police plans to use communities as motoring crime spotters could expand in the future, as safety experts believe the schemes are an answer to the falling number of traffic officers.
The national police Chief’s Council launched a week long programme to crackdown on mobile phone use behind the wheel with the trial including the use of community spotters to report offenders to the police.
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Meanwhile the Essex police revealed a new programme called Neighbourhood view on Wheels, that recruits local driving instructors to act as their “eyes and ears” on the roads.
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The Tendring area of Essex is to host a new trial by the Essex police where driving instructors who sign up given maps of the areas with the worst crime rates and even descriptions of suspects.
The police also hope to use the relevant footage from instructors’ dash-cams as evidence in court cases. District commander, Russ Cole, who is behind the driving instructor scheme said: “Driving instructors seemed like an apparent choice – here is a group of professionals who are prepared to help.
“While they are doing their three-point turns and manoeuvres, they’ll be keeping an eye out for suspects. We will be working with as numerous of the instructors as possible, sharing information with them, such as maps of where burglaries are taking place and descriptions of suspects.