Where have our traffic cops gone?

By Julie Sinclair

02nd November 2008

It's a fair cop! New Government figures reveal traffic police are offically a dying breed – with some forces slashing patrols by up to 84 per cent.

The Department for Transport survey shows the head count has reduced by nearly 20 per cent across Britain in a decade. Our top five league table reveals that Staffordshire has seen the biggest cut – from 208 traffic officers in 1998, to only 34 now.

A spokeswoman for the force admitted: “Increased use of safety cameras and ANPR systems has let us move away from a traffic department and be more targeted and intelligence-led.” However, she added: “All Staffordshire police officers are trained to deal with traffic matters.” In Issue 999, we revealed that Staffordshire had allocated 94 per cent of its £2.4m Local Transport Plan Road Safety Grant to speed cameras – despite being given free rein to spend on other initiatives.

Edmund King, AA president, said: “A speed camera does not pick up the illegal foreign truck driver or boy racer with stolen plates, but a traffic cop can. We must reverse this trend to make our roads and society safer.”