|
Daily Mail, Saturday, October 29, 2005
By Ben Taylor, Crime Correspondent
They have long been suspected of driving as fast as they like, when they like. Now for the first time the list of excuses regularly trotted out by police officers to their superiors when they break the speed limit can be revealed.
They include the infamous explanation that they were merely 'familiarising' themselves with the handling and road-holding skills of a new vehicle.
Others have claimed they were driving with a 'police purpose' - while they were n the way home, racing to and from meal breaks, or driving on a day off in their own car.
Fed up with the long list of increasingly lame excuses, Scotland Yard has decided to crack down on officers who abuse their privileged status to break the speed limit.
Guidelines spell out exactly what is unacceptable and police will no longer be immune from prosecution if they are caught.
The move follows a number of embarrassing cases for the police in which officers have been treated lightly by the courts or their own disciplinary process.
Days ago, it emerged that the former head of Scotland Yard's traffic division, Chief Superintendent Les Owen, had escaped with a written warning after his driver was caught speeding at more than twice the limit.
Mr Owen, who has since been moved to another job, was caught on camera as his marked Vauxhall Omega reached speeds of 86mph. Although Mr Owen's driver was prosecute, the decision to let his superior off with a reprimand infuriated road safety groups.
The Yard's response has been to issue a ten-point plan stating exactly when drivers are not allowed to break the speed limit. It has been drawn up by Commander Shabir Hussain, who raised the issue at a recent meeting of senior officers.
At present, officers are extremely unlikely to be disciplined or prosecuted if the yare caught exceeding the speed limit. The plan also means officers are no longer exempt from prosecution if they are driving back to the station to clock off at the end of their shift.
They cannot speed on their way to cafes or restaurants or to briefings unless they are for a major incident such as a terrorist attack or a riot.
Officers are also flatly banned from breaking traffic laws in their own car.
Mr Hussain believes that 'following a number of discipline cases involving drivers' exemptions from traffic law should be allowed only for 'operational activity.' In addition, he revealed the worrying statistic that so-called 'advanced' drivers are far more likely to have an accident than those who have simply received basic training.
He told officers: "This raises questions about the appropriateness of current training standards."
Hundreds of speeding police drivers routinely escape any kind of punishment every year.
In Sussex, figures show that 105 officers were caught speeding in 2004. Of those, 103 escaped any sanction while the remaining two decided to plead in court that they had a good excuse.
In Derbyshire, 59 notices were sent to police drivers last year, but not one was prosecuted. During that time, 47,000 ordinary drivers were given a £60 fine.
In North Wales - where the police force is led by 'speed camera king' Richard Brunstrom, just six officers were prosecuted out of 101 caught.
Even when cases are brought to court, magistrates often look sympathetically on policemen standing before them.
In May, a West Mercia officer who drove at 159mph was cleared of dangerous driving and speeding. Mark Milton, 38, told a court he was 'familiarising himself' with his squad car.
PC Milton was driving an unmarked Vauxhall Vectra on the M54 in Telford, Shropshire, in December 2003.
Last year, Greater Manchester Police assistant chief constable Steve Thomas escaped a driving ban after arguing that he was 'speeding safely' at 104mph. Mr Thomas, head of the force's traffic unit, was fined £450 and given six penalty points.
|
