THE police have the public\u2019s backing when trying to keep them safe by pursuing criminals on the roads, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent has welcomed an overhaul of driver protections after it was announced that the Protection of the Police and Public, Courts and Sentencing Bill, which is due to become law in autumn, would better protect police drivers.<\/p>\n
Once the bill becomes law, officers will be regarded as driving dangerously only if the way they drive falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful constable who has undertaken the prescribed training; or it would be obvious to such a competent and careful constable that driving in that way would be dangerous.<\/p>\n
Steve said: \u201cI\u2019m an advanced driver myself so I know how tough and how thorough the training is. It is one of the most intense training courses anybody will ever go on and to not be able to recognise that different level of driving ability within the law is an absolute farce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new Bill is very welcome; it\u2019s long overdue and we need to get it implemented as soon as possible because the public would always expect us to go out and deal with bad guys if those guys are in fast cars, driving like idiots – rather than letting them get away with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey would expect us to pursue them within reasonable limits and to actually deal with them and have the ability to do that. So for officers to do that and do their honest best, to not be supported by the legal system is just frankly unacceptable. This is very welcome and it\u2019s long, long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said public support could be seen through appetite for programmes such as Traffic Cops, which show how officers deal with criminals on the road network.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe public want to see that we\u2019re dealing robustly with these people that are using high performance cars to commit crime and people who are stealing people\u2019s cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you imagine a member of the public who\u2019s just had his pride and joy nicked, and he\u2019s going think, \u2018Hang on, the police aren\u2019t going to bother with it. They\u2019re just going to let it go past because of fear of prosecution\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to know that a highly advanced police driver in a suitable car is going to be doing their best to either try and get that person slammed up or hopefully get the car back. I think the overwhelming majority of the public would support us in doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n