Staffordshire Police Federation’s roads policing lead is welcoming moves to change the law to give police drivers better protection in law.
Sergeant Rich Moors, a Federation workplace representative who is based in the Staffordshire and West Midlands Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Stafford Police Station, says the changes included in the Police Power and Protections Bill, which is due before Parliament in the next few weeks, should ensure police drivers are not prosecuted simply for doing their job.
“Police drivers have enhanced training that enables them to safely drive at speed and in conditions that members of the public are not accustomed to,” Rich explains.
“Currently, officers have no protection against driving offences committed while response or pursuit driving as, in law, we are judged against ordinary drivers’ driving standards.
“The very nature of responding and pursuing means officers risk prosecution. While there should be no blanket exemption for the police, this new legislation will lead to officers’ driving being judged against the national driver training standard, which is absolutely correct and will be of benefit.
“Officers will still have to drive to their training and skill level and where that standard falls they will be subject to the appropriate measures.”
The change to legislation follows a campaign led by Tim Rogers, deputy secretary of West Midlands Police Federation and response and driver training lead for the Federation nationally.
“I, along with colleagues, welcome this change that the hard work that Tim and his team has brought about,” says Rich.
Tim now wants to ensure all police drivers are assessed to a consistent standard to ensure they do not fall foul of the new law. He fears a lack of knowledge and understanding among those assessing officers’ driving and inconsistent practices both around the country and even within individual forces could still lead to conduct or legal action against officers when the Police Powers and Protections Bill becomes law later this year.
“The Federation campaigned for police drivers’ specialist training and expertise to be taken into account under traffic laws,” explains Tim, “We were seeing far too many officers facing years of conduct or criminal investigation for dangerous driving when in reality they had been using their skills and training to do the job they were asked to do. This has now been addressed and the new bill introduces a new test for police drivers.”
This means 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 same prescribed training or who has the same prescribed skills, and
- It would be obvious to such a competent and careful constable that driving in that way would be dangerous.
Tim adds: “The Police Powers and Protections Bill is to be welcomed and I am pleased that officers’ training and expertise will be taken into account in law, however, we now need to ensure that we don’t leave them at risk because of inconsistencies in the way in which their driving is assessed.
“We are also seeking assurances from the Home Office that the new policy will not be criminalised which, of course, would be totally against the essence of this change in the law and more has to be done to ensure all forces have the same policies, and assessment standards, in place.”
