Roads policing under the spotlight

30 January 2018

Two Leicestershire Police Federation representatives will be attending a two-day national conference on roads policing which is being held in the county from today.

The Leicestershire reps – Neil Day and Kev Marsh – will join officers from across England and Wales at the annual conference which has been organised by the national Police Federation and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

Topics up for discussion will include the impact of budget cuts on roads policing and the increasing demands placed on officers.

Neil explained: “I see the main issues as the need for increased protection for response drivers and, as in all other areas of policing, the lack of officers. The criminals are beginning to rule the roads again. Traffic law enforcement is dropping as we’ve become de-skilled. There doesn’t seem to be any plan to address this.

“I am hoping to hear more about how other forces are policing the roads and for examples of what works well and what doesn’t so that we can then assess whether a similar approach could be used in Leicestershire or if it’s something we should avoid.”

Meanwhile Kev is interested to hear about forces’ approach to driver training and has his own concerns about the amalgamation of the firearms and roads policing departments under EMSOU.

This year’s theme is ‘Roads Policing – a new approach’ and delegates will hear about the challenges forces face in this critical area of policing and the key focuses for 2018. 

The conference, which is being held in Hinckley, will include discussions on the biggest dangers while driving - the ‘fatal four’ of drink/drug driving, speeding, using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt, which have been identified in an effort to change driver behaviour and reduce the number of casualties on UK roads.

The Federation’s national lead on roads policing, Jayne Willetts, explained: “To keep members of the public safe, we need to have roads policing officers targeting the ‘fatal four’. However, the number of dedicated roads policing officers has almost halved since 2000 with just under 4,000 now working across England and Wales.

“We are calling on chief officers not to reduce the number of specialist roads policing officers any further. We will also be linking in with stakeholders to discuss and assess the best way forward based on the evidence presented.”

Today Parliamentary under secretary for the Department of Transport Jesse Norman MP will address delegates along with the NPCC lead for roads policing, Chief Constable Anthony Bangham.

Conference sessions will include single intelligence entity, challenges of road safety, tackling motorcycle enabled crime and an update on police pursuits. There will also be various presentations on roads policing investigations and operations being run by forces.

In the evening, the Outstanding Contribution to Roads Policing Award, sponsored by Irwin Mitchell, will be presented and will highlight some of the sterling work done by officers working in roads policing.