Traffic officer cuts linked to failure to reduce road deaths over past decade

CUTS to the number of dedicated traffic officers has been linked to a failure to reduce road deaths in the past decade, a new investigation has found.

According to figures from BBC Panorama, the number of police officers tasked with enforcing road laws has dropped by 15% since 2016.

Figures from 34 forces who responded to a Freedom of Information request showed the total number of dedicated traffic officers fell from 5,014 in 2016 to 4,257 currently.

Meanwhile, the number of people killed on the roads each year remained stable between 2010 and 2019, after going down for three decades.

Steve Kent, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “This is exactly what we have been saying for some time. It is a clear as a road user and speaking to members of the public and hearing some of the issues raised to our neighbourhood teams, that the standard of driving and anti social behaviour associated with driving is something which is a big issue for the public.

“Forces including our own find themselves in an impossible position where we are short of officers in response/CID and other specialist departments and it feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“It is clear though that roads policing potentially needs to be looked at across the country and consideration given to this being centrally funded in the same way that we have seen organised crime being recognised and funded in this way.”

The Panorama investigation also found that nearly 50% of fixed speed cameras do not work.

In response to a separate FoI request, 26 forces said that 523 of a total of 1,110 fixed speed cameras were inactive.

In some areas, including North Yorkshire, Durham and Northamptonshire, no cameras were active.

See more here: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/king-bbc-northamptonshire-panorama-durham-b977026.html