Local MP Bob Seely has welcomed the news that the Isle of Wight will once again have dedicated roads policing officers, alongside an additional 3 Armed Response officers.
The news was announced on Friday by Police & Crime Commissioner for Hampshire & the Isle of Wight, Donna Jones.
In her announcement, Mrs Jones confirmed that 2 dedicated roads policing officers will be stationed on the Island. Although it has been widely commented that 2 officers cannot possibly cover the Island 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the move has been hailed a positive start.
It was in 2015 that Island Echo exclusively revealed that the Shanklin-based Roads Policing Unit (RPU) was to be shelved – something that took several months to be confirmed. Then, in 2017, the last 2 RPU officers were lost from the Island’s Joint Operations team. 5 years later and Hampshire Constabulary are making a U-Turn…
Mr Seely, who has recently led the campaign to increase the number of dedicated roads policing officers on the Island, has said he is pleased that the Police & Crime Commissioner has agreed to allocate additional resources to tackle crime on the Island’s roads. He’s said:
“I welcome the news that the Police & Crime Commissioner will reintroduce a dedicated Roads Policing Team on the Island and I am pleased that it has been made possible through the police officer uplift programme. We will now have a joint unit that will have a dedicated roads policing focus.
“Donna has agreed to recruit two dedicated roads policing officers and also three armed response/roads policing officers. An uplift of five officers to the nine already in post in the unit will make a significant difference to roads policing on the Island.
“I have also been assured that this is just the start and that the numbers will be reviewed at a later date to see if we need more.
Article continues below this advertisement “I’m really happy that we will soon have five additional officers, two of them wholly dedicated to roads policing. We have the most dangerous roads in Britain outside of London”.
Bob Seely’s campaign also received support from the Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, HM Coroner for the Isle of Wight and some town and parish councils.
To those who supported his campaign, Bob has said:
“Thank you to everyone who shared their views with me on this issue. Islanders’ views have been strong on this. Working together, we have made our voices heard in Hampshire and helped, potentially, to save lives.
“As soon as these officers are in post I will meet with them to share details about some of the hotspot areas they need to be focusing on.”
A grain of sand to stop a flood – pathetic. These clueless fools couldn’t find their own backside with both hands.
It’s a start at least, but clearly not enough to tackle the amount of road crime going on right now. Lets hope there will be a review sooner rather than later.
Is not the biggest the most serious crime in this regard the removal of 22,000 police officers from society.
Hotspot areas to focus on……… that’s island wide. They are speeding everywhere, if you don’t see them, you certainly hear them!!
Lake Hill up to Broadway. They use it like a race track.
Far better than NOTHING, if you don’t abide by the rules of the road, then watch your back.
Bob and Donna Kebab looking after the island is like asking King Herod to babysit
If the island is so free of crime as the anti-fixed link brigade would have us believe why do we need armed response officers at all, let alone another 3?
Reinstatement of the speed cameras and having them in operation would be another positive step without stretching resources further.