South Yorkshire traffic cops 'pulled from pillar to post'
Concerns have been raised that police motorway patrols are a thing of the past because South Yorkshire’s traffic cops are being ‘pulled from pillar to post’ dealing with other incidents across the county.
Steve Kent, chairman of the South Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation, spoke out after the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) criticised cutbacks in roads policing and suggested a failure to reduce the number of deaths on the roads is at least partly due to a downgrading of roads policing across England and Wales.
Mr Kent said: “It’s time to reverse the damage done to our traffic departments over the last decade.“I’m sure it’s not just me who’s noticed the standard of driving particularly on the motorway deteriorate drastically in the last decade.“For example, when was the last time you saw a motorway patrol car? The few that left are pulled from pillar to post dealing with other incidents across the country, which leaves static gantry cameras and highways agency vehicles to police the motorways and high speed roads.“It is simply not acceptable.”
The PACTS report said 1,800 people die on UK roads each year.
It states the number of roads policing officers in England and Wales has fallen since 2010, with an 18 per cent decrease between 2015 and 2019 alone.
The Government is currently recruiting an additional 20,000 officers to boost the frontline after years of cuts.
Gemma Fox, the roads policing lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “There are almost 22,000 fewer officers on our streets since 2010 meaning roads policing is now virtually invisible - but we cannot possibly replace officers with technology.
“It is vital the Government and chief officers realise proper policing is a key to the safety of our entire road network. I urge the Home Office to make this neglected area a priority in its recruitment drive.
“Hundreds of thousands of people use our road network every day and they have the right to feel secure and be kept safe. They deserve dedicated, professional, well-trained officers policing our roads and it frustrating to witness them being let down.”