Traffic policing

Report: 6
Date: 29 June 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report updates the authority on Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Traffic Policing activity carried out by the Traffic and Transport Branch as requested at an Authority meeting on the 25 May 2006. The report takes account of the issues and questions raised by MPA member Jenny Jones.

A. Recommendation

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The Traffic OCU Policing Plan for 2006/07 outlines the OCU’s activities to support the MPS Strategic Priorities. In recent years, the ethos of Roads Policing in London has shifted. The high standards of technical expertise and commitment of the Traffic OCU have been maintained, while increasingly, the preventative and detective techniques of the traffic officer are deployed against a broader spectrum of criminal and antisocial behaviour.

MPS funding of traffic police

2. Whilst the Traffic OCU has lost 10 officers from its Budgeted Workforce Target (BWT), this has been due to rationalising the BWT with the income generated by the OCU, in supporting dedicated functions funded by Transport for London (TfL) e.g. BikeSafe and the Commercial Vehicle Education Unit. The outcome actually means a slight net increase in the number of officers of 8 to 674. Subsequently there has not been any decline in the OCU's ability to deal with the general duties of traffic enforcement. One of the OCU's main priorities for 2006/07 continues to be casualty reduction to meet the Mayor's new challenging targets.

The growth in external funding

3. The TfL external funding to the OCU pays for much needed additional services that the OCU would otherwise struggle to provide. The funding pays for specific initiatives such as BikeSafe London and commercial vehicle enforcement that are outside the general duties of traffic enforcement. The monies are being used to purchase additional officer posts, ensuring that there is no disguising of the OCU's investment in its core policing functions. Utilising the funding in this way guarantees delivery of these innovative and valuable initiatives without resources otherwise being re-directed to other more pressing operational activities.

Officer time for ANPR and comparisons with other forms of police activity

4. The Traffic OCU operates Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipped patrol vehicles 24 hours a day, together with bespoke ANPR intercept teams. For the former, responding to ANPR activations is a secondary role within their wider duties and for the latter it is their primary role. Intercept teams usually work with officers from boroughs or other parts of Central Operations (Firearms and/or the Territorial Support Group) on operations every day of the week.

5. The officers attached to the ‘intercept’ teams are some of the most productive within the MPS from a perspective of returns of work. Between April 1 2005 and March 31 2006 the intercept teams:

• Generated 2491 arrests;
• Issued 3,375 endorsable fixed penalty notices;
• Issued 1,557 non-endorsable fixed penalty notices; and
• Seized 1200 vehicles from uninsured or unlicensed drivers.

Expanding the use of ANPR

6. During 2006/07 an additional intercept team will be established and based at TDC (Euston Traffic Garage). Comprising of a sergeant and six constables this will bring the number of staff dedicated to ANPR as a full time role to five sergeants, 34 constables and four police staff. AC Ghaffur has assumed the strategic lead for ANPR development within the MPS.

The MPS and the Mayor's new casualty reduction targets

7. The MPS welcomes the challenge presented by the Mayor’s stretched casualty reduction targets, which are included in the Traffic OCU Policing Plan for 2006/07. In pursuit of those targets and greater safety on the road, the Traffic OCU focuses on speed, poor driving, drink driving, non-wearing of seatbelts and the use of mobile phones whilst driving. These activities directly support the Department for Transport (DfT) ‘Think’ campaign, which is now embodied in the National Roads Policing Strategy. The OCU has introduced training for officers to detect persons for driving whilst impaired through drugs, with officers able to give evidence to that effect. In the year 2004/05 the MPS issued 89,788 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) of which the Traffic OCU issued 36,716. Last year, 2005/06, these figures were 84,879 and 44,560 respectively. This equates to a 5.5% overall fall but a 21.4% increase in Traffic activity in this area. This is indicative of the increased responsibility for the work being done by the Traffic OCU.

Hit and run drivers

8. The Traffic OCU Roads Crime Intelligence unit is currently researching in conjunction with our partners the hotspots in London for Fail To Stop (FTS) collisions.

9. Using the information supplied from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) and TfL we are deploying Traffic resources in the form of patrols cars and ANPR Teams, along with car transporters (which enables us to seize unregistered and uninsured vehicles) into these identified areas in an attempt to curb the growing trend of vehicles FTS after collisions and show a visible presence to reassure the other law abiding motorists.

Hit and runs and potential solutions

10. The MPS are currently undertaking research to see if we can establish a trend / causational link between young driving offenders and their or any progression to becoming fail to stop drivers. The MPS would obviously welcome any joint working.

Partnership work on unregistered and uninsured drivers

11. In recent years the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has improved the data quality of the database provided to the police service for use on ANPR systems that contains details of unregistered and untaxed motor vehicles. The Police National Computer (PNC) entry for motor vehicles includes a reference to whether insurance is held on the vehicles subject of an enquiry. Close liaison is maintained with the DVLA police liaison team and DVLA enforcement officers are regular attendees at ANPR operations (and have their own seizure powers). The MPS has recently supported DVLA and TFL initiatives to scope the extent of a perceived problem of vehicles being imported to the UK and then not correctly registered. Since 2004 the MPS has undertaken about 300 ANPR operations together with Transport for London staff targeting vehicle users that had either failed to register their vehicle or registered it under a false address.

12. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) has provided the police service with a database to be run on ANPR that lists vehicle registration numbers with no known insurance. The software in the MPS ANPR equipment is now being amended to enable us to use it. The MPS is participating in a pilot scheme with the Motor Insurers’ Information Centre (MIIC) that allows officers to make enquiries about technical aspects of insurance cover or actual policy details when they are conducting roadside checks (between 0900 and 1700, Monday to Friday).

13. The Traffic OCU Road Crime Intelligence Unit analysts have mapped data from the MIB about pockets of uninsured motor vehicles, high volume crime wards and boroughs with the highest percentage of failing to stop collisions. This is used to direct police operations where the power to seize vehicles from the uninsured and unlicensed is used.

14. The MPS can currently seize up to 4,000 vehicles per annum from the unlicensed or uninsured. The use of the power is limited by the capacity at the MPS car pound at Charlton. In October a second pound is due to open in north west London and this will increase capacity to 9,000 seizures per year (the Traffic OCU deploys this tactic to support operations by the Transport OCU against the night time illegal mini-cab trade and the Clubs and Vice OCU operations against kerb crawlers). A bid is being prepared for investment board to increase seizure capacity even further, either through the purchase/rental of additional space or through using space provided by removal contractors. We are also seeking support from TFL to use their unused pound capacity.

Traffic division performance indicators

15. The OCU’s targets and measures of success reflect its key role in supporting the MPS challenge in making London safer. The OCU maintains a comprehensive Performance Management regime to ensure focus of delivery against the MPS and OCU targets. This ensures the OCU Commander remains accountable to the Assistant Commissioner CO. The following performance indicators are maintained for the OCU:

• Reduction in KSI (killed and seriously injured)
  • Reduction fatal.
  • Reduction child KSI.
  • Reduction power two-wheeler KSI.
  • Reduction pedestrian KSI.
  • Reduction pedal cyclist KSI.
• A number of collision investigation performance indicators including
  • Number of PI (personal injury) call outs
  • Number of fatal collisions
  • Number of vehicle examinations for fatal, special investigations, SCD or SO, or POLCOLS (police collisions)
  • Case tracking – number of persons charged / summonsed, number of offences, number NFA (no further action), cases found guilty, not guilty, awaiting trial etc.
• Number of traffic warrants executed.
• Traffic Police POLCOLS – count / not to count.
• Number of BikeSafe London courses delivered, number of students
• Traffic ANPR car outputs including the number of:
  • Arrests, FPNE (fixed penalty notice endorseable), FPNN (fixed penalty notice non-endorseable), process, persons stopped / searched, vehicle examinations, vehicle prohibition notices issued.
  • ANPR Intercept Team outputs including the number of Arrests,
    FPNE, FPNN, process, person’s stopped/searched, vehicle examinations, vehicle prohibition notices.
• Total number of uninsured/unlicensed vehicle seizures and outcomes e.g. restored, scrapped, auctioned.
• Stop and Search activity.
• ‘Think’ campaign enforcement activity e.g. number of FPNE and FPNN issued for speed, no seat belt, mobile phones.
• Number of drink and drug drive arrests.

Accident/collisions

16. All documentation coming out of the Road Policing Policy Unit (RPPU) /Police Driver Standard Unit (PDSU) uses the word collision. The re-write of the Police Driver Vehicle Regulations (PDVR) is removing the word accident wherever it is found (currently - in a number of places it talks about ‘collision/accident’). The Safer Driver 2 (SD2) launch back in October only referred to collisions, as do the new collision report books.

Links between the Traffic OCU and the neighbourhood policing teams

17. In November 2005 the Traffic OCU hosted a conference at New Scotland Yard attended by 26 boroughs to develop relations with Safer Neighbourhoods. The OCU works closely with the TP Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) and has an input to the supervisor training. The five traffic garage chief inspectors have a geographical responsibility to develop partnerships with their local authorities, BOCUs and Safer Neighbourhood Teams. They are assisted by traffic management officers who provide consultancy support to SNTs to assist them in resolving traffic related problems raised by local communities; a `one-stop-shop` point of contact to the Traffic OCU. This ranges from technical advice, advice and support in securing a traffic operational response, and advice and guidance with problem solving with local council highway authorities and TfL. This year’s Traffic Policing Plan specifically includes an objective to assist SNTs. Traffic OCU were instrumental in developing the Safer Neighbourhoods and TfL School Travel Plan team. Demand for traffic resources from Safer Neighbourhoods is high and there have already been many joint operations targeting a host of quality of life issues running throughout London.

18. At a strategic level the Traffic OCU would welcome an official MPA link member to assist it to reach out to communities in London. Its pan London role means that it cannot engage with a consultative group in the same format as Territorial Policing (TP) colleagues. Although there is extensive contact with a multitude of groups across London there isn’t a forum at present for the MPS to host consultation at a strategic level on roads policing business in a similar way to an independent advisory group. Initial soundings have provided positive feedback from key partners willing to engage in such a forum and a ‘neutral’ chairperson is in the process of being recruited, with the intention of establishing a forum to meet this need and in place to contribute to the 2007/8 planning cycle. Presently we do consult with BOCU Commanders and Borough Chief Executive Officers and factor their local concerns into plans.

The London Safety Camera Partnership (LSCP)

19. The London Safety Camera Partnership has let a contract for the supply of speed awareness courses to drivers who activate safety cameras at the lower end of the offending range. The course is offered as an alternative to fixed penalty or prosecution, costs the same amount as the fixed penalty (£60) and is expected to be attractive to drivers as it does not involve the endorsement of penalty points on the driving licence. The scheme is due to commence in July 2006 at two Central London venues and will roll-out to SE, SW, NW and NE London venues over the following nine months. It is expected that by 2007/08 some 40% of drivers who activate speed cameras in London will be offered the opportunity to receive education instead of a fixed penalty.

20. The Operational Case for 2006/07 was for The Partnership to operate at slightly higher levels than 2005/06 and to fund the installation of 21 additional digital cameras. The DfT approved this case in March with no conditions. The DfT were aware of the short timescales imposed for case submission and allowance was made for mid-term submissions. The LSCP intend to submit a mid-term review proposing that the number of new digital sites to be installed during 2006/07 be increased by a further 79 to 100. This year DfT have changed the site criteria from four plus KSIs over three years to three plus KSIs. The installations planned for this year will exhaust the potential sites available under the old DfT criteria. Analysis of collision data using the new DfT criteria has yet to be completed.

Government guidelines and the work of the LSCP

21. The new DfT guidelines have yet to be issued. A first draft for consultation with Partnerships is due in July.

Offences converted into payments

22. In 2005/06 the MPS proceeded against 352,577 safety camera offences. Of these, 169,077 (48%) resulted in the issue of a conditional offer of fixed penalty (COFP). Payments were received in 152,126 cases (90% of COFPs issued). Thus, the percentage of offences resulting in a fixed penalty payment was 43%.

Administrative cost

23. In 2003/04 the administrative cost per paid fixed penalty was £46. In 2004/05 this fell to £43. This lower figure was maintained in 2005/06.

24. DfT does not benchmark these costs across partnerships, as the differing operating procedures do not allow like-for-like comparison. For example, the LSCP leases its vehicle fleet so all transport costs are treated as revenue and are, therefore, included in the administrative cost element for each paid fixed penalty. Other partnerships purchase their vehicles and this element is not included in the calculation of their administrative cost per paid penalty. Similarly, accommodation costs serve to render comparison difficult.

Contracting a neighbourhood police service to assist with admin of the LSCP

25. This concept was explored by the LSCP during 2004/05, however, it was not developed further as it was not necessary to outsource functions in order to meet the targets of the partnership’s approved operational case. It was reconsidered in 2005/06, but the proposal was suspended when the new funding arrangements were announced. Contracting-out to a neighbouring force was considered as a means of accelerating camera rollout and would have had minimal impact on the Partnership’s ability to reduce camera thresholds towards ACPO guidelines. Camera rollout is on schedule and drivers have achieved recent gains in threshold management through improved compliance.

Camera sites and ACPO guidelines

26. During the last year the MPS and the LSCP, which includes the City of London police, have moved 50% of speed camera thresholds towards the ACPO guideline recommendations (speed limit +10% +2mph). It is anticipated that this trend will continue throughout 2006/07. During this period we will introduce Speed Awareness Courses as an alternative disposal option for drivers who trigger cameras just above the ACPO guideline. Whilst we have seen significant improvement in compliance with speed limits at or near safety camera sites we are reluctant to employ a blanket drop in thresholds at our legacy wet-film sites as this would tend to impact only upon those low-level speeders caught shortly after a film-change has occurred, allowing higher speeders later in the deployment period to escape detection. This is because wet-film speed cameras suffer from the limitation that a three or four day deployment has to be carried out with a fixed trigger threshold. The commissioning of some 100 digital cameras this financial year will allow us much greater flexibility to tailor our enforcement regime so that we can target offenders at all levels above the speed limit and employ the appropriate sanction according to severity (education for low level speeders, fixed penalty for higher levels and prosecution for the highest speeders). The DfT has not progressed an MPS request for national benchmarking.

27. Requests under the Freedom of Information Act for disclosure of information regarding the number of sites operating at specific speed thresholds have previously been declined under the exemption provided by S31 of that Act.

Abbreviations

ANPR

Automatic Number Plate Recognition

BWT

Budgeted Workforce Target

COFP

Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty

DFT

Department for Transport

DVLA

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

FPN

Fixed Penalty Notice

FTS

Fail to Stop

KSI

Killed and Seriously Injured

LSCP

London Safety Camera Partnership

MIB

Motor Insurers’ Board

MIIC

Motor Insurers’ Information Centre

POLCOL

Police Vehicle Collision

SNT

Safer Neighbourhood Team

TfL

Transport for London

C. Race and equality impact

There are no direct or indirect equality issues apart from apparent ANPR disproportionality. A detailed report on ANPR performance and analysis on the equality impact was submitted for June’s PPRC.

D. Financial implications

All activities are funded within the MPS budget. The LSCP has been reviewed to ensure it receives no cross subsidy from the MPS. July’s Investment Board will hear an application for more vehicle pounds for seized vehicles.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Chief Superintendent Griggs, Traffic OCU and Jon Plant, Traffic Criminal Justice Unit, MPS

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback