UPDATED. Association of Chief Police Officers tell MPs at Get Britain Cycling inquiry that cops don't enforce 20mph limits.
Mark Milsom, the assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police today told the parliamentary inquiry on cycling that police officers do not enforce 20mph speed limits.
"We advise, we don't enforce [on 20 mph]," said Milsom, at the inquiry representing Association of Chief Police Officers.
An incredulous Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge asked: "What other laws do the police not enforce?"
The other MPs on the inquiry were also taken aback by Milsom's candour.
The Association of Chief Police Officers is an independent strategic body. ACPO’s 311 members consist of 223 chief police officers from the home forces of assistant chief constable rank (commanders in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police) and above, plus 60 senior police staff members from the 44 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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UPDATE:
Stung by criticism on social media and news sites, ACPO has now issued a clarification on the position given by Milsom.
An ACPO spokeswoman said:
“In most cases, 20 mph limits will follow Department of Transport guidance and include features such as speed bumps or traffic islands designed to slow traffic. ACPO guidelines include thresholds for enforcement across all speed limits to underpin a consistent policing approach.
"However it is for local police forces to apply a proportionate approach to enforcement of 20mph limits based on risk to individuals, property and the seriousness of any breach. Where drivers are exceeding the speed limit through wilful offending, we would expect that officers will enforce the limit and prosecute offenders."
However, what does 'wilful' mean in this statement? It's not defined.
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5 comments
MPs were actually surprised by this revelation? Brilliant! Says it all really....
billy hunt Mar 4th 2013 at 7:52PM
0 2Carlton - to be fair the right of the chief constable to decide operational priorities, and by default which laws would and would not be enforced and when has been entrenched in law for a long time, and is nothing new - I would refer you to the late, great Lord Denning in R-v-Metropolitan police Commissioner Ex-parte Blackburn, all the way back in 1968!
kieran foster Mar 4th 2013 at 11:56PM
0 0Carlton I suspect the word "wilful" is intended as shorthand for "exceeding the speed limit by several MPH". In other words, it's not just 20mph limits that ACPO believes police forces should ignore - it's all speed limits. As Billy Hunt says, this shouldn't some as a surprise to anyone. Still, it's good that this has been exposed so clearly by yesterday's inquiry. Mark Milsom (the ACPO witness) also sought to justify non-enforcement on the basis that a significant number of people object to 20mph limits - and the police need to maintain their public legitimacy. This is despite the huge support from communities and local authorities who are voting in droves to adopt 20mph limits. As for the opposition, this comes from just 15% of the public - and even among drivers, it's only 17% (see p10 of http://www.20splentyforus.org.uk/UsefulReports/BSocialAttitudes2010.pdf). An even higher proportion (75%) are in favour of speed cameras: http://www.theaa.com/public_affairs/aa-populus-panel/aa-populus-increased-support-for-speed-cameras.html. I strongly suspect that this "widespread opposition" to speed limits/cameras is a big media myth. The media have a clear vested interest in appealing to readers (/viewers/listeners) who like spending a lot of money on fast cars. That increases the value of advertising with them. Anyway, the question now is whether what happened at the Get Britain Cycling inquiry yesterday will provoke a rethink on speed limit enforcement, and indeed on traffic law & enforcement more generally. We can but hope! Roger Geffen Campaigns & Policy Director CTC, the national cycling charity
Roger Geffen Mar 5th 2013 at 8:05PM
0 1Apologies that you'll have to imagine the paragraph-breaks in my previous comment. I did type them all, however they disappeared when I posted it!
Roger Geffen Mar 5th 2013 at 8:07PM
0 0"Apologies that you'll have to imagine the paragraph-breaks in my previous comment. I did type them all, however they disappeared when I posted it!" Roger Geffen Typical - lost in the post!
David Beacham Mar 9th 2013 at 10:02AM
0 1