Intranetics Motoring News Service

The Blunkett Bobbies who are manning speed traps and handing out fines

19th November 2007 | BACK     PRINT

They are meant to combat antisocial behaviour and provide the local community with a reassuring presence.

So many will be rather puzzled by the sight of a police community support officer instead manning a speed trap and handing out fines.

The revelation that the so-called Blunkett Bobbies are apparently being used to tackle motoring offences has angered many rank-and-file officers.

They say the remit of police support officers, who were introduced by the then home secretary David Blunkett in 2002, is being widened by stealth.

This female officer, who was pictured working in Wilmslow, Cheshire, told a member of the public she had given 13 fines of £60 each to drivers talking on mobile phones.

She said a team of support officers were targeting motorists in an operation being co-ordinated by a police officer.

Metin Enver of the Police Federation, which represents rank-andfile officers, said: "When PCSOs were introduced they were supposed to be the eyes and ears on the street, so anything that removes them from that interaction with the public, in this case manning a roadside speed trap, would be a cause for concern for us.

This is symptomatic of a sinister creep which we are seeing occurring across all 43 of the police forces.

"The Government have allowed this grey area to exist around what roles PCSOs are actually supposed to be performing and it's allowing chief constables to deploy them in ways in which they weren't employed to."

He added: 'The chief constables are keeping an eye on each other°s forces to see how far they can push this grey area, so when one decides, "I'm going to have PCSOs manning speed cameras", they will all follow suit.'

A spokesman for the Cheshire Constabulary said the force has 74 police community support officers

and a number of these are dedicated to traffic duties.

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