Positive breath tests at highest levels in 4 years
MEET the gorgeous new puppies which have been recruited by GMP’s Tactical Dog Unit.
The super cute litter of nine German Shepherds have been pictured playing and snoozing before their serious police training begins.
They may look adorable and harmless, but the puppies - who are around seven weeks old - will be transformed into a mini pack of crime-busters in no time.
The new recruits were first introduced to Mancunians on GMP Tactical Dog Unit’s Twitter account at the end of October.
The post said: “Hello World! Meet ‘paws’-ibly the cutest new additions to the Greater Manchester Police Dog Unit.
“This litter has four male and five female pups, more snaps coming soon #pupdate.”
MORE people were caught out in a roadside breath test last year than at any point since 2014.
The number of police tests that were positive – or where the person refused to take it – rose from 1,471 in 2017 to 2,216 in 2018 in Greater Manchester.
That’s the highest figure since 2014, when 2,790 were caught out.
The proportion of drivers being caught out has also been rising in recent years.
More than two in every 10 drivers (21 per cent) in Greater Manchester that were tested for alcohol in 2018 either refused the test or were found to be over the limit – up from 17.8pc the year before.
The figures could suggest one or both of two things: that there is simply more drink-driving in Greater Manchester or that police are becoming more accurate in knowing when to make someone take a test.
The total number of people tested has been trending downwards.
There were 21,346 taken in Greater Manchester in 2010. That compares to just 10,566 last year.
Police can require a person to take a screening breath test if they suspect they have been driving with alcohol in their body, have committed a moving traffic offence or have been involved in an accident.
It is a criminal offence to refuse to take a breath test when required to do so by a police officer, unless you have a reasonable excuse.
Across England as a whole, there has been a dramatic fall in the number of
Picture posed by models
breath tests carried out by police since 2009.
In 2018 there were 320,988 – less than half of the 2009 figure.
The total for both years excludes four police forces who did not provide data.
Since 2013 there has been a year-onyear increase in the proportion of people testing positive for alcohol or refusing to take the test – from around 11pc to 15pc last year.
A spokesperson for road safety charity Brake said: “The declining number of breath tests carried out is symptomatic of the savage cuts in police numbers that we have seen in recent years. Couple that with the fact that the number of positive breath tests increased and it shows that drink driving remains a serious issue on our roads.
“This is compounded by the current drink-driving limit which gives a false impression that it is safe to drink and drive – this is a dangerous message and one that couldn’t be further from the truth, something which we will be making clear to drivers during the upcoming Road Safety Week.
“A priority for the next Government must be to implement a zero tolerance drink-drive limit, making clear to drivers that not a drop of alcohol is safe and increase investment in national roads policing to provide the police with the resources they need to tackle the menace of drink driving.”
Separate government statistics show that 250 people in England were killed in a drink drive accident in 2017 – the highest figure since 2009.
That was up from 230 in 2016. However the total estimated accidents has fallen over the same period – from 8,050 to 5,700.