Federation's Roads Policing Seminar was a 'real eye-opener'

13 February 2024

The Federation’s Roads Policing Seminar was ‘an eye-opener’ to the police driving laws that have been introduced in the past 18 months, says a roads police officer in the Gwent Force.

Sergeant Lewys Davies said the online seminar had given him a greater appreciation of the new legislation, which aims to give police drivers better protection in law.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 was introduced following a long-running campaign by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

Its impact on police pursuits and driver training was the topic of a discussion at the day-long Roads Policing Seminar titled: 'New driving legislation - does deliver better protection for officers?'.

Lewys said: “The discussions on the legislation changes around police driving, where it the test for police driving is different to the public now, was really interesting.

“I didn’t realise the hoops the driving schools are having to go through to be licensed.

Roads police officer Sergeant Lewys Davies.

“The training has to be licensed for police drivers to be tested as police drivers.

“If the driving schools step out of the training or they lose their licence then police officers are regarded as normal members of the public - which was interesting.”

The discussion heard from Tim Rogers, PFEW pursuits and driver training lead and secretary of West Midlands Police Federation, who expressed his satisfaction with the new legislation.

However, he highlighted concerns that some chief officers were failing to comply with legal obligations, as well as concerns about inadequate planning for the new legislation, and underinvestment in roads policing.

Jo Boxall-Hunt from the College of Policing, subject matter expert, and a Metropolitan Police driving instructor, presented on the licensing process for police driver training units.

The process aimed to ensure a standardised approach, similar to firearms and Taser licensing. The licensing will involve stages, with provisional licenses initially granted. The PS QMS will be used for submissions, and the process includes formal visits, annual submissions, and health check visits. Non-compliance may result in the suspension of training. Ultimately this approach is aiming to maintain quality and uniformity in police driver training programmes across different forces.

Julian Coe, NPCC practitioner lead for driver training examined police driving incidents, explained the importance of reviewing officers' decisions in line with their training.

As part of a subject matter expert group, they consider factors such as training compliance, vehicle suitability, and whether officers face additional pressures in real policing situations. The group aims to provide a balanced and fair perspective on cases involving police driving.

Barrister Mark Aldred, of QEB Hollis Whiteman, highlighted gaps in training and policy for situations where officers need to arrest fleeing suspects.

He suggested updating policies to address these scenarios, and encouraged experts to consider a broader perspective when evaluating cases.

Lewys said: “There are lots of scenarios we face every day in the police where there is no training for what we deal with.

“That’s either because we haven’t faced that situation or we don’t face it enough to warrant training.

“It was interesting to hear if I’m chasing somebody and they’re on foot and they collide with my vehicle then there’s no training to cover that.

“If a subject matter expert got involved they would say it falls outside of training because the officer is not trained to do it.

“That leaves us open as police officers to prosecution.

“It opened my eyes to the issues we don’t necessarily think about every day, until you’re in that situation and you’re being investigated by your Force or the IOPC and you’re potentially going to court.

“If I went and spoke to my shift and explained that to them, I doubt they would realise we could get prosecuted for something we’re not trained to do even though there’s no training that exists.

“But case law says if I do nothing then I’m in the wrong, but then if I try to do something outside my training I’m also in the wrong.

“It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

The seminar concluded with a discussion about the potential for the establishment of a national roads policing force.

Lewys said that roads policing must be a priority and properly resourced, but he fears the opposite would happen if a national roads police service was established.

“A big part of the seminar was that roads policing isn’t treated as it should be,” he said. “It needs to be prioritised because people are needlessly dying on our roads.

“I think if we had a national service that pooled all our resources, then those resources would dwindle quite quickly resulting in more RTCs, more serious RTCs and more traffic offences, which is what we’re trying to avoid.

“Somebody higher up would say they don’t need this many people in this department, and what’s left can cover a bigger area.

“We’ve seen it where forces have collaborated on their firearms units and, eight to 10 years ago, there would be three or four firearms cars covering an area but now they’ve collaborated they’ve only got one.”

Lewys added: “Many forces dual role or multi-skill their roads policing officers.

“But if we’re saying roads policing nationally is a priority and there are people dying on the roads needlessly, then we need the resources and the police officers to be dedicated to roads policing and not dragged away to other areas.”

Watch the available sessions on the PFEW YouTube channel.