DWINDLING\u00a0numbers of roads police officers are under increased pressure due to colleagues being deployed to other duties .<\/p>\n
More than 200 delegates, guests, speakers and exhibitors attended the\u00a0Police Federation Roads Policing Conference held 30-31 January, in Hinckley, Leicestershire.<\/p>\n
With roads police officer numbers slashed by one third over the past five years, delegates discussed opportunities for a new approach.\u00a0The PFEW roads policing lead, Jayne Willetts, said: “Think of the lives we could save if we had more resources. Unfortunately the message is simply not getting through to the Government.”<\/p>\n
Ms Willetts also spoke about the Federation\u2019s efforts to change the law around police pursuits so that officers\u2019 advanced driver training and approved tactics are recognised by the courts so that unjustified prosecutions can be avoided.<\/p>\n
Delegates also heard from Anthony Bangham, West Mercia Chief Constable and roads policing lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, who set out a vision of the UK having the safest roads in the world. He said this could be achieved by forces taking a no-nonsense approach to lawbreaking and urged them to embrace dash cam and head cam footage filmed by the public, to make road users fearful of being caught if they break the law.<\/p>\n
Transport Minister Jesse Norman MP spoke about the potential for technology to save police time and resources, such as officers filling in forms electronically at the roadside. He also said mobile breath-test equipment would soon replace the need to take suspects to a station.<\/p>\n
Other highlights included breakout sessions, an awards evening where outstanding contributions to roads policing were recognised, and a presentation on Operation SNAP, a pilot scheme operating in Wales where the public can upload footage of lawbreaking to a secure cloud. Delegates also heard from Chief Inspector Colin Carswell on successful tactics used by the Metropolitan Police recently to contain and arrest organised motorcycle disorder.<\/p>\n
Ms Willetts hailed the conference a success: “The event was everything we hoped it would be \u2013 an opportunity to share best practice and debate major issues in roads policing today. Our theme \u2018a new approach\u2019 also involved looking to the future and assessing the impact of new technologies and how they might change the face of roads policing.”<\/p>\n