Event Reports
Talk by West Yorkshire Police Force Motorcycle Support Unit - 3rd July 2002
A very impressive turnout for the talk by an officer of the West Yorks Police Motorcycle Support Unit. Visiting Wakefield MAG were members of Huddersfield, Leeds, Dearne Valley and possibly some other MAG branches (apologies if you haven’t got a mention but you will know who you are and you were very welcome & thanks for attending).
Georgina (George) is currently the only ‘active’ female police motorcycle officer in West Yorkshire. George gave her talk about her experiences as a bike cop, the qualifying period, training, work involved and generally ‘what it’s like’. She did a splendid PR job and it really came across that the police bikers are exactly that - Bikers.
Some amusing and interesting stories were told from her work, here are a few:
- Escorting a truck transporting a railway carriage to Horbury Junction - because of the size of the load, there was a roundabout en-route which had to be negotiated the wrong way round. The bikes stopped traffic on the carriageway some distance ahead to let the truck get round the roundabout. Drivers were obviously wondering why they had been stopped when they had a clear view of the road ahead of them and asked George, not probably expecting the answer of "Because a train is coming"
- The ‘initiation’ ceremony for new starters on the unit - this sounds like it was milked for effect to the full beforehand but involved lots & lots of tea (7 cups), prior to a long slow escort job in cold weather ... with an ever expanding bladder !!!!!
- The bike hater - Riding along the motorway in the middle lane overtaking 2 cars in the nearside lane when the car at the back suddenly pulled out into the middle lane to deliberately block the bikes progress. George flashed her light and was promtly given the middle digit by the car’s driver (George was on a police blackbird, which is clearly marked as a police vehicle but is a bit more covert than the normal white Pan Europeans). What came next was what everyone must wish they could do at times – on with the blue lights and over onto the hard shoulder for some driver ‘education’ - wish we could have all seen that.
No need to feel bad about dropping your bike either. The police have all done it at some point, some more than others. These are some of the most advanced riders you will find anywhere so it makes you kind of feel a bit better to know that even the best of them do it.
All in all, a most entertaining talk which went down very well. Wakefield MAG extend a big Thank You to George for taking the time to talk to us. Much appreciated.