Home Secretary told we need 1,000 more road cops with traffic officer numbers down a fifth on eight years ago

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is being urged to recruit 1,000 new traffic police officers if she and the Labour Party are serious about improving road safety, addressing the motor theft epidemic and tackling wider crime, the AA says. The AA has called on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to recruit 1,000 new traffic police officers to tackle both motoring offences and wider crimes, including the spate of vehicle theft Your browser does not support iframes. The AA says there is a general public perception that drivers a 'simply getting away' with a number of different motoring offences - and only more officers on the road could curtail this The AA has called on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to consider 1,000 more dedicated traffic police officers to the workforce when making good on Labour's promise to bolster policing numbers In its poll of 11,469 drivers conducted last month, more than half felt that drivers could easily escape being hauled up for careless driving due to a lack of police on the roads. Change in traffic officer numbers year-on-year 2012: 4,868 2013: 4,675 2014: 4,356 2015: 5,220 2016: 5,237 2017: 4,895 2018: 4,658 2019: 4,415 2020: 4,651 2021: 4,091 2022: 4,102 2023: 4,228 2024: 4,215 Source: AA referencing Home Office data Similarly, more than two fifths of drivers said offences such as using a handheld phone behind the wheel, drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and using a dangerous vehicle were going unpunished due to a reduced police presence.