Vigilantes? Not in My Village

Countryside column for 5 December

Village Vigilantes with Pitchforks or Speed Cameras?

A storm is brewing between our County Councillor and the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes. “Thank you for your letter declining to meet local representatives about the vexed question of speeding through our rural areas,” Cllr Sean Holden wrote to her. “I am writing in the hope that, as the people's Police Commissioner, you might review that position to allow those who speak for the people the chance to come and present their case.”

The ‘case’ concerns the difference between Community Speedwatch equipment and the SL700 laser speed meter used by police to catch speeding motorists.

Our Parish Council recently contributed a few hundred pounds towards a Speedwatch monitor and display. Volunteers set it up by the roadside in the village and note cars doing above 30mph. If a particular vehicle exceeds the limit by more than 10% on several occasions, they can report it to the police who can write to the registered owner to point this out. But drivers cannot be prosecuted on evidence from it.

The SL700 provides accurate enough data for use in court. But currently only the police are allowed to operate it. Cllr Holden wants its use extended to village volunteers because, as he told Mrs Barnes, “There is a strong sense among those people that Kent Police have all but abandoned enforcing the law on speeding.”  

She, however, supports her senior officers’ arguments that: “the SL700 is considered too ‘confrontational’ and ‘potentially aggressive’ for use by civilians and could provoke unwanted hostile responses from passing motorists.”

It’s an interesting debate. Speeding through our villages and down our lanes is a major source of aggravation and danger. We are campaigning for a 40mph limit throughout the parish, but KCC seems wholly unresponsive. It’s true you never see police ‘radar traps’ any more, and there are none of the remote speed cameras that are so effective in towns. Thus the ‘citizen volunteer’ model has some superficial attraction.

But, as a logical conclusion, if ordinary people take over one area of police work, how long before village vigilantes are marching with pitchforks and flaming torches on homes of suspected miscreants or child molesters? I exaggerate for effect, but the point is real. We have established a police force to uphold the law on our behalf.  Perhaps we should make sure they have the resources to do it before handing responsibility to the ‘people’.