Introducing the Road Harm Reduction Team #WMPRHRT

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls…..may we introduce………..The Road Harm Reduction Team

 Autumn is approaching, so with the coming of the “Season of the Witch” it’s only right that this blog is enjoyed with a warming coffee and a large slice of cake, always thought coffee and walnut was quite autumnal, with a little double cream, or maybe some warming bread pudding with custard…..hmmmmm decisions. Once decided on your chosen autumnal cake we can sit, relax and read on, all maybe enjoyed to the delightful sounds of “Season of the Witch” from Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Steve Stills’s “Super Session”  yeah that’s nice…………now let us continue 😉

 

The Road Harm Reduction Team ?

The Road Harm Reduction Team……? What’s that then we hear you say, well it’s evolution in progress, it’s the result of the realisation that we need to do more of what we do so well here in the West Midlands Police, to an even higher standard, and most importantly all of the time.

But first a little scene setting….. We (as in Police Forces generally) are great at developing new and exciting ways of tackling property crime, utilising all that the latest technology and analytical techniques to catch those responsible and deter offending offer. Alas when it comes to the threat of harm on our road network nothing has really changed, we police in the same way as we did 30 years ago, doing the same things in the same way, same campaigns at the same time of year, trouble is attitudes, offending, our transport network, our communities resulting needs and concerns have changed dramatically in those 30 years, and given recent environmental, health and congestion concerns those changes are accelerating at a dramatic pace. The long and short of it is the way we police the threat of harm on our roads needs to firstly catch up, and develop at a faster pace than the change. Only this way can we play our part in dealing with some worrying national KSI statistics whilst working in partnership with our local authorities make each and every community’s transport plan work to the benefit of all.

Almost a bit of a mission statement there………

Rear Admiral Grace Hoppers famous quote couldn’t be more appropriate when it comes to dealing with danger on our roads.

 

 

So what will the Road Harm Reduction Team do ?

Well for a start it will do more of what we’ve been doing over the last 12 months, all our efforts to ensure we target the greatest threat of harm on our road network will get a boost as 7 officers on the team will be dedicated to the task, enabling them to get on with their efforts to reduce the threat of danger without distraction. Our Operations to protect vulnerable road users will become far more common and widespread, thus creating an environment in the West Midlands where firstly road users who pose a threat of harm to others can expect to be caught and dealt with, and secondly where those who wish to utilise a healthier, sustainable form of transport supported by the regions transport plan can do so, confident that we are targeting those on the roads who deter them from doing so presently.

The 7 officers will be working in alongside our Roads Policing 24/7 resources, Neighbourhood Teams, Partnership Agencies, The West Midlands Fire Service and the Force Resource Unit, thus we will have a large targeted resource to make a hugely positive impact on offending in our region. Together we will concentrate on intervention, prevention and detection to reduce the threat of harm to those who use our regions road network. Together with our partnership agencies we will carry out many more Multi Agency Road Safety Operations (#MARSO), which entails ourselves and other enforcement agencies combining with our educational partners to target a specific vulnerable location in large numbers for maximum effect with all manner of road going offenders and offences being targeted at once. As you can imagine the effect on offending, both of the criminal and road harm variety is substantial, so as a result we will look to carry out as many as possible.

To give you an idea a normal days work for officers on the team it could entail running a 20mph speed check followed by a #OpClosePass operation and finishing off with a mobile phone operation. Each and every day of the officer’s time will be dedicated to targeting those who present the greatest threat of harm to our communities whilst they use the regions road network.

Classic close pass at a pinch point, aka. driving without due care and attention.

Targeting will be analysis and intelligence based, our analysts will constantly update the team as to the most vulnerable locations in the region so they can be appropriately targeted. The team will through analysis of driver records target the most dangerous and emerging prolific road traffic offenders. Through analysis even those with no current points on their licence will be highlighted. For example if a driver has come to our notice repeatedly, even if those interactions resulted in education instead of prosecution they will be highlighted and efforts will be made to change their road going behaviour and seek reform , just as we currently do with criminal offending. This way we can target those who pose a threat of danger to our communities before they actually cause harm.

 

Partnership working to the fore

The team will continue with its partnership working in unison with the local authority and the West Midland Fire Service, both who will educate where necessary, leaving us free to deal with those who offend. Exciting developments using VR as part of the education package on #OpClosePass are already in the pipeline. Our partners will engage with our communities carrying out education and awareness prior to the Road Harm Reduction Team carrying out periods of enforcement, leaving those offenders who as a result face prosecution in no doubt they had they were warned and had chance to “voluntarily” change their behaviour on the roads.

The officers on the team will work on a daily basis with officers from local Neighbourhood Teams and in doing so will “up skill” the Neighbourhood officers. So when the team move on to another area the Neighbourhood officers can carry on with the same tactics and targeting of their communities greatest threat of harm, with the Road Harm Reduction Team coming back on a regular basis to target “hotspot areas” or pass on new tactics and techniques. This ensures a continuous threat of prosecution will remain in all areas of the West Midlands, so important in deterring offending.

Also whilst working with the regions Neighbourhood Policing Teams we will get opportunity to work with and teach every new student officer all that we know, thus every new West Midland Police Officer will be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to target and prosecute those who pose a danger to others on our road network as they progress with their careers. This is such an important factor as it will ensure that the work that we do will spread as will the necessary ethos that will ensure that the changes in approach we have started continues and gathers the necessary momentum to ensure a wide scale change in offender behaviour in our region.

 

Tactics, Overt and covert and further innovation

Our tactics will continue to be truly innovative concentrating on putting doubt into any potential offenders mind. We want to create an overriding sense of certainty in any potential offenders mind that should their road use fall below the expected standard to the point where it threatens others with harm then they will be caught and prosecuted. This might be through our efforts or through 3rd party reporting, but either way we will not neglect a single opportunity to deal with the threat of harm on our roads in a direct and pro-active fashion.

Sometimes we will be highly visible for impact, sometimes we won’t be seen at all, the first offender will know we were out there looking for them will be when the notice of intended prosecution drops through their or their employers door, the impact of the unseen threat of prosecution having a huge impact on the psychology of potential offenders we will utilise it where-ever we see fit. Plus it gives us reason to expand our ever growing “fancy dress” box 😉

The innovation with a concentration on those who pose the greatest threat of harm will come to the fore. #OpClosePass #OPSaferSchool #OpSaferCross # and 20’splenty will continue to evolve until we get that perfect formula with each that ensures they deliver the wide scale behavioural change our communities desire.

 

Campaign Ownership

The Road Harm Reduction Team will have campaigns, but these campaigns will last all year, with all the offences that pose greatest threat of harm to our communities being targeted all of the time with the same “gusto“, resources and most importantly results that you usually associate with week long campaigns. We will still participate and support National campaigns but the work associated with them will just be “business as usual” for the team. That’s really the best way to describe the team, imagine a group of officers who are solely tasked with dealing with those who commit the offences that cause the most danger on our regions roads 365 days a year…….it’s like the ultimate campaign if you like. This with the other measures we have discussed and our 3rd party reporting scheme will create an environment on our regions roads where offenders can expect that if they offend they will be caught and prosecuted. The peaks and troughs seen in offending as national campaigns have effect then lessen, will smooth to the levels of the “troughs” and then as our tactics create the desired environment where offenders expect to be dealt with should they offend we will see a steady decline in offending levels, and with it a corresponding reduction collisions across the board. This will have huge benefits to the local environment, business and community wellbeing……as we have said time and time again the work that the Road Harm Reduction Team will engage in is basically the ultimate community policing project. It brings trust, confidence, visibility and change to those communities that want positive changes to their areas, and a road network that offers positive transport choices.

 

There is it then………

Expect to hear a lot from the team, watch out for the #WMPRHRT (West Midlands Police Road Harm Reduction Team) hash tag and the #Interventionandprevention hash tag on the twitter feed and upcoming blogs as we deal with those who pose the greatest threat to our communities on the regions roads. We will feature the developments in #OpClosePass , the 20’s plenty campaign, and also developments in 3rd party reporting in upcoming blogs. There will be a blog dedicated to how the Road Harm Reduction Team have developed a way to combat the worrying rise in “cloned” vehicles on our roads and in doing so eradicate the danger they and those that drive them pose also.

Oh we forgot to mention the being part of or associated with the team will also involve a lot of cake, in-fact any carbohydrate infused mood enhancer will be consumed in vast quantities. This is due to our respective commutes having increased to our new base, which means longer spent cycling and running to work, plus given all the work we plan to take on we will need the energy anyway…….. And we just like cake 😉

Time for another appropriate tune, how about Something in the Air by Thunderclap Newman now there’s a  tune if there ever was one and couldn’t be more appropriate…….pass the coffee and walnut cake.

 

Until next time safe journeys all