Protect drivers so they can respond properly to emergencies

POLICE drivers must be properly protected in law so they can respond to emergencies quickly, Essex Police Federation has said.

Policing Minister Nick Hurd has said he is satisfied with the current laws around police driving – despite advice from a number of prominent barristers who say legislation is insufficient. His comments were made public in a letter written to Holly Lynch MP.

And Essex Police Federation Secretary Phil Suarez, himself a former police driver, says all emergency drivers must have the proper legal protection so they can carry out their duty.

Phil said: “I think a lot of our advice on this really comes from the people that are protecting our officers, barristers and others in the legal profession.

“Quite clearly their stance on it is that actually there aren’t these protections in place, because the test that has to be applied is what a normal member of the public finds acceptable.

“The very matter of police driving in an emergency situation means that you’re going to be driving in such a way that a member of the public wouldn’t expect that to be normal. So I think there needs to be a lot of clarity around the protection that exists for police officers.

“And again, as I’ve said several times, it doesn’t just refer to police, fire officers, ambulances, they’re all going to be in the same boat.

“Unfortunately I think when there’s an accident involving the police it tends to capture the media attention a little bit more, so I think that’s often where the focus is.”

Phil said that police drivers are highly trained to drive at speed, and the overwhelming majority of times accidents do not happen.

“I always say to people, and as I had many years myself driving blue lights, you’ve got to drive to arrive, you’ve got to keep yourself safe,” Phil said.

“I think to a certain extent, as long as you’re trying to apply due diligence and you’re not being stupid an actual accident happening are quite few and far between, but it is those one-off things that happen where people get seriously hurt and there’s an investigation, those are the cases where officers need protection.

“We’re here to serve and members of the public expect us to get to them as quick as we possibly can when there’s an emergency, as they would do the fire service or the ambulance service. Surely it must be the right and proper thing to reinforce the regulations that would cover that, and let’s give our people protection.”