Hampshire police launch system to send in videos of potential road crimes to catch offenders

Hampshire Constabulary has officially launched its Hants Snap scheme after a 10-month pilot saw 29 per cent of submitted footage, of incidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, lead to formal action.

The scheme will now cover all road users and offences and video, recorded via a dash cam, head cam or other recording device that is being legally used, can be submitted online.

Summary Justice Unit manager Conor Curtis said: ‘Those who drive carelessly or dangerously on our roads will have action taken against them.

‘We have already dealt with a range of offences, including driving without due care and attention, failing to comply with a red light and driving on a hard shoulder.

‘In the majority of cases where we do take action, the person submitting the footage won’t need to do anything further, and wouldn’t be contacted by us again. We will only get in touch with people if a case is prosecuted at court, which is a small percentage.’

During the pilot, teams received 261 submitted videos and formal action was taken in 29 per cent of cases including five cases which resulted in full criminal investigation.

Anyone who submits footage to the police must report it within seven days of the incident.

The criteria also includes no editing of the video, not deleting it from the device, not sharing it on social media and needs to show between one to two minutes either side of the incident.

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Once received, the footage will be reviewing by staff who will assess whether possible offences have been committed and consider what actions to take and if there is enough evidence to prosecute.

Since the start of July, the team have received a further 216 submissions, with formal action in 46 per cent of cases.

Road Safety Sergeant Scott Kerr added: ‘We are unable to be everywhere at all times, but with the Snap scheme, we can now be anywhere.’

Footage can be submitted by going to https://hants-snap-police.egressforms.com or via the Force website.

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