'Catalogue of shame' leaves police drivers finding themselves on wrong side of law

New legislation means police drivers will be able to use their training and expertise in pursuits and be appropriately protected in law, but this is dependent on them having up-to-date training.

Extra protection for police drivers was included in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The new law takes into account officers’ advanced driver training – meaning they will no longer be judged against a ‘careful and competent’ driving member of the public. However, any manoeuvre performed must be within their training.

Lindsey Campbell, north representative for Hampshire Police Federation, said: ‘I found the input really useful regarding the driver legislation because the most high risk, high frequency part of our day to day role would be response driving.’

Tim Rogers, national lead for pursuits and driver training, described a ‘catalogue of shame’ where officers were on the wrong side of the law, embroiled in lengthy criminal and misconduct investigations which have caused untold stress.

‘We are in a better position because we campaigned for eight years. It’s a major achievement,’ he said.

Simon Hill, from Metropolitan Police Federation, acknowledged that officers do expect to be scrutinised when things go wrong.

He said: ‘We understand there is a requirement for us to be scrutinised when things don’t go right, the whole misconduct process must have confidence from the public and police officers alike in the process.’

Police driver training would be valid for five years and be standardised across England and Wales.