21. The traffic police

The men and women in London’s Traffic Patrol, numbering over 800 and have responsibility for some 3 million licensed vehicles travelling on London’s 8,600 miles of road and motorway every day. These officers have three basic objectives: the prevention of accidents', the maintenance of traffic flow and relief of congestion; and the enforcement of the law, especially as it relates to motoring and the motorist.

The control of London’s traffic is always very much in the balance, bearing in mind that at any given time during the day there are some 100,000 vehicles on the move. At peak hours this could reach 190,000. Because the roads, despite many traffic management schemes and other improvements, were not built to cope with such volumes of traffic, the situation is always critical unless action is taken immediately. The cost to the community of congestion in London is enormous, without taking account of the additional cost of repairs to vehicles damaged in accidents.

The control and regulation of traffic is now one of the three main functions of police, but it was not until 1839, with the passing of the Metropolitan Police Act, that they were given any powers concerning traffic, and then only on special occasions. But in fact traffic control soon became an accepted part of police duty.

As early as 1868 the first experiments with traffic signals were made in Westminster. Then more controls were introduced as more motor vehicles began to appear on the streets at the end of the 19th century.

During the First World War a special ‘arrangement’ was made by police to cope with traffic. This showed the value of having a separate body dealing with this particular problem and in May 1919 the Traffic Department of the Metropolitan Police came into being.

In 1955 the Central Traffic Squad was formed. This squad had its own Traffic Control Room at Wellington Arch Police Station, the smallest police station in London located in the middle of Hyde Park Comer. From this original concept the whole of the present system of traffic control in London was evolved and the squad eventually became the Traffic Control of today.

London is divided into five Areas and, for traffic policing, each is under the control of a Superintendent. There are a total of nine police garages from which the Traffic Officers, recognisable by their white caps, operate with a fully equipped fleet of white cars (usually white Rover 827І) motorcycles, and SETACs (‘Specially Equipped Traffic Accidents Cars’), which are usually Land Rovers and carry all the equipment needed to deal with a major accident.

All members of Traffic Patrol are volunteers, who are fully trained police officers and have chosen to specialise in work concerning traffic. They are very carefully selected as it is essential that they have a genuine aptitude for traffic patrol duties. The aim of every Traffic Officer is to become a ‘Triple Class I’ - this means that he or she will be a Class I Driver and Motorcyclist and will also have attended the Traffic Patrol Course, qualifying him as an Accident Investigator and Vehicle Examiner.

Two innovations have made it considerably easier to keep London’s traffic moving. In 1960 the Traffic Warden Scheme was introduced to enforce parking regulations. Since then Wardens, who are civilians, have taken on other duties previously performed by police such as point duty and school crossing patrols.

In 1968 Civilian Vehicle Removal Officers (V.R.O.’s) were recruited to assist Police in removing vehicles parked inconsiderately or causing serious obstruction, primarily in central London. In 1983 wheel clamping of illegally parked vehicles commenced in central London. This is carried out by private contractors employed and supervised by police. The removal of illegally parked vehicles is also carried out by contractors. Some 125,000 vehicles are clamped and removed each year.

The second innovation has been the increasing use of modern technology. Emergency telephones, traffic flow sensors and television cameras, helicopters and, of course, radio, all assist not only in surveillance but alert the Police Traffic Control Centres to any incident or accident, especially on motorways. Prompt action prevents a small incident or accident becoming more serious.

In 1968 the West London Traffic Experiment was introduced. Some 71 sets of traffic signals were linked to a computer at New Scotland Yard. The scheme was developed in conjunction with the Greater London Council who were then London’s Traffic Authority. As well as more closed circuit television coverage, Traffic Control now controls over 1,000 sets of traffic signals in London. Each motorway has its own local Control Centre.

The Traffic Control radio room is part of the central communications complex at New Scotland Yard, where it is known as ‘Oscar’ control - ‘Oscar’ being the radio call sign identifying Traffic Patrol units. ‘Oscar’ control is manned 24 hours a day by police officers and civilians from the communications branch, who operate three radio channels dedicated to traffic matters - information relating to accidents, traffic congestion, vehicles removed by police to car pounds, vehicles clamped, availability of breakdown vehicles from private garages. In addition, information on vehicle owners, disqualified drivers and all aspects of traffic law is readily available.

Traffic Control has direct telephone lines to the Fire and Ambulance services as well as all the nearest Police Forces. A Traffic Information Bureau is operated where information is collected on the state of traffic in the capital. Such information is constantly updated and supplied to the London Regional Transport bus control and the A.A, R.A.C. and the B.B.C.¹¹ Motoring Unit, who provide a traffic information service for motorists. Broadcasters from B.B.C. Greater London Radio make live broadcasts on traffic conditions from within Scotland Yard.

Perhaps the most famous unit of motorcyclists in London is the Special Escort Group, which can be seen on state and ceremonial occasions. They are all Class I motorcyclists and their duties mainly consist of providing escorts for visiting Heads of State and members of the Royal Family for security reasons. From this Group the members of the famous Motor Cycle Precision Team gives impressive public displays ot controlled riding, weaving intricate patterns, many of which have been devised by the Team. The sheer skill of these officers when executing these manoeuvres on their powerful machines has been acknowledged by motorcyclists worldwide.

Another escorting function of the Group is when a very large and indivisible load has to be moved through London. These can weigh up to 400 tons, be over 100 feet long and with varying widths. Approximately 1,000 of the 20,000 that move through London each year are escorted.

Accident Investigation Units operate on each traffic division. The> consist of Traffic Patrol officers highly skilled in the scientific methods of reconstructing accidents, to ascertain the true cause and presenting their findings to Courts when appropriate.

The police play an important role in the planning of future roads and traffic management schemes and there are officers on Areas whose job it is to liaise with the Engineers in the many local authorities within the Metropolitan Police District.