Now police ditch panda car sirens
POLICE are having to stick to speed limits when chasing criminals and answering emergency calls because budget cuts mean their cars do not have sirens.
Their Vauxhall Corsas – more familiar as a family runaround than a crime-fighting vehicle – are fitted with flashing blue lights.
But the lack of siren on the 1.3-litre superminis means West Midlands officers driving them have to obey the normal rules of the road even in an emergency. In the past year, the cars have been sent to more than 100 urgent calls.
The latest example of cost- cutting madness comes weeks after it was revealed that Leicestershire Police were not investigating attempted burglaries at odd-numbered homes.
And the head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Sara Thornton, said budget cuts and changing crime patterns meant burglary victims should no longer expect officers to visit their homes. Instead, victims could email their own evidence to police.
Merseyside Police are ignoring crimes that they believe are ‘not in the public interest’, meaning assaults, thefts and hit-and-runs may not be investigated.
Hampshire Police no longer investigate road accidents where no one has been injured, even in cases of a hit-and- run. Critics say the use by West Midlands Police of cars without sirens has allowed criminals to escape.
One officer, who did not want to be named, told yesterday how he arrived in a Corsa patrol car too late to save a member of the public from being assaulted by a drink driver.
‘The caller was frustrated when we finally arrived after the suspect had dis- appeared,’ he said. ‘He shouted, “Where were you?” When I explained the situation, he replied: “This defies belief in this day and age.” Corners are being cut and lives could be put at risk.’
Pete Harkness of the West Midlands Police Federation said: ‘The Corsa is fine as a family car but I don’t necessarily think it makes the ideal police vehicle. The lack of a siren creates huge frustration among the officers driving them. It makes officers feel that we are letting the public down.’
West Midlands Police defended the Corsas, which were introduced to save money. Superintendent Kerry Blakeman said the cars were provided for neighbourhood teams and were not intended for response work.
He added: ‘Any officer can respond to an incident if they are suitably trained to drive at speed and they are in an appropriate vehicle [with lights and siren]. Officers who are not appropriately trained and/or driving an appropriate vehicle can attend an incident as quickly and safely as possible while complying with the Road Traffic Act just as members of the public should.’
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson raised the issue at yesterday’s meeting of West Midland’s Strategic Policing and Crime Board.
He said: ‘I have concerns that there may be occasions when officers have travelled to emergencies in vehicles that are not equipped or appropriate.’