Citizen Traffic Cops in Haringey as Community Roadwatch Launched

Led by Transport for London, the Community Roadwatch scheme issues ordinary people with hi-vis vests and radar speed guns, before sending them into the streets of their neighbourhoods to catch reckless drivers.

Since the scheme was introduced in August last year, 4,177 motorists have been clocked speeding, with 3,632 advisory letters sent. Those caught driving particularly fast are added to police intelligence systems and could face a targeted stop by officers.

London is a latecomer to the initiative but the roll it out to all 32 London boroughs will be complete by the end of 2016. In Haringey, letters are just going out to community groups informing them about the scheme and inviting participation.

Those who sign up are trained to use radar speed guns by PCSOs and police volunteers, and are issued with hi-vis vests and publicity materials. Escorted by uniformed PCSOs, they then take to the streets to measure the speed of drivers passing through previously identified areas of concern.

In a rule designed to ensure impartiality, participants are banned from using speed detection equipment in the road on which they live. A TfL spokeswoman said this was because they wanted the community to “be objective”.

Motorists recorded breaking the speed limit are issued with warning letters, although those travelling at excessive speed could face a home visit or immediate action from police. Intelligence gathered will also help TfL and the Met to assess traffic and policing strategies.

Polling on such schemes, conducted by Populus on behalf of the AA last year, found that drivers were evenly split on whether they were an acceptable way to address speeding, with 42% in favour and 40% against it. However, more than three-fifths said they felt uncomfortable with the idea of volunteers aiming radar guns at them while they were driving, and nearly half felt it was “just an excuse for local busybodies to interfere with neighbours’ behaviour”.

Below is the text of the Haringey letter beig circulated this week:

I am writing to inform you that Transport for London and Metropolitan Police have now launched  the Community Roadwatch in Haringey.  The aim of the scheme will be to improve road safety, through education and engagement by working together with local residents. The Community Roadwatch programme will be locally managed by the Met Police’s Safer Transport Teams, who will work with council officers and recruit volunteers in the borough to assist Metropolitan Police in monitoring and enforcing speed limits in the borough.

Community Roadwatch will give local residents the opportunity to work with their local police teams, to identify speeding issues in their communities.

Any interested residents who wish to be volunteers for the scheme can now contact Met Police Haringey Safer Transport Team to register their interest via email Gary.Frost@met.pnn.police.uk or can contact Haringey  Frontline@haringey.gov.uk and we will forward their details to Met Police.

The Community Roadwatch works as outlined below: 

• Volunteers who would wish to take part will contact Metropolitan Police Haringey Safer Transport Team in the first instance,
• Metropolitan Police Haringey Safer Transport will arrange time and a place with the volunteers to train them on how to use the speed detection equipment and record the details,
• Metropolitan Police Haringey Safer Transport will select the locations which will be targeted and the time and date of the operations. 
• Two volunteers with a PSCO will then go out to a location to monitor speeds. Recording the details of vehicles exceeding 10% plus 2mph above the speed limit of the location. At no time will volunteers stop or have any engagement with drivers during the session.
• Offending vehicles recorded will then be police national computer (PNC) checked by the police. if details match, warning letter will be sent to the registered keeper. 
• If a vehicle is recording speeding  a second time, another letter will be send to the keeper warning that a third occurrence will result in the vehicle being added to the polices automatic number plate recognition system (ANPR).
• Vehicles on the ANPR will be considers for targeted enforcement carried out by police separately to Community Road watch initiative.

The locations for the operations will be selected based on

• Injury collision hotspots,
• Locations of community concern i.e. near schools.
• Locations will be residential, but can be high streets / main roads.

To mitigate against potential confrontation between neighbours, volunteers will not be allowed to monitor their own roads.  All sites will be risk assessed by the police.

For further information, please contact Met Police Haringey Safer Transport team Gary.Frost@met.pnn.police.uk or contact us MemberEnquiries@haringey.gov.uk

Bethlehem Girma

Project Engineer

Haringey Council

Traffic Management, 5th floor, Alexandra House, 10 Station Road, Wood Green, N22 7TR

T. 020 8489 1763

E. Bethlehem.Girma@haringey.gov.uk