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Officer Speed Offences 2008 -2009
Question(s)866 / 2010
Please could I be told how many times police vehicles activated safety cameras in each of the past two years. Could this figure be broken down into
a) Activations with blue light showing;
b) Non-blue activations
c) Activations that resulted in a speeding penalty. |
ResponseResult of Searches
The searches located records relevant to your request.
General Information re the Use of Speed Cameras relating to Police Officers
Speed cameras are activated when a vehicle passes through them at a speed in excess of the trigger limit for that stretch of road. The image is captured on a 35mm roll of film in the camera.
On a regular basis the films are replaced by new ones and the old ones are "read" or "viewed". The registered number of the vehicle is recorded and a check made for the owner. A Notice of Intended Prosecution / speeding ticket is sent to the registered owner and eventually after reply, if the owner was not the driver, to the offending driver.
Where an officer is served with a speeding ticket when off duty it is a private matter and we would not be seeking to nor do we keep such a record separate from those for all other members of the public.
We do comply with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidance in relation to prosecution of allegations of speeding. Full details are available on the ACPO internet web site - www.acpo.co.uk .
Briefly, in a 30 mph area a speeding ticket issued for between 36 - 49 mph and for 50 mph plus a summons is issued. A speeding ticket fine is £60 and 3 endorsement points. A court appearance on summons can be 3 to 6 points and a fine up to £2,000 the severity decided by the magistrates, dependant upon the individual circumstances. Where a speed limit is exceeded by more than 30 mph the court also have the option of imposing a driving disqualification.
Our prosecution of police officers who have not applied for or been given exemption is consistent with that of members of the public and they are either served a fixed penalty notice or a summons depending on their speed relevant to the site limit.
Operational Consideration
If at any time a police officer on duty believes he has passed through a speed camera at excess speed he has the opportunity to report the same to the Operations Room for an entry on the appropriate emergency incident log or submit a report through his / her chain of command requesting exemption as being on a police duty which fell within the exemption under The Road Traffic Act 1984 Section 87, which states
"No statutory provision imposing speed limit on motor vehicles shall apply to any vehicle on an occasion when it is being used for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes, if the observance of that provision would be likely to hinder the use of the vehicle for the purpose for which it is being used on that occasion".
If the officer is driving a motor vehicle, whether private or police vehicle, on duty, but the use of the vehicle at that time does not fall within Section 87, or, the officer is off duty, he cannot avail himself of the exemption and is treated and recorded as an alleged offender as is every other member of society. In such an instance neither the offence nor the offender is marked or recorded as having been committed by a police officer. He / she would be proceeded against, quite correctly, through the payment of the speeding fine or court appearance and licence endorsed, as any other member of society.
Our force policy is for a clear, rigorous and unambiguous audit trail to consider whether the above Section 87 is relevant or otherwise, before a decision is made on prosecution. This is undertaken separately by an operational Divisional Commander and the Head of Criminal Justice.
The statistics relating to your request are as follows
2008
Police vehicles with blue lights illuminated - 3,777 (all excused as per ACPO guidelines)
Police vehicles with no blue lights - 120 (112 excused following investigation, 8 prosecuted)
2009
Police vehicles with blue lights illuminated - 1,461 (all excused as per ACPO guidelines)
Police vehicles with no blue lights - 38 (37 excused following investigation, 1 prosecuted)
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