Roads Policing Unit

 

West Yorkshire Police Safer Roads officers are responsible for the policing of the road network throughout the Force, an area of 2029 km2 with a population of approximately 2,108,000 people. Within this area there are roads of all types including one of the busiest motorway networks in Europe. This network includes the M62 Trans-Pennine motorway; the highest and the most congested in the country. As well as the M62 we also cover the M1, M621, M606, A1 and A1(M); a total distance of over 213 carriageway miles in some of the most challenging of environments.

Roads Policing Officers are part of a larger team of officers and operate from two strategically placed bases to cover the Force area; including the motorway network and to maximize the use of the resources available at any one time. This co-location helps to helps to ensure that they have access to all the districts to  support and assist with local issues.


Priorities

  • Patrolling the Roads

There is clear public demand for highly visible police patrol activity on the roads network providing reassurance, a sense of security and an overall deterrent effect.

  • Disrupting Criminality

Many criminals use the road network in the planning and commission of their crimes. Proactive road policing can deny them the unchallenged use of the roads and is an effective measure for containing and deterring crime.

  • Reducing Road Casualties

In 2019 52 people have died on the roads in West Yorkshire.

  • Counter Terrorism

Often Safer Roads officers in particular are likely to encounter and impact on terrorists usually as a result of routine checks. Such encounters will potentially contribute to the general disruption of their activities.

  • Anti Social Driving

This activity is all too prevalent and has a significant impact on general confidence and satisfaction, as a result it remains core business to disrupt such activity.


One of our main concerns is keeping the strategic roads network running, particularly on the motorways where an incident can potentially have serious consequences for large numbers of people. We are committed to causing minimum disruption to traffic flow and where a closure of a road or motorway is essential, to reopening it as soon as is possible.

 

Page last updated February 2020