NSW Police have been accused of “straight up revenue raising” after a patrol car was seen blocking a busy cycle path to catch out speeding motorists over the double demerit Anzac Day weekend.
Motoring journalist David McCowen — who works for News Corp, publisher of this website — shared a video of the unmarked police BMW parked sideways in a “hidden” spot on the Alfords Point Bridge in Sydney’s southwest on Sunday.
“This is bulls**t,” McCowen said in the clip which has been viewed more than 500,000 times.
“This is a highway patrol dude that is blocking a cycleway and running path here at Alfords Point Bridge between St George and Sutherland Shire, trying to book people hidden behind a concrete wall in an unmarked car on a double demerits weekend on a long downhill descent on a bridge.
“That’s just crap. That is not serving the community. That is straight up revenue raising and I’m not about it. You can’t see him.”
He added that “what you can see though” was dozens people had marked the location of “this bloke that’s trying to rip you off” on navigation app Waze.
“That is a cool thing,” he said.
The video has generated nearly 1400 comments.
“Isn’t that a parking violation?” one person asked.
Another woman said, “My husband got a $300 fine recently for ‘park on footpath/verge. Old mate should issue himself the same fine.”
Under regulation 307 of the NSW Road Rules, however, police and emergency vehicles are exempted from stopping and parking restrictions.
“It’s why people have lost respect for police,” one person wrote.
Another person asked, “What if a cyclist crashes into the car?”
Someone suggested, “Then the cyclist gets a fine.”
But many locals supported the police.
“If you live in the area you already know not to speed there,” one said.
“He’s hidden for a reason, the amount of people that slow down then speed up again,” another added.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said, “Police are aware of the social media video.”