I saw a lot of police cars charging along empty roads, sirens going
like mad that afternoon. Was it necessary, does it help ?
I think it's a bit soon to ask, but the use of sirens and their effect
on
the morale of the populace needs looking at IMHO.


Unfortunatly, the police will be critisiced whatever they do. I'm an ex
member of the emergency services and can assure you that blue lights
and sirens are only used in genuine emergencies, although very often
these emergencies turn out to be less urgent once you arrive there. I
was a paramedic, if we got a call to, say, a collapse, we'd obviously
use lights and sirens to get there. Once in attendence at the **** head
trying to get a days sleep in a doorway somewhere, in hindsight the
quick response was completely unnecessary, but going on the information
given by the original 999 caller completely required.

So, what do the police do? Not use sirens and drive cautiously to every
call, wishing when they get there and find it is a genuine emergency
they got there quicker? Or, respond to every call urgently, realising
that a number of those calls will be completely false alarms?

What happens if they are driving to a call without sirens and someone
steps off a pavement in front of them. Will they get criticised for not
using the siren?

Personally, I used to turn the siren off if there was no traffic, and
no obvious hazards ahead. A (very) few of my colleagues used to turn
the siren on leaving the station, and off once they got to the scene.
Each to their own. The end of the day, those few were probably taking
the safest option.

Anyone who complains about police cars whizzing about have got to ask
themselves, if they were being attacked and call the police for help,
would they want the police to attend urgently or not? The police
officers wouldn't know if it was a genuine call until they arrived at
you. Is it a hoax? Mates larking about? A domesitic row? Just because
you phone up and say its genuine doesn't make it any different to any
of the other calls they've been out to that day. Some urgent, some not.
Some genuine, some not. All equally urgent to the emergency staff until
they actually arrive on scene.

Personally, I'd rather be criticised for making to much noise than
taking too long to get to a call.