The sneaky tactics Australian police use to catch motorists breaking the law

From radars poking through street signs to a camera hidden in a horse float, police are now doing whatever it takes to stop motorists breaking the law.

After undercover officers were spotted this week posing as window washers to catch motorists using their mobile phones, drivers flooded social media with other ways they have been targeted.

Though the angry motorists slammed the new tactics as ‘entrapment’, police made no apologies for using the covert methods.

They pointed to figures showing phone use while driving was responsible for at least one death each year in New South Wales alone. 

This week undercover officers posed as window washers to catch 38 motorists using their mobile phones while stuck in traffic in Melbourne 

Tactics included disguised police cars and hidden cameras to prevent speeding, and officers were increasingly cracking down on mobile phone use.

Drivers can be fined just for having a phone in their lap even if they are not caught actually touching it.

In Brisbane, a rear-facing speed camera was completely hidden behind a road sign near a motorway exit, over the double demerit Easter weekend.

A road sign was also used a year earlier in Melbourne as an officer hid behind a sign and poked a radar gun through a hole cut into it.

‘Why do the police spend time and money on trying to change the community’s perception of them when they go out and behave like this?’ one driver said. 

In March a rear-facing speed camera was completely hidden behind a road sign

It was near a motorway exit in Logan, Queensland, over the double demerit Easter weekend

In March a rear-facing speed camera was completely hidden behind a road sign near a motorway exit in Logan, Queensland, over the double demerit Easter weekend

A road sign was also used in March 2017 in Melbourne as an officer hid behind a sign and poked a radar gun through a hole cut into it

A road sign was also used in March 2017 in Melbourne as an officer hid behind a sign and poked a radar gun through a hole cut into it

Hiding speed cameras behind bushes is a common tactic in many states, but Melbourne police took it a step further in September.

A police car was photographed parked in a residential driveway, obscured by a large bush, with the radar-wielding officer also obscured by it and a pair of wheelie bins. 

Many others speed cameras were hidden in unassuming cars like old model four-wheel-drives, vans, and unmarked station wagons.

Cameras were aimed through the tinted back window to flash drivers as they came past, assuming it was just a broken-down or parked car.

In this week’s sting, officers dressed in orange hi-vis and held squeegees to walk up to drivers stuck in traffic, and dobbed them in to uniformed colleagues 200m down the road.

This operation in Melbourne would have raised $18,390 in just a few hours, assuming standard fines were issued to all the motorists caught out. 

A police car was photographed parked in a residential driveway, obscured by a large bush, with the radar-wielding officer also obscured by it and a pair of wheelie bins

A police car was photographed parked in a residential driveway, obscured by a large bush, with the radar-wielding officer also obscured by it and a pair of wheelie bins

Unmarked motorbikes were also used in Perth to catch drivers using their phones at red lights and elsewhere on the road, with dashcam used to record the evidence

Unmarked motorbikes were also used in Perth to catch drivers using their phones at red lights and elsewhere on the road, with dashcam used to record the evidence

A similar tactic was used on Sydney’s M3 motorway where police stood on a pedestrian overpass to spot drivers on their phones.

Motorists were also angered by sneaky unmarked police cars with all kinds of elaborate disguises to catch drivers on the road.

They included P-plates on an older Ford Falcon and ‘my family stickers’ on the back of a Hyundai i40, both which would be unexpected on a police car.

‘I think it’s almost entrapment really. It’s pretty cheeky. I personally think they shouldn’t be allowed to do it,’ a driver who spotted the i40 said. 

‘They’re going around pretending to be a family car and looking out for people doing the wrong thing, and it’s more revenue raising.’  

Police stood on a pedestrian overpass to spot drivers on their phones on Sydney's M3 motorway

Police stood on a pedestrian overpass to spot drivers on their phones on Sydney’s M3 motorway

The officers then dobbed them in to uniformed colleagues down the road (left)

The officers then dobbed them in to uniformed colleagues down the road (left)

However, Queensland Police defended the use of undercover vehicles, and the creative methods officers used to hide them from motorists. 

‘There is nothing to stop over-enthusiastic police adding extra disguises to their cars,’ Gold Coast Road Policing Unit boss Senior Sergeant Bradyn said. 

NSW Police similarly said using a P-plates to disguise a police car was ‘not illegal’. 

Baby mobiles, tradie-style vans with roof racks holding ladders, dodgy cars held together with duct tape, and even horse floats were other tactics spotted by keen-eyed drivers.

‘They sure are getting desperate to get their quota & keep the revenue rolling in every day, oops I think I was supposed to say its road safety,’ one driver said after seeing the horse float trick.

Motorists were also angered by sneaky unmarked police cars with all kinds of elaborate disguises to catch drivers on the road, such as this one with a P-plate

Motorists were also angered by sneaky unmarked police cars with all kinds of elaborate disguises to catch drivers on the road, such as this one with a P-plate

Using a P-plate  lulled drivers into a false sense of security as it's not something they would expect to see on a police car

Using a P-plate lulled drivers into a false sense of security as it’s not something they would expect to see on a police car

Unmarked motorbikes were also used in Perth to catch drivers using their phones at red lights and elsewhere on the road, with dashcam used to record the evidence.

Covert tactics appear to be working, at least as far as lining police coffers goes, with 18 hidden cameras raising $132 million in one year in Queensland.

Even police think it has gone too far in that state and in January declared they wanted covert cameras scrapped in favour of more patrols.

Ian Leavers, head of the police union, explained that policemen are tired of being abused and called ‘revenue raisers’ by disgruntled members of the public.

‘Police receive significant criticism from the public and are accused of being ‘revenue raisers’ when unmarked speed camera vans and unstaffed speed camera trailers are deployed,’ he said.

‘We ask for a commitment to the end of using these ‘sneaky’ devices so that we can regain public confidence.’

Another unmarked police car even had 'my family stickers' on the back of the Hyundai i40

Another unmarked police car even had ‘my family stickers’ on the back of the Hyundai i40

A horse float was one of the more bizarre disguises police used to catch drivers out

A horse float was one of the more bizarre disguises police used to catch drivers out

A dodgy car with a bumper bar held together with duct tape would not be recognised as a police vehicle

A dodgy car with a bumper bar held together with duct tape would not be recognised as a police vehicle

The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland supported the call, saying ‘its members hate the hidden cameras which drivers believe just put cash in government coffers’.

WE WILL DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO STOP DRIVERS USING THEIR PHONES: POLICE

However, police top brass consistently insist covert tactics are needed to change driver behaviour as they never know where and how they could be caught.

NSW authorities said mobile speed cameras and other covert tactics were ‘extremely effective’ at changing driver behaviour. 

‘[They] increase the real and perceived likelihood that they can be caught anywhere and anytime,’ they said.

‘This approach has been proven to be effective, with more than 99 per cent of vehicles consistently passing mobile speed cameras without being fined. Those who continue to do the wrong thing will be penalised.’

Many others speed cameras were hidden in unassuming cars like old model four-wheel-drives, vans, and unmarked station wagons

Many others speed cameras were hidden in unassuming cars like old model four-wheel-drives, vans, and unmarked station wagons

Baby mobiles and tradie-style vans with roof racks holding ladders (pictured) were other tactics spotted by keen-eyed drivers, much to their disgust

Baby mobiles and tradie-style vans with roof racks holding ladders (pictured) were other tactics spotted by keen-eyed drivers, much to their disgust

Operations targeting mobile phone use were increasing because drivers were ‘not worried’ about being caught and so didn’t change behaviour.

In addition to covert tactics, automated fixed cameras were being trialled that could spot drivers on their phone, which would then be checked by officers.

A test on the Sydney Harbour Bridge caught 750 drivers in just six hours earlier this year.

NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said 184 crashes that killed seven people and injured 105 in 2012 to 2017 involved illegal mobile phone use.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk