Roads Police Officers Need Extra Protection

EXTRA legislation to protect roads policing officers “can’t come soon enough”, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said, following a successful meeting between Federation representatives and members of the House of Lords.

The PFEW Parliamentary Sub-committee pressed for three amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in their meeting with Lord Hogan-Howe, Lord Bach and Lord Coaker, who “showed support” for the changes.

One in four roads policing officers were subjected to a vehicle being used as a weapon against them during the past year. One proposal in the Bill is that drivers not only stop under section 163, but also switch off their engine. PFEW is also suggesting police officers should have the power to ask occupants of the vehicle to exit upon request.

It is also calling for the law to protect drivers who have to engage in pursuits. A new legal test will be applied measuring police drivers against ‘careful and competent police driver’, but this could still leave officers exposed. PFEW is pushing the Government to consider adding a reasonableness defence clause to the bill to give officers flexibility to act instinctively to keep the public safe.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: “This legislation can’t come soon enough. Until it goes through, officers are constantly at risk for just doing their jobs when they’re going about their business, responding to incidents, sometimes pursuing people that have done some terrible things.

“I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of the public would support our officers in pursuing people on the roads who are wanted for serious crimes, because otherwise the roads in this country become almost a no-go zone for policing and people can just drive around on roads as they see fit, carry out crimes, and if they then get into a vehicle they can do so with impunity.

“We’ve seen the same with moped crime in London, and I’m sure the public don’t agree with that. But the flip side is that if we’re expecting our officers to put their lives and careers on the line in terms of carrying out these pursuits, then we need to give them the legal support to do that.”