Police get more protection so they can stop bike thieves – hard
‘Myth’ that cops can’t chase lid-less riders also to be ‘smashed’
Changes in the law are being proposed to prevent scooter and two-wheeled criminals evading police pursuit simply by driving recklessly. Under current rules, and in the midst of a wave of scooter crime that is sweeping London, any motorist, including police officers, who fails to drive in a ‘competent and careful’ manner could be prosecuted for careless or dangerous driving, even during police pursuits.
The Police Federation has argued this deters some officers from pursuing suspects as they are worried they’ll be charged if they have to break the speed limit, jump red lights or drive on the wrong side of the road.
As a result, there have been increasing cases of two-wheeled criminals riding recklessly – even to the extent of riders and pillions removing their helmets in an attempt to deter police pursuit. Now, in a new bid to tackle this crime wave, the Home Office is proposing reforms to give police drivers more legal protection. They also aim to ‘smash the myth’, as the Home Office calls it, that officers cannot pursue riders who are not wearing helmets. “Police officers must have the confidence to pursue suspects where it is safe to do so and criminals should be in no doubt that they will not get away with a crime by simply driving recklessly,” Home Office policing minister Nick Hurd said this week. Under the new proposals, instead of the ‘competent and careful’ measure, police drivers would instead be required to ‘drive to the standard of a careful and competent police driver of a similar level of training and skill’. The new proposals also state that: “To smash the myth that officers cannot pursue riders who are not wearing helmets, the government will also make clear in law that a suspect is responsible for their own decision to drive dangerously and that blame should not be attached to the pursuing officer.”
The draft proposals, which have now gone out for a period of consultation, have already been positively received by the Police Federation.
Tim Rogers, the Federation’s Lead on Pursuit Driving, said: “We welcome this announcement as it is unacceptable to have officers trained to drive in a way that exposes them to prosecution merely for doing the job the public expect of them.”
“It is crucial that we protect the people who protect us and that we give them the confidence to be able to do their jobs and keep the public safe.”
‘It’s crucial we protect the people who protect us’