Report calls for cowboy targeting
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• Traffic police should be targeting known cowboy hauliers as well as other road safety offenders, according to a new report from Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary.
The policing of known "corrxwate offenders" (road hauliers) and disqualified drivers should be improved through intelligence-led measures rather than relying on more random action, the report adds.
This would free up capacity for further proactive policing. "A fully integrated intelligence system will also generate opportunities to use traffic enforcement as a disruption tool against known criminals," it says.
However, the report warns that traffic policing fails to get the priority it deserves. There arc an average of 10 deaths a day on the nation's roads, costing .£12.6bn a year, but on average traffic officers only make up 7% of each force's strength— down 1-2% on the early 1990s.
Home Office Minister Paul Boateng says that traffic policing is not a specific national objective but stresses that "this is no excuse".
"Better and more effective leadership can and will lead to real improvement in roads policing," he adds.