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THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST

CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP 2002/2

Reducing Road Trauma involving heavy vehicles by investigating enforcement, community policing, road safety programs, technology and

intelligence methods

It is no use saying, "We are doing our best." You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary

Winston Churchill

Cameron Kirkpatrick Sergeant

State Traffic Task Force Queensland Police Service Level 3, 149 Muller Road

Boondall 4034 Queensland

Phone: 07 3363 3399 Fax: 07 3364 3322

E-mail: kirkpatrick.cameron@police.qld.gov.au

Signed: Dated: Cameron David Kirkpatrick

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Contents

1. Contents 2

2. Acknowledgements 3 - 6

3. Executive Summary 7 - 8 4. Programme 9 - 11

5. Introduction 12

6. New Zealand 13 - 15

7. United States of America 15

7.1 Brief findings 16 - 17 7.2 Salt Lake City, Utah 17 - 19 7.3 El Paso, Texas 19 7.4 Meridian, Mississippi 20 7.5 Washington D.C 20 - 25

8. Canada 25

9. United Kingdom 25 -26

9.1 Lincolnshire Police 26 - 27 9.2 Hampshire Police 27 - 29 9.3 Kent Police 29 - 30 9.4 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary 30

10. Conclusion and Recommendations 31 - 31

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Acknowledgements

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Canberra, Australia for giving the opportunity to explore new ideas and be given the chance to bring them back and help our community Inspector John McCoomb, State Traffic Support Branch, Queensland Police Service Senior Sergeant Kevin Phillips, State Traffic Task Force, Queensland Police Service Senior Constable Ian Schuler, State Traffic Task Force, Queensland Police Service Inspector Ian James, Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, New Zealand Police Inspector David N. Parsons, National Adviser: Road Safety & Training, Road Policing

Support, New Zealand Police

Senior Sergeant Rob Morgan, Standards and Training, Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, New Zealand Police

Ian Walker, Traffic Intelligence Analyst, Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, New Zealand Police

Sergeant Gordon Keay, Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, New Zealand Police Sergeant Barry Rippon, officer in Charge, Police Driver Training, New Zealand Police Julia Jones, Strategic Road Policing Intelligence Analyst Road Policing Support, New

Zealand Police

Officer Randy West, Transportation Specialist, MCSAP Coordinator, Utah Highway Patrol

Richard M. Ollerton, Operations Manager, Motor Carrier Division, Utah Department of Transportation

Inspector Sherri Moore, Utah Department of Transport Inspector Karen Ritchie, Utah Department of Transport James S. Mavromatis, Director, El Paso Intelligence Centre, United States Department of

Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, El Paso, Texas

David W. Taylor, Special Agent, Special Assistant to the Director EPIC, Drug Enforcement Administration, El Paso Intelligence Centre, El Paso, Texas

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Orrin Fuelling, Director of Training, Regional Counterdrug Training Academy, Naval Air Station, Meridian, Mississippi

Michael J. Christensen, State Programs Manager, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C Gamble Dick, Training and Criminal Interdiction, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C Warren E. Hoemann, Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration, Washington D.C

Michael M. Johnsen, Hazardous Materials Transportation Specialist, Office of Enforcement and Compliance, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Jeffrey S. Loftus, Transportation Specialist, Office of Research and Technology, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

David N. Longo, Public Affairs Specialist, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Larry W. Minor, Chief, Vehicle and Roadside Operations Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Mark G. Oesterle, Team Leader, National Training Centre, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

James J. Onder, Traffic Law Enforcement, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Robert Redmond, Senior Transportation Specialist, State Programs Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Sandy Richardson, Highway Traffic Specialist, Enforcement & Justice Services Division, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Brian Ronk, Safety Programs, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Washington D.C

David M. Seller, Police Traffic Services, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington D.C

Paul M. Bomgardner, Director of Administration, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, Washington D.C

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Stephen F. Campbell, Executive Director, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, Washington D.C

Vu T.H. Nguyen, Director of Marketing and Technology, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, Washington D.C

Robert Flaim, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington D.C Kevin Zuccato, Coordinator Americas, Australian Federal Police, Embassy of Australia,

Washington D.C

Officer Anthony G. Butta, Crash Reconstruction, EVOC Radar SFST Lidar PBT, Training Division, Baltimore County Police Department

Officer Frank E. Enko, Traffic Training Coordinator, DRE Agency Coordinator, Traffic Training Team, Baltimore County Police Department

Officer Mark E. Vahlkamp, Traffic Training Team, Baltimore County Police Department Phil Cooke, Officer in Charge, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, St. Catharine’s,

Ontario, Canada

Sergeant John S. Martin, Senior Collision Investigator, Collision Investigations Unit, Hampshire Constabulary

PC Tony Pike, Lincolnshire Police, Lincoln, England Granton Mitchell, Lincolnshire Police, Lincoln, England PC Nigel Fihst, Crash Investigator, Hampshire Police, Winchester, England PC Ken McKenzie, Motor Carrier Unit, Hampshire Police, Winchester, England Superintendent Rita Tucker, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, London,

England

Peter Meehan, Intelligence Officer, Kent Police, Maidstone, England PC Dave Hickey, Traffic Patrol Course, Kent Police, Maidstone, England Sergeant Keith Potter, Strategic Criminal Justice Department, Kent Police, Maidstone, England

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PC Irving Rogers, Vehicle Intelligence Unit, Kent Police, Maidstone, England Nadine Phillips, Qantas Business Travel, Brisbane, who was an extremely helpful travel consultant. My children Jacinta and Ty, who at only 14 and 11 years respectively, at the time of my leaving Australia, supported me during the scholarships application and interview and waited patiently for nearly 4 months for their father to return, with gifts of course. My ex wife, Linda, who in my absence, took on many of my responsibilities, that many an ex wife would not even dream of, including paying my bills, selling my house (with my permission), packing my possessions, looking after the children, the cat and the fish and many other items to numerous to mention but with her assistance made my trip much more hassle free. My father, Robert, retired Deputy Commissioner, Queensland Police Service, whose assistance and advice helped me achieve this chance of a lifetime.

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Executive Summary

Name: Cameron David Kirkpatrick Position: Sergeant, State Traffic Task Force, Queensland Police Service Address: Level 3, 149 Muller Road, Boondall, Queensland 4034 Contact: Phone – 07 3364 3399 Fax – 07 3364 3322 E mail – kirkpatrick.cameron@police.qld.gov.au Fellowship Objective Reducing Road Trauma involving heavy vehicles by investigating enforcement, community policing, road safety programs, technology and intelligence methods Fellowship Highlights It is hard to pick out the highlights of the trip, as everyday bought a new challenge and opened my eyes to what can really be done when it wants to be done. Here are a few of my favourites.

1. New Zealand Police – patrolling and performing heavy vehicle checks 2. Point Of Entry – Arizona, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. These

establishments were state of the art facilities with dedicated staff. 3. Washington D.C - the staff that are behind the scenes of what operational law

enforcement officers do, certainly opened my eyes to their dedication to their cause and that ultimately they believe in what their doing. Which I found refreshing.

4. Community Policing – that truck drivers and police can get on with the right attitude by both sides

5. Drug Driving – being shown how drug driving can be detected by simple tests 6. Criminal Interdiction – a new concept for Queensland but has exciting potential 7. Terrorism – the real concern of a massive terror attack in the USA involving

heavy vehicles 8. Technology – the equipment used by police, VASCAR, Density Metres,

Computer systems, Automatic Number Plate Recognition 9. Baltimore County Police – patrolling and using the VASCAR system 10. Ontario – patrolling and weighbridge operations 11. Intelligence – being shown what can be achieved by dedicated Traffic Intelligence

Officers 12. Training – dedicated training for traffic officers and sitting in on a course 13. Australian Embassy – invited by the Australian Federal Police to meet other Law

Enforcement Officers from the FBI and Secret Service.

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Findings

The collective findings of my travels clearly show that the Queensland is embarrassingly behind the times in regards to heavy vehicle compliance. Every country and agency visited has many ideas, programs, and visions in reducing road trauma involving heavy vehicles. Queensland urgently needs to:

• establishment a dedicated and specialised heavy vehicle unit • appoint Traffic Intelligence Officers • provide the latest in technology and equipment • actively participate in a Community Policing Program with the heavy vehicle

industry Presentations Since my return I have been asked to do a presentation at the PROBUS club, Bribie Island, Queensland. I have been requested to present a outline of my findings to my superior officers. Submitting various reports on the topics studied with recommendations to my executive.

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Programme

New Zealand 23 June – 28 June 2003 Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, Wellington - New Zealand Police Service

• training • legislation • enforcement • technology • intelligence

United States of America 28 June – 9 August 2003 Salt Lake City, Utah and surrounding areas Utah Highway Patrol and Utah Department of Transport

• community policing • enforcement • technology • training

Wyoming Highway Patrol

• enforcement El Paso, Texas El Paso Intelligence Centre, Texas (police time)

• intelligence Meridian, Mississippi Naval Air Station, Meridian. Mississippi (police time)

• Criminal Interdiction Course

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Washington D.C US Department of Transport

• enforcement • road safety programs

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

• training • intelligence • road safety programs • enforcement

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

• training • enforcement

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

• training • road safety programs • enforcement

Canada 18 August – 31 August 2003

• training • enforcement • technology

England 1 September – 14 September 2003 Lincolnshire Police, Lincoln

• heavy vehicle intelligence • general traffic intelligence

Hampshire Police, Winchester

• enforcement • training • intelligence

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Kent Police, Maidstone • training • enforcement • intelligence

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, London

• road policing

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Introduction Australia is a large country, with communities spread far and wide. Many of these communities survival depends greatly on the heavy vehicle industry for the delivery of goods and the transportation of stock and produce from these communities. As the industry increases so do the number of heavy vehicles on the road and ultimately so does the road trauma. Reducing road trauma is not only achieved by enforcement methods. It includes community police, intelligence and technology. Unfortunately in Queensland there is little of any including enforcement. It’s not a lack of effort by enforcement officers but a lack of ‘where do we start’ in reducing the road trauma. Reducing road trauma involving heavy vehicles is not aimed solely at the heavy vehicle driver. Certainly they are the leading cause of many accidents but often it is the behaviour of the car driver that will cause the accident. Community Policing programs and education needs to be aimed at both parties. Of great concern is the use of drugs by heavy vehicle drivers to stay awake and drive longer hours. Enforcement, intelligence and community policing play an important part in quelling this fatal habit. The scholarship has allowed me to visit law enforcement agencies dedicated to the heavy vehicle industry. I have looked at community policing programs, training, the latest technology, the intriguing field on intelligence gathering and enforcement activities. The awarding of this scholarship presented me opportunities I could never achieve through normal channels. When I was arranging the finer details of my itinerary, many opportunities opened up, which included the chance to visit El Paso, Texas and Meridian, Mississippi. With permission from the Churchill Trust I was able to suspend the scholarship and attend these, which I am extremely grateful to the scholarship. I have studied Port of Entry facilities, weighbridges, police vehicles equipped with every imaginable piece of equipment, patrolled with officers and spent hours in offices looking a books, programs and computers. I’ve looked under trucks, over trucks and in trucks. I spoke to truck drivers, law enforcement officers, administrators and specialist. Every thing I learnt, shown or was told is all aimed at reducing road trauma. Hopefully we can do the same here. .

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New Zealand Background The New Zealand Police (NZP) as a specialised squad of officers dedicated to the enforcement of heavy vehicle legislation. The Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit (CVIU) was established over 25 years ago and currently consists of 86 officers. The NZP has adopted the policy known as ‘general deterrence’ to its road policing and the CVIU have modified this policy to suit their particular specialised enforcement activity. The four intertwined principles of this policy are:

• highly visible • ongoing • strictly enforced across the general population • well publicised

From this policy comes the CVIU Purpose Statement:

Safety and equality through education and compliance Training Officers who desire to enter the CVIU must complete two in-service training modules dealing with heavy vehicle enforcement. There is also an introductory course on commercial vehicle enforcement held at the Police College on an annual basis. On joining the CVIU officers are placed with a senior officer for one-on-one and on-the-job training. New officers are monitored until they reach a required standard of competency. The NZP has recognised that if officers are going to enforce the heavy vehicle legislation then the officers’ knowledge should be tested yearly to ensure that officers are maintaining a high level of knowledge. The CVIU conduct a yearly internally competition to test the skills and knowledge of officers. The winning officers will be attending my squad in 2004. Enforcement The CVUI perform static and mobile interceptions. This includes the use of static weighbridges. The CVIU uses overt or covert methods, either as a proactive measure or to detect on going offenders. There are 72 vehicles attached to the CVIU. All vehicles are equipped with mobile phones, CB radios, tape measures, cameras, binoculars, mechanical tools and portable weighing scales. Officers also have at their disposal mobile radar, laser speed guns and laptop computers fitted with modems for instant on-line access to various police databases.

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Intelligence The reduction of road trauma involving heavy vehicles is an important part of the CVIU’s activities and have recently appointed a traffic intelligence analyst. One of the many functions of this person is to analyse road crash data involving heavy vehicles and identify ‘blackspots’. This intelligence is passed onto the appropriate CVIU team for action in reducing the number of crashes in that particular ‘blackspot’. Other intelligence matters include criminal activities by operators/drivers and continual breaches of legislation. In addition to the Traffic Intelligence analyst each of the four teams have a police officer allocated to intelligence duties. Community Policing The CVIU has 4 teams throughout New Zealand with a focus on each team being a integral part of their community. This allows officers to be familiar with heavy vehicle operators in their area and respond to local issues affecting the industry. Officers are encouraged to ensure compliance to legislation is not only by enforcement but by education to the operators. This results in officers conducting lectures, visiting operators and providing advice. My Visit During my week visit with the CVIU I was privileged enough to deal directly with the National Manager of the entire unit, Inspector Ian James plus the Officer in Charge of Standards and Training Senior Sergeant Rob Morgan. These officers ensured my stay was enjoyable and rather busy. My first day was taken up with going through the background of the CVIU, the purpose of the unit, training, enforcement and intelligence. The second day was firstly taken up with more specific details of training. Training is an important issue to this unit. Senior officers strongly believe that if their officers are to enforce the law then they need to be trained correctly and that training be constantly updated and improved. This attitude needs to be adopted by the QPS as there is no official training package. Later in the second day I was taken for a drive by Senior Sergeant Morgan who showed me the CVIU’s weighbridges, the Highway Patrol and Accident Investigation Squad offices, where the opportunity to speak to officers was made available. Then onto the Police College where heavy vehicle training is undertaken. The third day I was picked up by Sergeant Gordon Keay and taken to the Pilmmerton Weighbridge where I watched the enforcement activities of the officers. This included weights, log books and mechanical inspections. In the afternoon I was taken on mobile

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patrols throughout Wellington and the surrounding areas performing interceptions of heavy vehicles for various checks including weights and mechanical inspections. The fourth day started with a meeting with Inspector Parsons of the NZP Road Policing Unit. This was spent discussing general traffic training and intelligence issues. Later in the morning I was taken back to the Police College to meet with Sergeant Rippon, Officer in Charge, Driver Training Unit, who ran me through the specialised driving training course for officers performing heavy vehicle interceptions. In the afternoon I was taken to the Infringement Bureau to view how prosecutions against heavy vehicles drivers/operators are conducted. The fifth day was taken up firstly with a discussion on terrorism and heavy vehicles and the use of dangerous/hazard goods in a terrorist act. A general meeting was held to run through all the previous weeks activities and to finalise any outstanding questions or issues I had. Conclusion The CVIU is a well established and professional unit dedicated to reducing road trauma involving heavy vehicles. Whilst they do not forget their basic duties as police officers they try and concentrate solely on heavy vehicle enforcement. Their vehicles are equipped with all the latest technology and their training is precise and ongoing. The QPS and other Australian law enforcement agencies could learn a lot from this unit.

United States of America The United States of America (USA) is seen as the world leader in ensuring compliance within the heavy vehicle industry. From the federal legislation to the specialised enforcement teams both mobile and static, heavy vehicles are closely monitored 24 hours a day. The time spent in the USA was fascinating. People say Americans do everything bigger and better and after approximately 10 weeks there I would have to agree, in relation to heavy vehicles anyway. The work I did in the USA is to intense to try and describe it on a daily basis but I will first of all outline some brief and important findings then briefly outline my visits to the individual cities and the agencies within those cities I visited. Inclusive of this will be the time at El Paso and the course in Meridian Mississippi. It is important to note that during meetings with my original contacts in various agencies the door opened for many other meetings, discussions and opportunities to good to pass and this led to much more information being obtained on other. One of these is the concern of Terrorism.

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Brief findings One of the most important factors in the enforcement of heavy vehicle legislation is that the legislation is administered at a federal level by the US Department of Transport (USDOT). This alones puts it in a far superior position for successful compliance than Australia’s multi state legislation. Australia has had legislation approved nationally by all states and territories but the implementation plus amendments and inclusions can be left up to the particular state. However, when West Australia and the Northern Territory do not have fatigue management legislation, only codes of conduct then many problems do arise, but the USA has decided it is a federal responsibility and all states will comply, which is the way Australia needs to go. Not only for uniformity of legislation but for road safety. A significant mandatory requirement for all heavy vehicle drivers is the compulsory holding of a current Medical Certificate prior to commencing any type of heavy vehicle driving. Compulsory random drug testing of drivers by heavy vehicle companies. These companies are subjected to random audits by Special Agents from the USDOT. Every heavy vehicle that travels within the United States, inclusive of vehicles from Canada and Mexico must have a USDOT number on the side of the prime mover. This number allows enforcement officers to verify company/owner details, past infringements, suspensions and any intelligence on this particular company or driver. Multi Agency Task Forces have been established to avoid duplication by many law enforcement agencies. The USA can have up to 5 different law enforcement agencies with squads dedicated to heavy vehicle enforcement. This is dependent on the amount of heavy vehicle movement through their jurisdiction, rate of accidents and possible criminal activity (drug trafficking). The two main agencies are the State Police/Highway Patrol and the State Department of Transport. The other law enforcement agencies that can become involved may be City or County Police or the County Sheriffs Department. All enforcement officers undergo compulsory training conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. (CVSA). Officers are restricted to perform only certain enforcement duties dependent of the level of training obtained. The USA has the same problem with drivers of heavy vehicles using drugs to stay awake so they can drive longer hours and do more trips. Drug Driving is a new concept in Australia but in the USA it is regularly enforced by specially trained officers known as Drug Recognition Expert (DRE). If a non DRE intercepts a driver who is believed to be under the influence of a drug the DRE is called in and after several basic tests the DRE can confirm if there are drugs present and often will also nominate the type of drugs that may be present dependent of the results from the tests.

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Criminal Activity within the heavy vehicle industry is a massive problem in the USA. Known as Criminal or Drug Interdiction heavy vehicles are used to transport drugs, cash, stolen property and illegal aliens. Again this type of activity in Australia has not been enforced at any significant level. Terrorism is a part of our lives and no more so than in the USA. There is a genuine concern that a heavy vehicle, load with explosives, could be used in a terrorist attack. The explosion in Oklahoma City showed that it is possible.

Salt Lake City, Utah On arrival in Los Angeles I picked up my hire car and drove to Salt Lake City. En route I stopped Ehrenberg, Arizona. Here I got my visit hands on experience of enforcement officers at work inspecting drivers, trucks and documentation. Salt Lake City is headquarters to the Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah Department of Transportation. One of my main functions in Salt Lake City was to look at the successful community policing program, run by the Utah Highway Patrol, known as ‘Truckers n Troopers’. I took up with Officer Randy West, Motor Carrier Enforcement Division, Utah Highway Patrol who took me through the program. The program has been in place for 12 years. Initially police officers travelled with truck drivers to view their activities, concerns and hopes of a better industry. This was such a success the program expanded where truck drivers then rode with the police officers to see the police officers side of the industry. Again it proved to be so successful that the program expanded where trucking associations were called in as partners in the program. The program is aimed at fostering better relationship between the police and the heavy vehicle industry. This is achieved by attending conferences, seminars and attending work places to speak to drivers. Discussions I had with truck drivers and transport operators support the program. An important aspect in the promotion of this program within the heavy vehicle industry is the use of a high profile sportsman, in the case of the Utah Highway patrol, they had Karl Malone, a famous basketball player and owner of a trucking company. Also took up with Richard Ollerton, Operations Manager, Motor Carrier Enforcement, Utah Department of Transport. This allowed me to visit a Port of Entry (POE), known to us as weight stations. The first visit led to several others. The first was at Perry, 60 miles north of Salt Lake City on Interstate 15. Here I had the chance to view the operational side of heavy vehicle enforcement. Every heavy vehicle is weighed. This is a two stage process. As trucks enter the weigh bridge their weights are pre scanned. Depending on this and the work load the truck may be allowed to continue on without any further contact with enforcement officers. If the weights need to be verified then the truck will be directed onto another weigh device where final weights are determined. If in excess of legal weights they are directed to park and return to the office. If for any other reason the

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truck or driver needs to be spoken to are directed to park and report to the office. The volume of traffic is enormous and as a result inspections of trucks, except weight breaches, are random. There is a Pre Pass system in place where companies apply to be a part of a program that allows them to by pass weighbridges. The companies and drivers must meet strict guidelines and conditions such as having an exceptional compliance history, meeting all mechanical and fatigue conditions and are open to random audits and if found to be in breach can be removed from the program. Companies in the program have transponders located in their cabins and they will beep when the weigh bridge has acknowledged their approach and may be able to continue down the highway without any hindrance. They can be directed into the weighbridge for a random audit. The Pre Pass system is for documentation only. The program allows for companies to be more responsible and is aimed at a road safety approach. The countryside around Salt Lake City is mountainous to the north and east. As a result many trucks travel at very low speeds both up and down hills. Many car drivers often have trouble calculating distance of a truck in front and the speed it is travelling and they are travelling at. All of a sudden they need to take evasive action to avoid rear ending the truck in front. To avoid this USDOT has made it compulsory for slow moving trucks, whether on flat or hilly surfaces to activate their hazard lights so motorists can register that there are slowing moving vehicles in front of them. Another good initiative for road safety. To put it in perspective some of these slow moving trucks maybe travelling at 20mph and cars at 70mph. Another safety factor is that all heavy vehicles must have a reflective red and white strip around the trailer. This allows for vehicles in both day and night to quickly see a heavy vehicle whether from the rear or side. It has reduced the number of side accidents, where the cause was believed to be that the driver did not see the trailer because of the darkness. An important fact in enforcement is that any breach of legislation is an automatic grounding of the vehicle and/or driver. This is direct opposite to Queensland. A truck in Queensland needs to be 20% overweight before being grounded. An example is on a 42.5tonne truck, the overload weight needs to exceed 51tonne before being grounded. This is no doubt a road safety issue that needs to be addressed by Queensland authorities. Over the next few days I visited a POE at Evanston, Wyoming, POE at Echo, Utah, POE Daniels, Utah and viewed operations. Again the number of trucks is enormous and officers work at an unbelievable speed to ensure trucks are not backing up on the highway creating a danger to other motorists. If it becomes to busy with a backlog, the POE is temporarily closed whilst the backlog is cleared. Another item of interest is the deterrence factor. In Queensland a truck driver found in breach of legislation will receive an on the spot infringement notice. The driver has the option to pay the fine or ignore it in which case he will later be given the opportunity to pay the outstanding amount or have his driver’s license suspended until the fine is paid.

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In the USA they have a ‘post bail’ system. If an interstate or international driver is in breach of the law, they pay ‘bail’. Most of the offences committed by truck drivers in the USA need to be determined by a court of law. By posting ‘bail’ it covers the immense possibility of the truck driver not showing up for court due to work commitments or simply because of distance. If there is a no show, then the ‘bail’ is accepted as the fine, the matter is finalised, the system is kept cleared of old cases and police resources aren’t wasted on tracking offenders. Of course the driver has the right to contest the matter in a court of law. The beauty of this system is that as a deterrent it works well. Truck drivers are unable to leave the site of interception until ‘bail is posted’. This means that they either carry lots of cash, which is not a safe option, arrange for money to be delivered to them, this wastes time and makes their load late, which truck drivers hate or they can be arrested by police for failing to post bail, which again is a time factor for their load. These options deter the truck drivers in offending. An on the spot infringement notice, does not have this type of deterrence. El Paso, Texas The El Paso Intelligence Centre (EPIC) was one of the opportunities that opened up to me after I was awarded the scholarship and I attended this establishment outside of scholarship time. I had the privilege of speaking to the two highest ranking agents, Director James S. Mavromatis and Special Agent David W. Taylor. EPIC is a 24 hour intelligence based centre and is available to police officers throughout the USA and Canada. EPIC is located on the Biggs Army Base is controlled by the US Department of Justice and is staffed by Special Agents from numerous Federal Agencies plus officers from state agencies. Whilst it deals with numerous intelligence matters, of importance to me was two inter country operations known as Operation Pipeline and Operation Convoy. These operations are aimed specifically at heavy vehicles and the movement of illegal drugs, cash and other contraband through the United States, Canada and Mexico. The drugs usually originate from South America and travel to Mexico where they are placed on trucks and sent north into the USA and Canada. After the sale of the drugs in these two countries the cash, seizures of US$1,000,000 have occurred, is returned back into Mexico. EPIC is a highly classified and sensitive establishment and much of what I saw and was told is not able to be mentioned here. Except to say that the success of EPIC is very much reliant on law enforcement officers supplying information that can be investigated by the Special Agents. Whilst in El Paso I travelled to the POE, Anthony, New Mexico where I took up with enforcement officers and viewed their activities. Enforcement was identical to that in Utah and Wyoming, remembering that this is federal legislation, however the New Mexico State influence was evident in that drivers need to produce a New Mexico Tax Identification Permit. There was much attention being paid by officers in relation to this.

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Meridian, Mississippi Additional to the scholarship, I attended a week long course held on the Naval Air Station, Meridian, Mississippi. With the assistance of the Director of Training, Orrin Fuelling, I was able to attend this course. This course was Criminal Interdiction and conducted by the Regional Counterdrug Training Academy, which is funded by various Federal Agencies including Dept of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency. This course is aimed at operational law enforcement officers to enable them to detect the movement of illegal contraband by vehicles (inclusive of trucks). The course covered the following areas:

• concealed compartments in vehicles • how to detect if a vehicle has been modified • how to read a persons body language • questioning of persons and detecting false or misleading answers • officer safety • Spanish • Search and seizure

Whilst the course covered USA law, the method of concealment in vehicles, body language and questioning is universal and much of what was learnt can be applied to our own enforcement activities. Apart from the Tornado warning siren late one afternoon it was a most enjoyable time Washington D.C In Washington D.C the scholarship recommenced. My initial visits were with specific individuals within the USDOT, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and Baltimore County Police (BCP) but these contacts opened many more opportunities within these agencies. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has the main responsibility of heavy vehicle compliance, education, road safety and enforcement training. Its primary mission is: to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses In my first meeting I had the privilege in meeting the Acting Deputy Administrator Warren E. Hoemann. This meeting was then followed over the following days with various other departments ranging from Training, State Programs, Criminal Interdiction, Security/Terrorism, Enforcement, Public Affairs, Vehicles and Roadside Operations Division, Driver Licensing Program, Hazardous Materials Transportation Specialist, Transportation Specialists and Team leaders.

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Two road safety programs of note controlled by the FMCSA are

• Don’t hang out in the NO – ZONE • Share the Road Safely

The first program, Don’t hang out in the NO – ZONE, is aimed at the car driver and the safe areas to drive in when near heavy vehicles. Often cars end up in blind spots and when the heavy vehicle makes a certain manoeuvre the truck driver is unable to see the car and a accident usually results and more often than not can lead to death or serious injury. The second program, Share the Road Safely, is aimed at the truck driver and his responsibility in driving a large and heavy vehicle. It encourages truck drivers to

• take care of yourself • always keep your distance • please slow down in work zones • always maintain your vehicle • always drive defensively • be aware of your ‘no-zone’ • please fasten your seat belt • always work to improve highway safety

Another important program aimed at heavy vehicle drivers is the ‘Gettin’ In Gear’. A Wellness, Health, and Fitness Program for Commercial Drivers. The program:

• identifies health and fitness risk of commercial vehicle drivers • examines the likely effects of these health risks on road safety • establish a wellness and fitness program

The FMCSA has developed an extensive training course into Criminal Interdiction including security and terrorism issues. The FMCSA has introduced a program called “America Needs You” and it requests the help of heavy vehicle drivers in ensuring the security of their vehicles to avoid theft and be alert whilst travelling the highways for any suspicious activities. As previously mentioned there is a genuine fear of a terrorist attack involving a heavy vehicle loaded with hazard materials. The FMCSA also works closely with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) in training standards for enforcement officers. The CVSA is responsible for the training standards of all enforcement officers across the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. The tri country responsibility is incredible well organised and accepted by the heavy vehicle industry. The purpose for this is to ensure uniformity across all 3 nations. Again this is at Federal level and Australia can only benefit from such an initiative. The training standards of the CVSA includes 5 levels of inspection that can be conducted by an officer. All enforcement officers are trained initially at level 3. This restricts them

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to inspecting only driver’s licenses, medical certificates, log books, drug and alcohol testing, seatbelt system and completing a vehicle inspection on these items. With additional training officers move to a level 1 authority. Level 1 includes level 3 plus conduct a mechanical inspection, such as brakes, coupling devices, steering, tyres, chassis, exhaust and suspensions to name a few Level 5, 4 and 2 are explained below. Level 5 - is inspection of the heavy vehicle (mechanics) only whilst the driver is not

present Level 4 - is an inspection of one particular item (e.g. brakes) Level 3 - Drivers Inspection (as outlined above) Level 2 - Full inspection of driver and vehicle, which does not require the driver to

physically get under the vehicle Level 1 - all levels 5 – 2 and as outlined above The enforcement officers complete a Vehicle Inspection Report on all inspections. If the vehicle is passed free of defects, a pass decal is issued and placed on the vehicle. This allows other enforcement officers know that this vehicle has been inspected and is defect free and unless exceptional circumstances exist is free from a vehicle inspection for 30 days. The driver, log book and everything in a level 3 inspection is still be able to be conducted. One area the USA lead in is training and the support given to officers by either training officers or by operational guidelines. An example is the CVSA, North American Standard Out-Of-Service Criteria. This easy to carry and essential book outlines when heavy vehicles are to be placed out of service. It is easy to read and actually discusses each particular item in very fine detail, such as brakes, load security, tyres, coupling devices and windscreen wipers, many with illustrations. Unfortunately nothing like this exists in Queensland. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has numerous responsibilities and the main one being Reducing the incidence of traffic related deaths and injuries Of note to my visit to the NHTSA was being shown by James Onder, Traffic Law Enforcement NHTSA and David Seller, Police Traffic Services, NHTSA a guide to law enforcement agencies to develop traffic safety programs to address serious moving violations committed by drivers of heavy vehicles. This guide highlights several of the more common offences committed, speeding, following to close, reckless driving (driving without due care and attention), improper turning and drink/drug driving. The guide is aimed at a local level and outlines possible strategies to deal with them. The other important issue raised by the NHTSA is drug driving. This is a new concept in Queensland, in fact is not even actively enforced as no training or guidelines exists. Unfortunately police in Queensland will often let an obvious impaired driver go because they have registered a zero alcohol reading and their knowledge and training does not

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permit any further action to be taken. Such an impaired driver, with a zero alcohol reading will most likely be drug impaired. Sandy Richardson, Traffic Law Enforcement, NHTSA and in charge of the impaired driving section outlined the procedures the NHTSA have implemented so that all police officers throughout the USA are trained to recognise alcohol impaired driving, whilst select officers are trained in the more involved detection of drug affected drivers. As previously mentioned officers can intercept a driver and may believe that the driver is impaired by drugs. The officer will call on the assistance of a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) to determine if such person is so affected and possibly indicate by the results of the testing what drug is present, so subsequent blood test can be more precise. The biggest problem with testing blood for drugs is that you must nominate what type of drug may be present. The DRE’s use various systems to check a subject to see if they are affected by drugs. Tests and observations can range from looking at the subjects pupils for dilation, speech behaviour, body tremors, blank stare, warm to touch and the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN). A DRE will perform certain tests on the subject eyes, usually with a pen or finger and the movement of the eyes in response to the test will determine if the subject is affected by drugs. The word Nystagmus means the involuntary jerking of the eyes. An example of a particular drug and its indicators are Gamma-Hydroxybutrate (GHB) a designer drug found mostly in nightclubs. HGN will be present, subject will be drowsy, thick and slurred speech, subject will be uncoordinated and eyes may be bloodshot and watery. These are all indicators of being by affected alcohol as well. So it can be seen how untrained police can be confused. A DRE will observe these and will discount other conditions that have similar indicators such as head injury, extreme fatigue and diabetic reaction. Training of DRE’s in Queensland is required urgently. An issue, which ultimately comes under my quest to look at intelligence matters and wasn’t an issue at the time of the scholarship application, but became amazingly evident during my visit to the USA was terrorism. There is a clear and ongoing concern that a heavy vehicle loaded with explosives or hazard materials could be used to create a diaster bigger than 9/11 in New York City. Nearly every agency remotely connected to law enforcement has issued books, guidelines, instructions and is asking for assistance from truck and car drivers in helping detect possible terrorist threats. The one common factor in this concern is that law enforcement agencies rely on the public to supply information. Law enforcement agencies actively encourage their officers to be alert. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have issued a guideline on safe distances for different type of vehicles loaded with explosives. The Research and Special Programs Administration attached to the USDOT have issued a training module on Hazmat Transportation security awareness. These are only two examples of what is being done for the real concern that is actively present in every law enforcement agency.

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As Australia is a close allied of the USA this concern should be noted in Australia and acted upon. My experience as an operational police officer shows that very little concern or effort is requested at our level. Baltimore County Police is approximately 45 miles north of Washington D.C and has a dedicated traffic training program. Known as the Traffic Training Team, my visit was very satisfying. The main interest in my visit was to look at VASCAR, Visual Average Speed Computer And Recorder. This system checks the speeds of vehicles by using the simple calculation of time over distance. There is no Radar or Laser Speed detection devices used. The officer can use VASCAR in a stationary or mobile mode. The basic operation is that the police officer checks the speed of a vehicle by the time the vehicle takes to travel a pre determined distance in static mode and in mobile mode it can be used by travelling a distance deemed suitable by the officer. The length of the distance will not be less than 500 metres. The VASCAR then calculates and instantly gives a speed for the target vehicle. I was taken out on patrol to be shown first hand how VASCAR works and personally I think it is an exceptional piece of enforcement equipment that has great potential in detecting speeding trucks and reducing road trauma. In Australia and as I discovered in my travels through the other countries I visited, the CB radio is the truck drivers best tool to notify other drivers of the use of radar and Laser by police. This temporary modifies the truck driver’s behaviour for a short time. However, I see VASCAR as overcoming this problem. There is no visible equipment that will alert the offending truck driver to the use of a speed detection device. I intend to apply for a VASCAR unit be tested by the QPS to determine its effectiveness in detecting speeding trucks. Whilst visiting the Baltimore County Police, Traffic Training Team, Officer Frank Enko, Traffic Training Coordinator, showed me another speed detection device, using a stop watch. Again the Time over Distance theory is used but instead of using VASCAR, officers can use a simple stop watch that has been calibrated and modified to display Miles Per Hour but in Australia’s case Kilometres Per Hour. Again a pre determined distance is selected and officers will simply press start at the start line and stop at the stop line and the speed is automatically displayed. Again the potential is enormous here in Australia. The Chief of the Baltimore County Police has a real concern over speeding motorist within his jurisdiction and has a result had a special funding grant made available to him to purchase mobile radars for all police vehicles in the County. This resulted in over 100 radars being purchased. Officers who normally didn’t target traffic offenders for various reasons suddenly realised that the mobile radar was a useful tool in detecting other offences, such as criminal interdiction and was readily accepted by officers in the short term. I had the great pleasure of being invited to the Australian Embassy by Kevin Zuccato, Australian Federal Police, who is attached to the embassy. I spoke to Agent Zuccato for a short time about my scholarship. I was then was invited to join FBI, Secret Service,

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Defence Force Personnel for a fortnightly get together of officers connected to law enforcement. It was certainly a great evening.

Canada The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has a dedicated heavy vehicle enforcement unit known as, Motor Carrier Enforcement Branch. The officers are all trained under the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance standards to maintain that standard of uniformity. Whilst their enforcement activities are similar to the USA, several key differences do appear. Firstly there is additional 10 weeks of training on top of the CVSA requirements. This training is an induction into Ontario’s heavy vehicle legislation, court procedures, self defence and interception procedures. This is followed by 3 weeks on-road training. The use of Weigh In Motion (WIM) devices, which are sensors and scales placed within the road and determines speed and weights of vehicles is used in conjunction with in-truck transponders to track the movement of potentially offending vehicles but also acts as an audit on companies that have been placed in the safety rating program. The MTO runs several operations, and one is Operation Air Brake. In September 2002, 4.9% of 1827 vehicles were put out of service because of poor brake adjustments. Unfortunately no such operation exists in Queensland and this one that would be well accepted in the industry. A community program to ensure better compliance is for the MTO to introduce incentives to the heavy vehicle industry. These incentives reward transport companies that have a proven track record. Such a reward my be obtaining MTO contracts. One of the most impressive things of the MTO is the number of truck inspection sites. There are 41 fixed sites and 69 lay by sites. Fixed sites have can either weighing or office facilities whilst the lay-by sites are a dedicated open and safe area used for random inspections of vehicles.

United Kingdom My visit to England was short and busy. I visited 4 agencies and all were strongly involved in traffic policing, although their operational set up was mostly aimed at the motorways, I was more interested in the intelligence fields, but as was the case in the other countries, more doors opened and I was soon looking at enforcement, equipment, technology and training. England’s traffic policing seems to be aimed almost solely at the massive network of motorways. The amount of traffic on these roads is incredible and often very slow. All traffic resources have been thrown at the motorways to ensure compliance by drivers but what appears to be more important, is to keep them clear of problems and keep the traffic moving. Traffic Police respond to any incident of the motorway. Whether it be a broken

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down car, debris on the road or an accident. They constantly move from one incident to another leaving little time for enforcement. However, the government has realised this are in the process of removing such duties, as debris on the road and broken down cars from police to the Highways Agency, a non enforcement government department, much like Queensland Main Roads Department. This will free up police so they can concentrate more on enforcement duties. The police can still respond to these incidents if so required or if they wish. Another intriguing factor was that use or perhaps non use of the police motorcycles on the motorway or traffic enforcement in general. When questioned about this, officers said that the motorcycles often work in conjunction with detectives in shutting down streets and performing traffic stops so criminal operations can be carried out. This emphasis on the motorways, which is needed in some degree, and lack of use of police motorcycles for traffic enforcement is evident in the country roads of England. These roads are narrow and in fact some are so narrow two vehicles cannot pass each other, and with the great English tradition of having hedges and trees growing right up to the roadway, driving on these roads is hazardous as absolutely no one, except me, obeys the speed limit. Again when questioned about this, I was told that there is little emphasis on traffic policing away from the motorways and that the small town police are being removed and replaced with non police officers who are customer service officers. It is hoped Queensland never goes this way. The heavy vehicle industry in the United Kingdom is unique in that a good percentage of heavy vehicles travelling long distance come from either western or eastern Europe. This presents many problems to law enforcement agencies in respect to enforcement such as language, prosecution and international vehicles being left hand drive are required to drive on the left side of the road. Therefore the use of Drivers Log Books is impractical, mostly due to language, which has led to use of Tachographs in heavy vehicles. Tachographs are placed behind the speedometer of the vehicle and the activities of the truck are recorded by thin lines being drawn on a scale. The Tachograph will show driving time and rest time (truck turned off). Officers can remove the Tachograph for inspection. Whilst this system does not specifically outline work times and there can be some concern as to what driver it relates, (one way of avoiding the law) it does have the advantage of being virtually tamper proof and there are sufficient laws to cover, loss of Tachographs, tampering and excess hours. My visit included the following four agencies. Lincolnshire Police, Lincoln, England Lincolnshire Police are the leaders in heavy vehicle intelligence, which is a surprise as there are no major motorways near the major urban areas such as Lincoln. However, a need for a heavy vehicle intelligence system was found to be required and this led to the development of PIKE.

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PIKE is named after the police officer who created the program, PC Tony Pike, Lincolnshire Police. PIKE stands for Police Intelligence Kommercial Enquiry. One reason for the success of this intelligence tool has been it’s availability to all 52 police forces throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition the intelligence within the system is available in compliance with formal agreements between European Law Enforcement Agencies and the United Kingdom agencies. The purpose of PIKE is to

• identify and prosecute persistent offenders engaged in all aspects of road crime • improve road user behaviour by drivers of all classes of commercial vehicle

The aim of PIKE is to provide support to

• Terrorism • Crime • Casualty Reduction

PIKE works on a Microsoft Access platform and allows officers to search in numerous fields, from registration number, date, time, location, driver and company names. As with any intelligence the success of it depends on the information being delivered to the Traffic Intelligence Officers for action. One further benefit of PIKE is that it is compatible with Automatic Number Plate Reader systems (ANPR). The ANPR is a computer based system that is able to read registration number plates from either a stationary or mobile mode. Once the registration number is confirmed by the ANPR computer, it instantaneously checks the number against the National Police Database and will sound an alarm if the vehicle, the owner or possible driver may be wanted by police. Alarms may be sounded for such things as vehicle being unregistered, owner wanted for questioning or vehicle involved in a crime. I was taken on road to be shown how the ANPR works and it would be a great tool in heavy vehicle enforcement. Police could enter information against a truck registration number for offences such as persistent breaches of driving hours legislation and when the registration is checked by the ANPR an alarm would sound and police could check the driver to ensure compliance. The ANPR is also equipped with VASCAR as discussed in the Baltimore County Police visit. Hampshire Police, Winchester, England My visit to Hampshire Police was to look at the accident investigation side of heavy vehicles. Again, further information on various subjects came my way which was very helpful. There I spoke to PC Nigel Fihst, Crash Investigator with the Hampshire Police. Heavy vehicles represent a good proportion of fatal and serious accidents on the motorways in their jurisdiction. The reason for the high rate is the motorway that runs down to Southampton, a major sea port in southern England.

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The Hampshire Police in investigating heavy vehicle accidents will use outside help in determining the cause or mechanical condition of the vehicle. An example is tyre inspections. PC Fihst states that tyre failure in heavy vehicles is common and to determine the quality of the tyre, whether the damage is pre or post accident requires expert examination and a lack of resources from a police perspective requires this task to be undertaken by private companies contracted by the Hampshire Police. This is a positive move as private examination can be seen as being neutral and may reduce claims of improper testing and examination and inadequate investigations by police. I have mentioned previously my study of the VASCAR system for checking speeds of vehicles. The Hampshire Police, Accident Investigators also use VASCAR to measure skid marks of vehicles to determine the speed they were travelling at when the accident occurred. One matter that requires follow up here in Australia is the use of ‘black boxes’ in motor vehicles. These ‘black boxes’ are similar to the ones used in aircrafts and record data such as speed, braking time and distances plus other failures of the vehicles mechanical system. The information available can assist in determining the cause of an accident and who may be at fault. Apparently the downloading of information from these ‘black boxes’ by police is kept relatively secret to avoid possible tampering or theft after a serious accident. The Ministry of Transport, United Kingdom (MOT), requires yearly inspections on all motor vehicles over 3 years of age. Inspections are conducted by private organisations and closely monitored and audited by the MOT. Traffic training is again a mandatory requirement before officers can conduct traffic enforcement. Hampshire Police run a 3 week Traffic Patrol Course and the first two areas covered are

• Motorway procedures and major incident • Tachograph legislation and procedures

As previously stated the Motorway is of vital importance to the police and in fact there is Motorway Manual to cover all types of matters which may occur and its has own specific laws to cover them. Hampshire Police have several Traffic Intelligence Officers and Field Traffic Intelligence Officers. The difference between the two is that the field officers actually goes and work on the road and visits areas that intelligence has suggested as likely target locations. The Traffic Intelligence officers issue Traffic Intelligence Bulletins several times a week for on road officers to be aware of any intelligence matters. As mentioned the Police Motorcycles work closely with the detectives and in Hampshire Police they are also used in Intelligent Led Policing which is often in conjunction with detectives and their operations.

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When investigating heavy vehicle companies several possible avenues that Hampshire Police use to detect offences were highlighted to me and will certainly be of benefit here in Australia. They include:

• Tax payments • Customs • Goods and Services Tax • Social Security • Pay records

Kent Police, Maidstone, England My visit to Kent Police Headquarters was to look specifically at Intelligence. Again many doors opened and I also visited a traffic training session, the local traffic squad, both on-road and administration officers. Kent Police has an established Traffic Intelligence Unit that carries out various functions such as:

• Traffic intelligence bulletins • Crash Data Analysis • Persons of Interest • Vehicles of Interest

The Traffic Intelligence Unit analyse crash data, infringement locations and general information from officers to establish known ‘blackspots’ and other relevant locations. From this analysis the information can be dealt with in several ways. Firstly it can be passed onto officers for inclusion in their daily patrols or specific operations can be mounted to target the specific location. Usually such operations also have several main offences that are regularly committed and will be the main focus of the operation. I had the opportunity to sit in on a Traffic Training Course, being held at the Kent Police Headquarters. The three week course is mandatory before officers can enforce the majority of traffic legislation. PC Dave Hickey, the course instructor, outlined the structure of the course and provided me several lesson outlines. Again, much emphasis is enforcement on the motorways. However, what was pleasing to see is that the students are taken out on the road for hands on training. Whilst I was attending the class, the day was committed to vehicle defects and the students were taken out into the field to view defects on vehicles and of particular note to me was the study of when exhaust noise on trucks is considered excessive. At the conclusion of the day I was given the “Hughes – Guide to Traffic Law for the Enforcement Officer”. This is an outstanding field reference guide for police officers that can be carried whilst on patrol. It is contains 37 chapters on matters ranging from definitions, seat belts, defects, Tachographs, licensing, Careless driving and traffic accidents. I see huge potential for a similar book with the Queensland Police Service.

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There is also another Intelligence section I visited known as Vehicle Intelligence Unit, which concentrates on motor vehicles, whether this be stolen, re identified, wanted or suspect vehicles. One computer system used is known as Genesis, and is capable of linking information from a number of various databases which saves on manpower and time. A second system is called Revelation and searches for keywords that have been entered by other officers. An example would be, Mack or Volvo. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, London, England Road Policing in the United Kingdom is controlled administratively, as in procedure and policies by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) based in London. My contact was Superintendent Rita Tucker. Time was restrictive here simply due to the inconsistent work load that officers have. After all they are responsible for 52 police forces. The HMIC have a National Road Policing Strategy. This strategy has as its objectives:

• Safer Vehicles • Safer Roads • Improved Road User Behaviour

The aim is to:

Secure an environment where the individual can use the roads with confidence, free from death, injury, damage or fear

Intelligence plays an important part in reaching these aims and objectives as the HMIC attempts to prioritise the list of problems that are causing the road trauma then they also try and understand why the risks are occurring. At this level the HMIC, more so than at a Traffic Intelligence Officer level, uses academic research to either understand these risks and how to reduce or eradicate them. Once these risks have been identified and the appropriate operational plan put into place, the success or failure as the case may be, needs to be evaluated to within a reasonable time frame to see if the operation is a success or failure. This will require the compassion of road trauma statistics, infringement statistics and timing of enforcement activities.

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Conclusion and Recommendations There is no doubt that reducing road trauma involving heavy vehicles needs to be immediately and adequately addressed by authorities in Queensland. It is clearly evident that our current efforts are futile and not achieving any success in real terms. The hard work by a few police officers is making little impact on an industry that can play the system as well as anyone. New Zealand is our closet neighbour and much can be learnt from their activities. Whilst they appear to concentrate solely on enforcement, their results are impressive. Their methods of enforcement and equipment used could easily be modified to suit our environment. The United States of America is a country dedicated to the cause in every way imaginable. Enforcement facilities, such as the Port of Entry located through the various states are staffed with dedicated officers and have the equipment needed to do the job thoroughly and professionally. Road Safety programs are specific and are aimed at one problem only. Example is the No - Zone, aimed at cars travelling to close to heavy vehicles. Their programs are well publicised, open for input from the community and other stakeholders. The same road safety issues the Americans have, we do to. Technology is a great thing, if you know to use it and fortunately the people I dealt with were able to show me some awesome stuff. From the VASCAR, which has huge potential in Australia, to the English and their Automatic Number Plate Reader which greatly increase detection rate of offenders. The intelligence gathering process has taken a new turn with the fear of Terrorism in the USA and England. Both countries have dedicated traffic intelligence officers whose job now includes the added criteria of the genuine concern of a heavy vehicle leaden with dangerous goods being used in a massive terrorist attack. Australia needs to be aware of the work these officers are doing and immediately look at creating dedicated traffic intelligence officers. Training was an issue that greatly concerned me prior to the leaving on the scholarship and now concerns me even more so. That should be lack of training. Queensland does not have a dedicated heavy vehicle training program, let alone a general traffic enforcement training program. The Canadians have a 10 week course for their new officers, New Zealand run dedicated courses as do the British, and the Americans have it right with training conducted and organised at a federal level to ensure all states, and even Mexico and Canada, maintain a uniform approach and level of competency and professionalism.

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The Community Policing concept is the backbone of any law enforcement agency. The community is a part of these agencies and the success of the agencies is heavily reliant on the communities assistance. Heavy vehicle enforcement is no different. If we want to make a difference, we need to get involved with the industry, we need to talk and listen to them. Enforcement will not achieve the desired results alone, but a combination of everything discussed here in this paper will make a difference. This is all community policing. To immediately address the issue of reducing road trauma the establishment of a dedicated and specialised heavy vehicle enforcement squad news to be done as quick as possible. The squad needs to be trained in the following: Drug driver detection Basic enforcement activities Mechanical inspections Intelligence gathering Criminal Interdiction This squad will be responsible for: Enforcement/compliance Community policing Intelligence gathering Creation of a training package Road Safety programs It is strongly believed that by creating such a squad it is one way to reduce road trauma. The life that such a squad could save, might be your child’s, your husband or wife or maybe yours.