proceeded to follow behind with a car in-between both myself and the police car. I approached a traffic light operated roundabout 1 of 3 lanes. I took the middle lane to go the direct of home, and this police car followed in 3 of 3 lane. I had my window open and this Police car had a male and a female, the female put her window down and patronisingly asked 'OKAY LADS?' with a smirk. I replied, 'YES THANK YOU' whilst trying to not get into any unnecessary trouble and even look at the police due to previous interactions where I experienced rude police members. By looks of things, the female police officer was smirking, laughing at her male officer whilst trying to intimidate myself and my brother (I was not looking directly at the female officer). The traffic lights were turning green so I said 'HAVE A LOVELY EVENING OFFICER' as she rudely said 'WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY' whilst she stopped laughing and looking almost disgusted. So I repeated, and she said 'YOU TOO' whilst she looked down at her device and followed up with my 'YOU TOO (MY FULL NAME)' as the Police car sharply left the traffic lights, the female officer turned around, laughing and sniggering about the interaction.
This is one of many many many incidents I have had with the Police. I honestly feel harassed, constantly on edge and whenever I see a police car rather than feel safe I feel as though I am targeted as a criminal and they are wanting to find an excuse to belittle and embarrass me. Every time I end up having a altercation or interaction with the police I mention it to family members and last night my family had mentioned that it's got to the point where they believe it's harassment and they fear every time I drive the car that something bad is going to happen.
Like I have said, that was the recent incident but there's many many more where it's lead to them doing full searches, asking for my details even though I've not committed an offence and I must say they are extremely RUDE to me despite how respectful and polite I am to them.
- Do you have any problems with the Police with the car?
- Do you have an experiences of this happening to you since having a GTI or anything near to it's profile?
- Is this something I should expect whilst driving this type of car?
- Do you have any advice for me regarding the experiences I'm consistently having?
I'd love to hear from your experiences and any advice you have regarding this because I'm trying to do research around this because it's got to the point where I do feel targeted and harassed by police despite since the incident not committing any offences.
Thank you guys!