Top traffic cop warns of speed camera demise

Britain’s most senior traffic officer has told councils speed cameras face being wound down almost totally and police cannot take over their role.

Gwent Chief Constable Mick Giannasi, who speaks for ACPO on road policing, says government funding cuts have left local authorities with no budget to renew camera equipment or pay the wages of staff who issue fixed penalties.

In a briefing note sent to all local authorities on August 18, he adds that police resources used for speed enforcement before cameras have since been deployed elsewhere.

He says that ‘unless something decisive is done in the near future, the system will continue to be wound down to the extent that it becomes ineffective’ and warns: ‘It would be unrealistic in the current environment to expect substantial reductions in camera enforcement to be supplemented to any significant degree by on-road intervention by the police.

‘The resources which were available for speed enforcement before cameras were introduced have largely been redeployed into other areas of roads policing and in particular into tackling criminals and dangerous offenders using the roads.’

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