Despite the failure of Staffordshire's 260 plus speed cameras to have any impact on the county's road fatality trends, as demonstrated above (click on graph for a larger view), 94% of the £2.4 million road safety grant is being spent on maintaining speed cameras. The effect of the speed camera programme on the number of traffic police has been devastating: in 1998-9 there were 208, down to just 34 for 2007-8 - a staggering fall of 83.7%. Speed cameras don't catch drunk or other illegal, dangerous drivers - only police patrols can. Staffordshire police admit the fall is due to speed cameras and ANPR, but cliam that ordinary police patrol officers are trained to deal with traffic offences. Not so. Traffic police were the elite officers for detecting vehicle offences and can't be adequately replaced by ordinary patrols.
Trafpol numbers in other areas: 1998/9, 2007/8, % fall
North Wales: 236, 90, 61.9%
Cheshire: 205, 94, 54.1%
West Mercia: 238, 128, 46.2%
Surrey: 177, 98, 44.6%
West Midlands 405, 352
Figures from Auto Express and Express & Star:
Fears over lack of traffic police
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