New laws planned to protect police drivers

NEW laws to protect police drivers are to be drafted by the end of the year, it has been revealed.

Police drivers have faced charges of careless and dangerous driving following their actions in pursuits in the past, but campaigners have been asking for the law to be changed for the last seven years to enable them to do their job.
And now, the Government has revealed that new guidance is to be drafted in December.

Police Minister Nick Hurd has said: “This Government is determined to get ahead of and tackle emerging threats like motorcycle-related crimes, including those involving mopeds and scooters.

“People must be able to go about their daily lives without fear of harassment or attack and criminals must not think they can get away with a crime by riding or driving in a certain way or on a certain type of vehicle.

“Tackling this emerging crime will take a combined effort from Government, law enforcement, industry partners and civil society.

“However, police have made us aware of the concern among some officers over the legal position when pursuing suspected offenders, including those on mopeds and scooters.

“While it is clearly vital that we protect public safety and that officers are accountable for their actions, it is also important that skilled officers have the confidence to protect the public by pursuing offenders where it is safe to do so.”

Jim Gray, Chairman of Northumbria Police Federation, said: Jim Gray: Currently police officers are vulnerable. In current legislation officers are really vulnerable to prosecution by simply doing no more than what they have been trained to do as police drivers.

“We have no specific protection in law for simply carrying out our role when either responding to calls or when pursuing vehicles. The laws regarding dangerous driving are clear and there are no exemptions due to the fact that you’re a police officer simply carrying out your duty.

“We welcome that thought is being given to the drafting of legislation to enshrine protection for police officers when they’re simply carrying out their duty as they’ve been trained to do.”

Officers are currently governed by legislation that dates back to the 1970s, which is “outdated and offers no protection” to officers, according to Tim Rogers, leading the campaign.

Mr Rogers, Lead on Police Pursuits for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Trained professionals are being judged by the same standards as the careful and competent driver, as a member of the public in any normal driving situation.

“It is an understatement to say that current exemptions designed to enable modern policing to remain effective (numbers permitting), are outdated. There needs to be some differentiation in law for emergency response drivers.”

Mr Rogers said criminals are taking advantage of the situation as they know “how exposed officers are”. He added: “Some serial offenders exploit this vulnerability by removing their helmets, likely believing officers will be hung out to dry should they pursue and the worst happen – with current legislation, this not beyond the realms of possibility.”

“The situation where informed criminals believe that the greater the risk they take, the less likely police are to apprehend is nonsense. If society wants trained professionals to appropriately and robustly deal with dangerous offenders then the approved tactics should never leave them in danger of prosecution. But the flaw in legislation does just that – our appropriately trained drivers are risking their liberty and livelihood every day.”

Officers who have engaged in pursuits or response drivers have in the past been charged with dangerous driving, even if no complaints were made and no one was injured.

In June 2017, fresh guidance was issued to by the PFEW to forces, reminding drivers to ensure that their driving remains within the law. Yet officers remain vulnerable, the Federation said, until the new legislation is in place.