Responding to new government figures showing the number of traffic police has declined over the last decade; motoring organisation, AA says more police, not speed cameras are needed to make our roads safe.
The number of traffic cops has declined 20 per cent over the last decade in England Wales, down by 1, 507 officers.
While the debate rages over the scrapping speed cameras in Swindon, the AA says the loss of these officers is a far greater concern.
Edmund King, AA president said: “I have been saying for some time that we need more cops in cars to target crooks in cars. If the police target disqualified drivers and the motoring underclass they will be more effective in reducing general crime.
“A speed camera does not pick up the illegal foreign truck driver or boy racer with stolen plates but a traffic cop can. We need to reverse this trend and increase the number of traffic cops not only to make our roads safer but to make society safer. We should never forget that it was a police officer on traffic duty who caught the Yorkshire Ripper.”
Previous research suggests that there is a strong link between those committing motoring offences and other general crimes. The AA has expressed concern that some serious criminals are slipping through the net undetected due to this massive decrease in traffic police.
By comparing Home Office and DVLA data, it was revealed that between 1999 and 2003, men who committed between 4 and 8 non-motoring offences committed on average 21 times as many serious motoring offences as men who committed no non-motoring offences.
