A shift with the RPU (aka traffic police)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2022 11:55 pm
A couple of days ago I enjoyed the rare for a civilian privilege of a few hours riding with Roads Policing officers. It was a normal shift for them in a fully marked Volvo V90. We spent most of the shift under blues and twos travelling towards incidents none of which turned out to be serious by the time we arrived, so it was the driving (and the demonstration of the equipment carried, first aid and incident management) which was of most interest.
The rate at which we made progress round the county was amazing - 130 mph on the M25, 50 mph on the hard shoulder where traffic was heavy, good progress keeping moving through heavy town traffic. When somebody failed to respond to the warning equipment it was generally a white van - they told me that is typical.
What was most impressive was the lack of drama at any time and the total calmness of the drivers.
My drivers had each had about 8 weeks training - from response to advanced, TPAC and pursuit. They had both been experienced police offices before moving to the Roads Policing Unit and liked being in this unit. I was so impressed by the elements of their driving to which I don't have exposure such as the high speeds on major routes, but they said that the main focus of their training had been on national speed limit single carriageways - so similar to my own training background.
Driving at this level was just a normal part of their everyday job - other aspects of which are probably much more challenging for them, such as dealing with major incidents, notifying families of fatalities, victim support and major incident investigation, all of which are part of the role.
By the way, I never told them and they didn't ask my driving background.
The rate at which we made progress round the county was amazing - 130 mph on the M25, 50 mph on the hard shoulder where traffic was heavy, good progress keeping moving through heavy town traffic. When somebody failed to respond to the warning equipment it was generally a white van - they told me that is typical.
What was most impressive was the lack of drama at any time and the total calmness of the drivers.
My drivers had each had about 8 weeks training - from response to advanced, TPAC and pursuit. They had both been experienced police offices before moving to the Roads Policing Unit and liked being in this unit. I was so impressed by the elements of their driving to which I don't have exposure such as the high speeds on major routes, but they said that the main focus of their training had been on national speed limit single carriageways - so similar to my own training background.
Driving at this level was just a normal part of their everyday job - other aspects of which are probably much more challenging for them, such as dealing with major incidents, notifying families of fatalities, victim support and major incident investigation, all of which are part of the role.
By the way, I never told them and they didn't ask my driving background.