That's at odds with the numerous police tv shows that are constantly on TV and the charge and punishment of drunk while in charge is less than that of driving while under the influence.
The offence of drunk driving and drunk in charge both come from the same section of the RTA and there is no distinction in seriousness as both carry pretty much the same penalties. There is no need for (and indeed it would be a breach of ACPO guidelines and the police constables duty to protect the public) the public to be put at risk by allowing someone who is drunk to actually drive off before intervening.
Those TV shows do not give an accurate reflection of day to day policing, they just show the exciting bits, often carefully edited to make them more exciting.
The two are entirely different and you know it. As I said, there is no law against thinking about running a red so there is nothing for the police to question.
You miss my point entirely. The police have no way of knowing if that person standing in a garden is not the householder being there perfectly legitimately. All they can do is rely on their experience and gut instinct to tell them if something "feels" wrong, and to then investigate or advise so as to prevent a crime occurring
As with all educated guesses they sometimes get it wrong, which is why our legal system requires evidence rather than the potentially flawed guesses and opinions of police officers in order to punish wrong doers.
I see no difference between a PC concerned about what someone in a garden is up to, and one concerned that someone intends to contravene a red light, and in my view it is entirely appropriate for them to seek to investigate and where it seems fit to provide advice so as to reduce the risk of an offence being committed.
The day we expect out police to go out with the sole purpose of catching people out is the day we become a police state.
Are you really saying that you would be ok with a police officer pulling you aside or knocking on your door claiming that, even tho you didn't, he believed you were going to run a red and start asking a whole load of questions?
I would be more concerned on understanding what it was about my recent behavior that had causes the officer to become concerned that I may be about to commit an offence.
I have been spoken to by the police on a couple of occasions and given advise, and was always grateful for the restraint and discretion, as well as being reassured that they were being diligent in seeking to protect the public (me!) from the consequences of allowing offences to occur.
We should not be expecting (or allowing) the police to pick and choose which offences to treat with this level of diligence and which not.