West Mercia Police unveil a new device to catch speeders in Shropshire.

Shropshire Star

Transcript

00:00OK, Simon, so you're the operations manager for the road safety team.

00:04Just explain what's going on today and what we're here for.

00:06OK, so we're rolling out a programme for the use of the Lasertec TrueCam 2 handheld laser

00:14detection device.

00:15The great thing about this device is it uses lasers to range find vehicles and detect their

00:21speed.

00:22It gives additional capability for the officers of West Mercia to be able to go roadside and

00:27find offenders much quicker, and then using the back office functionality that the road

00:32safety team based in Droitwich and Telford can use, we can provide the back office which

00:39will allow them to process the offences much quicker and easier, saving an awful lot of

00:45time and allowing the officers to be out roadside doing enforcement and where they ought to

00:50be when the speed's down.

00:51And the night functionality is a lot better, isn't it?

00:53Yeah, so it's got night functionality, it can work off infrared.

00:56The infrared works very well, it's a mechanical device which switches across, it actually

01:02uses infrared and its lasers as well, so it's completely eye safe.

01:06But yeah, it can detect offences at night as well, so we're no longer limited to just

01:11enforcing during the day, we can do it at night times.

01:15Yeah, thank you, it's an excellent device.

01:18It's a sad fact that too many people are killed or seriously injured on the roads, and enforcement

01:24is one of the measures that can be taken, along with education, to reduce those numbers.

01:30The Police and Crime Commissioner, along with the local council, have funded this particular

01:35piece of equipment, and it's hoped that, as I say, the enforcement side of things will

01:39go some way to reduce those numbers.

01:43I'm guessing this new device can be in situ a lot quicker than a regular police van really?

01:50Yeah, absolutely.

01:52It can be used on a tripod, it can be hand held, the whole idea of it is to make life

01:56easier for the officers, and to make the processing through the justice system quicker as well,

02:03with fixed penalty notices being issued as a result of any findings of speeding.

02:09Okay Ian, so you're the local police sergeant for the area, and here it is, here's the camera.

02:16What are your feelings about this, and the benefits of it?

02:19It's an exciting bit of kit, it's been funded by the local council for West Mersey Police's

02:24use.

02:27As a local police sergeant for the local officers, our role is to be in the community and listen

02:32to the concerns of the community, whatever community you speak to, pretty much one of

02:37the concerns they have is speeding, and it's also one of the fatal four around traffic

02:44matters, so we are out there able to listen to the concerns of the community, which as

02:49a local police and sergeant is my role, to make sure we're in the right place at the

02:54right time, and enforcing what the local community want us to enforce, so this bit of kit will

02:59allow my officers to go out and do that, and also by listening to those concerns, we're

03:06able to satisfy and build confidence.

03:10So in terms of offences caught, what difference do you think this kit will make in regards

03:15to numbers of offences caught?

03:18Hopefully it's more of an educational type thing, and as word does get out that we have

03:22got this now, hopefully the education of that, drivers will slow down, because unfortunately

03:27speed does kill, it's been proven that speed kills, and that is our role, to reduce those

03:35deaths on the road, and hopefully this kit and the powers that it does have, will allow

03:41local police and officers to get out there and do that road enforcement as well, and

03:46reassure their communities.

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