|
Volunteer police officers, or ‘Specials’ as they’re known, recently took part in a weekend of road safety activity to showcase their work.The regional event, which took place on the 5th, 6th and 7th February, saw officers of the Special Constabulary involved in enforcement work around speeding, seatbelts, mobile phone use, drink and drug driving, and uninsured or untaxed vehicles. Specials worked alongside officers from the force’s roads policing unit to carry out speed checks in 30 and 40 MPH zones, and responded to any ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) hits.On Friday 5th February, 22 officers worked in and around Cambridge, Sawston, Histon and Ely in areas that had been identified by the Neighbourhood Policing teams. They stopped approximately 150 vehicles in total. The most common offences were blown headlights or break lights or driving marginally over the speed limit. More serious offences were dealt with by issuing fixed penalty notices (fines). In total, 27 fixed penalty notices were issued for speeding, 16 vehicles were identified as having defects which needed fixing to make them roadworthy, and one person was arrested for failing a breath test. On Saturday 6th, ten officers stopped over 50 vehicles. Most drivers were given words of advice, but 13 fixed penalty notices were issued and 19 vehicle defects identified. The Specials were back in action again on Sunday 7th, giving out 12 penalty notices, identifying eight defective vehicles, seizing one vehicle and carrying out one arrest. Activity also took place in the North of the county where Specials in Peterborough supported traffic officers by carrying out speed checks across the city on Friday evening and on ANPR duties on Saturday. On Sunday they helped tackle neighbourhood priorities around speeding as well as cracking down on mobile phone use and flouting of no entry signs and bus lane restrictions in the Ortons. In total they gave out 21 fixed penalty notices, seized four vehicles and made one arrest for drink driving. Cambridgeshire currently has about 170 Special officers who are working about 30,000 hours every year. We’re always keen to welcome more ‘Specials’ on board, so if you’d like more information about volunteering as a Special, see our recruitment site.
|
|
