THE FIGHT to make the region’s roads safer for all has stepped up a gear.
A third Road Crime Team (RCT) has been set up to target criminals involved in car key burglaries and other serious and organised crime, and marks the last stage of the force’s commitment to increase the number of Roads Policing Unit (RPU) officers in the West Midlands.
They use unmarked, high-performance cars – as well as distinctive Interceptors – to pursue and arrest criminals.
They will complement the targeted work of our 24/7 interceptors who work tirelessly round the clock protecting our communities.
In addition to the three Road Crime Teams, dedicated Road Harm Prevention Team (RHPT) officers aim to tackle the Fatal four offences behind most deaths and serious injuries on the roads – speeding, drink/drug driving, mobile phone use and not wearing a seatbelt.
In the last three months alone, more than £1m of stolen vehicles have been recovered by Road Crime Team officers, more than 50 people arrested and large amounts of Class A drugs and cash seized.
Highlights include using specialist tactics to stop a vehicle in Coventry, recovering drugs worth more than £2.5m and arresting a suspect in March, stinging and boxing in a car on the M5 resulting in the seizure of 36kg of cocaine, worth an estimated £5.4m last month and the arrest of a suspected organised crime group leader in Birmingham last month in a van and the safeguarding of three vulnerable people believed to be exploited workers.
Supt Gareth Mason, head of Roads Policing in the West Midlands, said: “We are absolutely dedicated to making the roads of the region safer, and targeting the criminals who use them.
“The creation of this third road crime team shows how dedicated we are to that mission.
“Our officers are working 24/7 as we aim to achieve Vision Zero – working with partners such as councils others to halve the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2030, and to reduce it to zero by 2040.”
