T NTN officer studies motorway policing in West Yorkshire
Senior Inspector (SIP) Lau Kan-pan of Traffic New Territories North (T NTN) recently paid a five-day visit to the Motorway Unit of West Yorkshire Police in the UK to share experience of handling traffic policing matters.
West Yorkshire Police, the fourth largest force in the UK, serves a combination of busy cities and towns with villages, as well as the West Yorkshire conurbation and a network of 200 miles of motorways providing easy access to other population centres. As T NTN has a similar mix of large towns, rural areas and an extensive motorway network, SIP Lau sees his visit as "an inspiring experience" that would stand him in good stead when he discharges traffic duties.
During his five-day programme in October, SIP Lau made site visits, got briefings and were attached to the Air (helicopter) Support Unit, Motorway Unit, Major Collision Enquiry Team (MCET) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Unit. He observed how the Motorway Unit carried out high-speed pursuits on motorways and how the Air Support Unit was mobilised to track down suspect vehicles. He also got a brief introduction on how the Traffic Police in the UK co-operate with other government agencies in managing motorways, particularly the Highways Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.
"I was particularly interested in the use of drug impairment testing and the ANPR system in policing," SIP Lau commented. "To apprehend a driver for drug driving, we now rely heavily on traffic officers' observations but the use of field impairment testing in West Yorkshire, together with impairment testing pupilometers, has provided a more scientific and standardised approach for the frontline officers dealing with drug drivers. The ANPR system has been proven to be a powerful tool to detect traffic offences and it is equally important when it comes to intelligence-gathering and crime investigation."
Because of the continuous "hard shoulders" on their motorways, West Yorkshire Police are able to solely deploy four-wheeled vehicles for motorway policing. Said SIP Lau: "The continuous hard shoulder allows four-wheel emergency vehicles to have free passage in all circumstances, a luxury not available in Hong Kong."
SIP Lau presents a
souvenir to Chief Inspector of the Motorway Unit of the West Yorkshire
Police, Mr Bob Wilkinson