building safer communities together

Building safer communities together

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Speed Watch Project

PC Gary WattsInsp Dave Shipwright

Project development -

PC Gary Watts

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CIOS BCU led force Community Speed Watch Pilot and Speed Watch Project

The aim of this presentation is to explain the history, benefits and working practices of

-Community Speed Watch-Neighbourhood Speed Watch

-School Speed Watch





Speed Watch and PACTWHY?

• In Spring 2007 the Bude Rural beat voted speeding vehicles problems as two out of three of the local PACT priorities

• Research and internal discussions showed that neither at BCU or Force level were there resources available to effectively deal with the priority at a local level

CIOS PACT priorities sept 2008

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Speed Watch and PACTWHEN?

• In July 2007 the first School Speed Watch took place

• In December 2007 the first Community Speed Watch session was underway in Marhamchurch near Bude

• In Spring 2008 work began on a unique computer application to enable forcewide handling of Speed Watch data





Key BenefitsSchool Speed Watch (SSW)

• ‘offending’ drivers are interviewed by school children leaving a lasting impression and effective lesson

• the children learn an important lesson they will hopefully retain into their driving years

• a SSW session can be organised and run with a minimum of equipment and two staff and can involve PCSOs

• the sessions are at key locations, high profile, highly visible and newsworthy. Often the impact is increased by word of mouth both within the school and the local community

• ‘offending drivers’ are often left with a positive impression of the school and the police and are less likely to reoffend understanding the possible implications of their actions





Working PracticesSchool Speed Watch

• Year 6 school children monitor the speed of traffic with the Bushnell radar gun assisted by a Police Officer or PCSO.

• a police officer with the second group stops the vehicle and asks the driver is they will be interviewed by the school children

• the pupils ask a series of set question including questions such as ‘why were you speeding?’ and ‘how would you feel if you ran one of my friends over?’

• the ‘offending’ driver is given the educational ‘Speed Kills’ leaflet and allowed to leave with no further record or sanction





Key BenefitsNeighbourhood Speed Watch (NSW)

• feeds into the CSW 2 staged warnings to ‘offending’ drivers educating them and giving them opportunity to amend their behaviour

• enables PCSOs and NBMs (even when not type approved device trained) to carry out highly visible speed reduction and intelligence gathering

• favours education and engagement over enforcement





Working PracticesNeighbourhood Speed Watch

• a speeding problem is identified and verified

• suitable sites are identified and risk assessed by suitably trained officers

• monitoring sessions are carried out by NPT with either the Bushnell Radar Device or other suitable equipment

• details can be recorded on a Speed Watch sheet and input to the Community Speed Watch Database and warning letters sent





Key BenefitsCommunity Speed Watch (CSW)

• gives 2 staged warnings to ‘offending’ drivers educating them and giving them opportunity to amend their behaviour

• is an effective and efficient method of obtaining intelligence regarding drivers willing to persistently break the speed limit

• is a highly visible tool for preventing speeding vehicles

• provides a system for targeting persistent offenders across the force area

• gives access to those in the community who are willing and able to volunteer for other areas in policing





Working PracticesCommunity Speed Watch

• a speeding problem is identified and verified• funding is sourced for the equipment (iro £300) and training given by the NPT• volunteers carry out sessions and the intelligence is automatically submitted to the

database by email• validation checks are carried out and PNC data input by Police Volunteers/NPT• the database automatically counts the number of times the registration appears

and produces warning letter 1 or 2 as appropriate• warning letter 2 is hand delivered (if in force) by the relevant NBM and the

database automatically sends targeting notification to the relevant NPT• if caught speeding, targeted offenders are given a FPT and the database updated





Key BenefitsCommunity Speed Watch Database

• the CSW Database is fully supported by SunGard Vivista and offers the benefits – • automated letter and email production with minimum input need• automated count system including criteria consideration• fully searchable intelligence database of speeding vehicles and locations• various access levels keeping certain input and modifications restricted• basic search access available to all force staff for intelligence and investigation use• search access can assist decision making when giving warnings to speeding

motorists • statistical reports can be produced for partners and internal use





Results (so far)• School Speed Watch played a key part in CCC reducing the speed limit in the village of

Whitstone near Bude from 40 mph to 30 mph, which was at the time a Local PACT Priority

• School Speed Watch is widely used across CIOS BCU increasing effective engagement in schools

• Neighbourhood Speed Watch has allowed NPT staff the ability to directly influence PACT Priorities without the need of further tasking

• Neighbourhood Speed Watch has engaged Response officers in effective work towards PACT Priorities

• Community Speed Watch has provided an introduction to Volunteers willing to work in other areas of policing and has increased engagement across a broader spectrum of the community

• Speed Watch has been recognised as an effective speed education and reduction tool and will be included in a training package being developed with the Safety Camera Partnership

• In the first year of the Community Speed Watch pilot there were been over 800 stage 1 letters and 16 stage 2 letters issued in the Bude Sector. None of the targeted vehicles were issued with a FPT. This shows an extremely high proportion of engagement with the education at the lower stages.

building safer communities together

Documents

speed watch projectthe

st pirans hall

area church rd curch

rowdy behaviour beaches

madron3nuisance parkingparking

bude rural beat

illegal vehcile use42

local pact prioritiesresearch