NATIONAL TRAFFIC POLICE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 175, 21 April 1937, Page 6

NATIONAL TRAFFIC POLICE

British Scheme Under Way

SUPER-TRAINED DIVISION

In the formation of a suiter-trained division of SOI) mobile police officers, to inclulcate better road manners into the British public, Sir John Simon is paving the way for the creation of a great national, traffic "gendarmerie.” A national traffic force, separate from the ordinary police of the country, has been suggested for years past, and the increasing difficulties and responsibilities of officers engaged on these duties provides greater justification for a special body than ever existed before. In the future the policing of the roads can be undertaken only by such specialists, and by virtue of their specialisation on traffic duties they will be of comparatively little use in general police work. The 800 to be appointed in the present scheme are only a beginning. If they justify themselves iu the 12 months for which the experiment will he carried on, the appointment of similarly trained men in all parts of the country will be considered.

There is no intention to run the experimental “800” as a national force. They wjjl be paid by the State, and. though their training will be centred in the Metropolitan Police Driving School at lieudon, they will be attached to the police forces of the areas in which they operate, and under the control of the chief constables of those areas. When, however, the present experiment ends, ami the question of extending the scheme to the whole country is considered, it is expected that the special mobile police will be put on a national basis.

A force of about 7500 would be required to patrol the whole country in the same strength as they will patrol the two experimental areas.

Famous Driver’s Comment.

Sir Malcolm Campbell, the famous racing motorist, commenting on the scheme, writes: — I have long advocated the formation of a national traffic police working independently of local jwlice authorities, allied to special courts whose sole business it should be to adjudicate upon eases arising out of accidents and offences on the highways. Smooth control, combined with impartial justice, can only be achieved bv a system of which uniformity of administration is the dominant feature.

The cyclist and the pedestrian will also come within the ambit of the new police duty. And a very salutary innovation it is likely to bo 1

I cannot help wondering what has prompted the new movement. Of course, I know that the ultimate object is to secure greater safety. But is there behind it an implied admission that restriction of motor traffic alone has failed to produce the expected results? Well, with others, who have equally made the traffic problem a study, I have always warned the authorities that un■til they appreciate the fundamental fact that traffic must be treated as a whole they will never obtain a solution.

The first duty of the police is to prevent offences, and the fewer the offences committed in a particular area the more efficient the police work. That does not seem to be the way some authorities regard it. A correspondent in Wales has sent me details of the annual report of the Chief Constable of Cardiff, which states that motor patrol police at Cardiff will wear plain clothes after April 1. The chief constable states that “the experiment of police patrols wearing uniform while engaged iu steadying vehicular traffic or detecting offences against the speed limit has failed. “From October 5, 1936, to the end of the year only 38 offences were detected, while in the corresponding •period of the previous year, when plain clothing was worn, 211 cases were detected.” Obviously, in Cardiff, it is coiivictions that; are sought after, else why the complaint of "failure” through the employment of uniformed officers?

On the evidence of the figures, it would appear that, Lu comparison with the corresponding period of the previous year, the presence on the roads of uniformed patrols had actually deterred no fewer than 203 evilly disposed motorists from breaking the law.

Ou that assumption, at least that number of drivers were caused to proceed at a lower and safer speed than they otherwise might, have done—and yet the uniformed patrols arc a failure!

Closely allied to, this question of a national traffic police is that of special road traffic courts. These must be constituted at some time, aud better early than late.

Road transport is still growing fast and its affairs become more complex every day.

Only the other day a judge of the High Court laid down that a stoplight is not to be held as a substitute for hand-signalling of an intention to slow down or stop. That may be good law, but it is not sense. Nobody with driving experience would agree for a moment. The stop-light is far and away a better indication of intention than a hand signal, which nyiy be indifferently given in any case.