Originally posted by mattfx
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National guidelines state that only officers with advanced-level training can pursue vehicles, that they must receive sign-off from their control room and their tactical adviser, and throughout any pursuit they are subject to continued risk assessment. Nonetheless, the law as it stands carries a significant risk to them: if prosecuted, their driving behaviour would be assessed on the same basis as any “competent and careful driver”; there is no specific exemption for emergency manoeuvres beyond dis-applying the speed limit. That has led the Police Federation recently to advise police drivers, including on bikes, not to perform any driving manoeuvre that would be illegal for any other “careful and competent” driver in normal circumstances.
That is hampering the ability of the police to apprehend very serious offenders and take them off the streets. Bikers who have progressed well beyond petty crime into much more serious gang-related activity, to the point where the Met police has now classified moped-enabled crime as serious organised crime. We need to be sure that our officers have been sufficiently trained, that they have the skills and the experience to make the right decisions, that they can pursue until it is too dangerous – and that they do not if it is not safe for the public. They should be assessed based on their special training and circumstances, not compared to how you and I might normally drive. That in turn requires legislative change, and for the government to stop dragging its feet.
We need to have confidence that the police will enforce the law. The police need to have confidence that the law itself allows them to do so. If we don’t tackle this, we will hand our streets over to criminals and it will be the poorest communities that will suffer the most.
Louise Haigh is the shadow policing minister and MP for Sheffield Heeley
That is hampering the ability of the police to apprehend very serious offenders and take them off the streets. Bikers who have progressed well beyond petty crime into much more serious gang-related activity, to the point where the Met police has now classified moped-enabled crime as serious organised crime. We need to be sure that our officers have been sufficiently trained, that they have the skills and the experience to make the right decisions, that they can pursue until it is too dangerous – and that they do not if it is not safe for the public. They should be assessed based on their special training and circumstances, not compared to how you and I might normally drive. That in turn requires legislative change, and for the government to stop dragging its feet.
We need to have confidence that the police will enforce the law. The police need to have confidence that the law itself allows them to do so. If we don’t tackle this, we will hand our streets over to criminals and it will be the poorest communities that will suffer the most.
Louise Haigh is the shadow policing minister and MP for Sheffield Heeley
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