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Teams Target Criminality On Isle Of Wight Roads During Good Friday Operation

On Good Friday (April 15) Isle of Wight officers were joined by unmarked vehicles from the mainland Roads Policing Unit (RPU) Proactive team to discretely target criminals using the Island’s road network.

Part of the work involved taking action against road-related crime, but the focus was on other high harm criminality such as identifying vehicles involved in drugs supply, with deployment of in-car ANPR cameras.

Throughout Good Friday, officers carried out the following work:

  • 13,257 vehicles were read by the team’s in-car ANPR cameras
  • 218 manual vehicle checks
  • Approximately 45 manual person checks carried out
  • Eight vehicles searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act — three of them being people of interest to the police.
  • Approximately 30 vehicles stopped by officers and checked for document offences and roadworthiness
  • One man arrested for drug driving under Section 5a of the Road Traffic Act
  • One vehicle seized for no insurance
  • One vehicle seized for failing to stop for police
  • One driver given a ticket for not wearing a seat belt
  • One driver given a ticket for having a faulty exhaust
  • Five drivers warned around vehicle faults

Isle of Wight chief inspector, Alex Charge, said:

“Teams across the Island conduct a lot of hard work to tackle drugs supply, including executing warrants and seizing drugs during address searches and stop checks, but it’s important to note the roads play a significant part in this type of criminality.

“This work has increased our opportunity to clamp down on dangerous driving habits and vehicle-related offences. 

"We regularly conduct campaigns relating to the ‘Fatal Four’ driving behaviours that put motorists at risk of serious and fatal collision – these are drink/drug driving, speeding, driving without a seatbelt and driving whilst using a mobile phone.

“We are committed to working in partnership to improve road safety for all drivers on the Isle of Wight, and I want to reassure Islanders that this work continues alongside our other policing priorities.”

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