New Met Police command will focus on road safety

12.00 | 19 January 2015 | | 3 comments

A new Metropolitan Police command has been created to focus on London’s roads, bus network and other surface transport services.

The new Metropolitan Police Service Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC) will comprise more than 2,300 police and police community support officers, making it the largest police command in the UK. 68% of the funding for the RTPC will be provided by TfL.

The command structure brings together officers and resources previously working in the MPS Traffic Operational Command Unit and the Safer Transport Command, and takes on some activities previously carried out by Borough Operational Command Units.

The press release announcing the new command says it will be “capable of delivering hundreds of thousands more hours a year of road safety activity than before”.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: “This new command means that for the first time ever we now have a single team focusing on improving roads and public transport safety.

“As we’ve seen from targeted initiatives such as Operation Safeway, this is a group of officers that can mobilise in large numbers to deliver impressive results and changes in behaviour.”

Commander Stephen Watson, Metropolitan Police Service, said: `The Met enjoys a first class partnership with TfL. Much has already been achieved through our joint efforts and we are confident that this new and fully integrated command will enable us to build on a legacy of success.”

 

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    Bob:
    You cannot have it both ways. You want people well trained and up to date with traffic laws then suggest retired police officers! Maybe the answer is to ensure all officers have an understanding of traffic law and the policy was zero tolerance so that anyone who breaches said legislation is either spoken to or taken through due process. As for the other two Es, insufficient funding and a lack of committment for having road safety in the national curriculum will make road safety still behind politicians priorities no matter what they promise in the run up to an election.


    Peter Westminster
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    Let’s hope that they are well trained and up to date with motor law and enabled to go about and enforce where necessary and guide where a word in the ear will do.

    The third E of road safety being Enforcement has been sadly, or apparently sadly, lacking in the last decade or so.

    I think it’s about time a separate force or service was established maybe staffed with retired police officers and their primary duties would be enforcement of traffic laws and assistance to road users.

    They could be called the Traffic Support Group or Service.


    Bob Craven Lancs….Space is Safe Campaigner…
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    Not so much as “new” but a reorganisation within the Met to pull together the various strands with responsibilities for roads and public transport safety.


    Peter Westminster
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