The Traffic Enforcement Unit
| Date | 01 January 1979 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7905200109 |
| Author | John Christian |
| Published date | 01 January 1979 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
JOHN
CHRISTIAN
Sergeant, Kent County Constabulary
THE TRAFFIC
ENFORCEMENT
UNIT
The Problem
The County of Kent is not only the garden of England but also the
continental gateway of England. Within the county there are three
major ports, each having a roll-on/ roll-off ferry service to the
continent and used by both freight and passenger traffic. The largest
of these ports is Dover, which alone dealt with over 406,000 road
haulage freight movements in 1977.The other two ports, F olkestone
and Sheerness have a considerable role in shipping road freight to the
continent.
Kent is bordered at its north west corner by London and Essex
with their variety of container ports and freight terminals served by
traffic passing through the County via the Thames tunnels.
The eastern end of London also houses a multitude of small
haulage businesses, many of which operate within the County
and
which are often run on a shoestring budget by persons of ill-repute.
It
would be fair to say that most haulage firms have been free to
operateas they see fit, with only the minimum of official supervision.
Vehicle checks have come to be regarded by many as an 'operational
hazard'. This situation has not, however, arisen through lack of
effort. The Department of Transport
(The
Ministry') is
understaffed; the involvement by such departments as Consumer
Protection and Customs and Excise is limited within their terms of
reference, eg weighing of vehicles, testing of road fuel, etc. Police
involvement has been limited to the interested minority of Traffic
patrol officers who, because of lack of time and facilities, have mainly
had to restrict their involvement to dealing with contraventions of
the Construction and Use Regulations and lesser document offences.
The Solution
With this in mind, in 1975 two Constables from Traffic Division,
Kent County Constabulary, stationed at Maidstone, were given the
opportunity to see if they could combat some of the illegal activities
of haulage firms.
To
start with they arranged for details of all stop
checks on goods vehicles within the County to be notified to them.
It
was noted, in particular,
that
a lorry driver who was knowingly
committing offences in complicity with the firm for which he worked
would use several different stories, each of which would contain part
truths which, when collated, gave a reasonably accurate picture of the
firm's activities. These details were collated with existing knowledge
66
January
/979
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