Gold Coast man spots police officer allegedly hiding behind a bush with a speed radar gun

A man has hit out at police and posted a video online of an officer allegedly hiding with a radar gun on a Gold Coast road, slamming the move as “revenue raising”.

RON Kaye has been on a road safety mission since witnessing a teenage boy die following a car crash.

So when he spotted a Queensland Police Officer allegedly hiding behind a bush with a speed camera on the Gold Coast on Sunday, he decided to pull his motorbike over and say something.

“There’s nothing road safety wise about an officer or speed camera hiding in the bush,” Mr Kaye told the Courier Mail.

“There’s nothing to fix the behaviour that’s presently happening.

“It’s basically a process that punishes in the future, not in the present.

“I don’t see it as road safety, I see it as revenue raising, so I recorded and reported it to educate other riders that this is what police are doing.”

The video, which has rapidly been shared around on Facebook, shows a person hiding behind a bush with what is believed to be a mobile phone and a speed radar gun, on Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd, Advancetown.

This photo shows the spot where a Queensland Police officer was allegedly hiding with a speed radar gun on the Gold Coast on Sunday. Picture: Ron Kaye

Mr Kaye, 40, of Carrara, said police officers hiding behind a bush to catch speeding motorists was a hazard for traffic and did nothing to help deter those breaking the law.

The experienced motorcycle rider said he wondered if 15-year-old Jase Grant would be alive today had a visible speed camera presence been obvious on Tamborine-Oxenford Rd in Oxenford on May 20, 2018.

Jase, also known as Jasey, was sitting in the driver’s side passenger seat in a Mitsubishi Lancer being driven by a 17-year-old P-plate driver when they crossed into the wrong lane and crashed into a woman and her two children driving in the opposite direction.

Jase died at the scene.

Mr Kaye said he and a learner motorbike rider saw the crash.

“I stopped (to record the hiding officer) because twelve months ago in May, I was the guy involved in the fatal where a bunch of kids ... ploughed into a mother and kids, and I watched a 15-year-old die,” he said.

“There were no police there, but about one kilometre up there road there was a hidden speed camera

“After I saw it, I thought, where was the highway patrol car? That had one been there this might not have occurred.”

“A physical presence does more than a camera does.”

A Queensland Police officer was allegedly hiding behind the bush on the right of this photo with a speed radar, on Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd, Advancetown. Picture: Supplied

Another motorbike rider, who did not want to be named, told the Courier Mail the spot where the officer was filmed hiding was dangerous to motorists.

“They’ll hide on the corner and … you’re distracted because you’re turning right and the police are on the left,” he said.

The 37-year-old said someone had since cut the tree down the officer was allegedly seen hiding behind in the video.

A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said it was not standard practice for officers to conceal themselves.

“While it is not standard practice for officers to conceal themselves behind bushes, officers are provided with the opportunity to deploy away from the police vehicle,” she said.

Many of the 2000 people that have commented under the video, which has also shared almost 8000 times since it was posted to Facebook on Sunday, said they thought it was illegal for officers to hide with speed cameras in Queensland.

Others said they were not concerned if it helped catch motorists breaking the law.

Greg Brandy questioned why there was no speed camera sign.

“Where their sign as there is by law supposed to be a sign stating speed camera in use no sign invalid and illegal fine also called entrapment (sic),” he wrote.

Andrew Drew Beardmore wrote that he had “seen this a couple of times now.”

“Usually with a cam net hide and a mobile car up ahead,” he said.

Someone has since chopped down the tree the police officer was hiding behind. Picture: Supplied

Others, including Roy Farrelly, stated having a visible speed camera presence was better.

The QPS spokeswoman said 187 people had died on Queensland roads so far this year, with speed often a contributing factor.

She said a recent Road Police Task Force operation conducted on the Gold Coast hinterland resulted in 32 infringement notices being issued to drivers with speeds detected ranging between 126km/hr to 194km/hr in the 80km/hr zone on Nerang-Murwillumbah Road at Advancetown.

“On Tamborine-Oxenford road which is a 60km zone there were 27 infringement notices issued to motorists with seven speeds ranging between 103km/h and 111km/h,” she said.

This photo shows the spot where a Queensland Police officer was allegedly hiding with a speed radar gun on the Gold Coast on Sunday. Picture: Ron Kaye

Originally published as Gold Coast man spots police officer allegedly hiding behind a bush with a speed radar gun