Your opportunity to have a say on roads policing
15 July 2020
Federation members should make the most of an opportunity to help shape the future of roads policing, says West Midlands Police Federation deputy secretary Tim Rogers.
Tim, who is the national Federation lead on response driving, has successfully campaigned for a change in the law to give police drivers better protection in law and is also seeking legislative reform that will give officers the power to make someone get out of their vehicle following a police stop.
But he now wants as many officers as possible to contribute to a call for evidence launched by the Department for Transport (Dft) as part of a review of roads policing also involving the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office.
Tim believes the fact that there has been no significant fall in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the nation’s roads in the last 10 years means roads policing has to be prioritised and that the review could lead to a re-investment in an under-resourced area.
“It is a shocking reality that there are currently around 1,800 deaths a year on our roads. When you take into account that is twice the number of deaths from homicides and acts of terrorism combined you get an idea of the scale of the problem we have,” says Tim.
“The cuts to policing have had a devastating impact on the police service as a whole but they have been particularly felt in roads policing where the number of dedicated officers has fallen, in relative terms, by far more than the overall reduction in police numbers.
Dedicated roads policing officers make up just four per cent of total force strength with a significant number being double-hatted too.”
The review will explore:
- How intelligence could be better used to target dangerous behaviours
- How technology can assist in enforcing road traffic law now and in the future and,
- How to better understand the value of enforcement in influencing road user behaviour and the current enforcement capability.
A thematic Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection has looked at how roads policing is currently delivered and is due to make recommendations for the future in its report which is due to be published soon.
Earlier this year the Government was urged to prioritise roads policing to save lives and fight wider criminality by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) which criticised cutbacks in roads policing and pointed to a widespread belief that a failure to reduce the number of deaths on the road is at least partly due to a downgrading of roads policing.
