The Authorised Professional Practice (APP) has been approved by the College of Policing as the official and most up-to-date source of professional practice on policing. South Yorkshire Police have adopted APP as their Statement of Agreed Policy. This is the agreed policy on Roads Policing and you may wish to refer to the APP section now.
Exceptions
South Yorkshire Police does not deviate from APP on this subject.
Additions
In addition to APP, South Yorkshire Police’s statement of agreed policy on Road Policing includes;
Scope
The policy will affect all SYP police officers attending and / or dealing with road collisions, or involved in the driving of any police vehicle owned by, hired to, or operated by SYP. This includes police staff and any officers involved in response driving and pursuit driving. Officers must decide at the outset of a pursuit or emergency response if their actions are justified, proportionate and conforms to the principles of least intrusion under The Human Rights Act 1998.
A copy of "Roadcraft" may be obtained from Driver Training at Robert Dyson House
Aims and Objectives
This policy is introduced in order to provide all police drivers (including routine patrol and enquiries, response and pursuit driving) with guidance aimed at every day policing scenarios and to comply with the IOPC report on Police Road Traffic Incidents, NPCC Policing Our Roads Together 3 Year Strategy 2022-25 and the report published in 2004 by Chief Constable Richard Brumstrom.
Incident grading will not influence driver behaviour.
Only the officer driving will decide if the use of legal exemptions and/or the vehicle’s emergency equipment is warranted and may be called upon at a later stage to justify their actions.
Most drivers on seeing or hearing the warning of an approaching emergency service vehicle will try to give precedence – however the use of warning equipment gives no protection or right of way.
Police drivers may take advantage of any precedence offered to them by other road users and pedestrians – but only if it is safe to do so.
The use of a police vehicles emergency warning equipment should be used whenever an officer is making lawful use of Exemptions, unless such use would hinder the use of the vehicle for the policing purpose it was being used for on that occasion.
Unwarranted use of emergency warning equipment can undermine its value.
All Police drivers are reminded that:
‘NO EMERGENCY IS SO URGENT AS TO JUSTIFY A COLLISION. IT IS FAR BETTER TO ARRIVE LATE THAN NOT AT ALL’.
All Police drivers have to be accountable and will have to justify their actions.
Police drivers should make specific consideration of sections 5 and 6 of the Police crime Sentencing and Courts act 2022:
Sections 5 and 6 of the PCSC Act 2022 amended the 1988 Act tests for the offences of dangerous and careless driving so that in determining whether an offence has been committed a designated person’s standard of driving is compared to that of a competent and careful constable who has undertaken the prescribed training, and therefore has the same skills. The new test applies where the designated person is driving for police purposes and has undertaken the prescribed training.
Roads Policing Group, RPG - Operational Support Unit, OSU
The Road Policing element of the South Yorkshire OSU strategy focuses on key areas to help tackle Road Crime and reduce Road Casualties. It includes but is not limited to the areas below. This will be carried out in conjunction with the Policing Our Roads Together 3 Year Strategy 2022-2025.
RPG will patrol identified KSI (killed/seriously injured) routes and conduct enforcement where appropriate. This will be outlined in a Casualty Reduction Strategy overseen by the RPG Chief Inspector.
RPG will run operations in line with the NPCC Operations Calendar 2025-26 | UKROEd to tackle risk groups, such as young drivers, drink/drug drivers, mobile phone use, speeding and goods vehicle enforcement. RPG will support the use of initiatives and work with partners; including the Bikesafe program.
RPG will patrol identified areas utilising both plain vehicles and high visibility patrols to show a police presence and deal with offenders appropriately.
Casualty Reduction Plan
Road Policing Group (yhrn.police) (has links to the Casualty Reduction Plan and other useful items).
In line with the above strategy, each of the four RPG teams are allocated one of the four Districts to work in routinely on road safety reduction initiatives.
Tasking
In line with the above strategy, RPG patrols will undertake proactive road casualty reduction across the force, linking the patrols to relevant NPCC operations calendar, local concerns and Criminal use of the roads as detailed in the RPG Patrol Strategy.
Pursuits
RPG officers specialise in pursuit management and are accredited and authorised to use TPAC tactics including preventative measures and tactical advice. Only suitably qualified officers in appropriate vehicles will become directly involved with the Tactical Phase of a Pursuit.
RPG will be deployed to tasks and incidents within their specialism. They will only be deployed outside that area where the threat and risk dictates as such, e.g. immediate incidents within their vicinity.
A copy of ‘Roadcraft’ may be obtained from Driver Training at Robert Dyson House.
This policy complies with the National Pursuit Policy, codified in May 2011 by the Secretary of State.
Collision and Incident Management
Police attendance at road traffic collisions is focused on providing a service and determining whether an investigation and/or prosecution is appropriate. We will provide data to local authorities to take prevention measures. Collecting all available data correctly at the earliest opportunity is a professional requirement. The police service does not gather information solely to assist disputes between those acting on behalf of parties to road collisions.
Dash-cams
This section of the policy affects all Officers and Staff involved in the driving of any marked police vehicle, and should be read in conjunction with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice Pursuant to Section 29 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the Data Protection Code of Practice for Surveillance Cameras and Personal Information.
This policy is introduced to positively influence police drivers, provide evidence in the event of a collision involving a marked South Yorkshire Police Vehicle and increase public confidence.
All marked police vehicles and unmarked fitted with blue lights and two tones will be fitted with forward facing cameras, commonly known as Dash-cams. These devices will be activated/deactivated when the vehicles ignition is turned on and will record the vehicles movements ONLY. Under no circumstances must the cameras be used for directed surveillance. If in the event that during the course of the vehicles travel, the on board camera records evidence of an offence then this will be dealt with as normal CCTV evidence capture in line with the NPIA Practice advice on The Use Of CCTV in Criminal Investigations.
Dashboard mounted cameras are widely used in the public domain and there use has significantly assisted in the prevention/detection of Insurance fraud, provided transparency in the event of collisions and assisted in the event of unreliable witness testimony.
All collisions are unique and all police drivers are accountable for their actions, therefore it is necessary to provide a transparent view of the circumstances in the event of a collision. It is widely accepted that individuals see different things and witness testimony is not always reliable, therefore having video evidence available will assist in determining the circumstances of each case.
See Pi18.3 - Police Vehicle Dash-cams for more information.
Police Community Speed Watch
In forces that run the Police Community Speed Watch scheme:
The aim of this scheme is to cater for the real or perceived speed related offending, and through partnership with the Community, is to be used in circumstances that appear necessary, justifiable and proportionate in order to contribute to the following:
- Reduce death and injury on the roads
- Improve the Quality of life for local Communities
- Reduce the speed of vehicles to at least the speed limit
- Increase public awareness of inappropriate speed and its impact on Communities
- Increase Community engagement with local officers
See the Community Speed Watch website for more information, along with SYP Policy on the subject Pi18.14 - Police Community Speed Watch (yhrn.police).
Legal Framework
- Road Traffic Act 1988, in particular Section 35 (1), (2), (3) – Power to Direct to Survey and Section 163 (1), (2) – Power to Stop
- Criminal Procedures and Investigation Act 1996 and in particular Section 23(1) Codes of Practice
- Common law, in particular provisions in respect of self-defence and Section 117 Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 and accompanying Codes of Practice
- The Police Act 1997
- The Human Rights Act 1998
- Road and Street Works Act 1991
- Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002/16 (General and Chapter 8)
- Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986
- Road Safety Act 2006
- Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (Sections 99-102)
- Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986 (Amendment 2007)
- Retention and Disposal of Seized Motor Vehicles Regulations 2005
- Section 59 Police Reform Act 2002
- Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007
- Data Protection Act 1998
- Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022
Associated Procedural Instructions
This policy is supported by the subsequent procedural instructions
- Pi18.1 - Speed Enforcement and National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS)
- Pi18.2 - Police Vehicles
- Pi18.3 - Police Vehicle Dash-Cams
- Pi18.4 - Pursuit Management
- Pi18.5 - Police Vehicle Incidents
- Pi18.6 - Road Traffic Collisions
- Pi18.8 - Checking and Calibration of Road side Breath Screening Devices
- Pi18.9 - Use of Family Liaison Officers in Road Deaths
- Pi18.11 - Methods of Drug Recognition Training and Field Impairment Testing
- Pi18.12 - Road Checks – Local Procedures and Vehicle Tracking System – Person Threatening Suicide
- Pi18.13 - Seizure, Retention and Disposal of Motor Vehicles Being Used by Unlicensed and Uninsured Drivers
- Pi18.14 - Police Community Speedwatch
- Pi18.15 - Reporting of Carriageway Defects to Local Authorities
- Pi18.16 - Revoking Driving Licences - Operation Revoke
- Pi18.17 - Authorised Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road
- Pi18.18 - Abnormal Indivisible Loads
- Pi18.20 - Principles Governing the Use of Sec 163 / 164 Road Traffic Act (RTA) powers
Other relevant documents you may wish to consider are:
- Health and Safety at Work (etc.) Act 1974
- P7 - Information Management