Sting in the tail

Traffic Constable Richard Parsons deploys a stinger during a training exercise

Legend has it that instead of catching real criminals, they lurk in lay-bys ready to pounce on the heroic motorist dashing to minister to a sick granny or the anxious Dad-to-be rushing his pregnant wife to hospital.

The traffic police excite fear and dislike in equal measure because unlike drink driving - widely regarded as beyond the pale - speeding is still socially acceptable.

Most people could not, hand on heart, say they have always abided by the speed limit and most would not be ashamed to admit it - certainly they would not see themselves as dangerous criminals.

But while speeding may not be a regarded as a crime in the eyes of many, it can carry a death sentence.

There were four murders in North Yorkshire last year - but 87 people were killed on the county's roads and most of those deaths were down to speeding.

Traffic Sergeant Nigel Atkinson, a veteran of many crash scenes, says officers soon become used to hearing the complaints of motorists when they find a road closed because of an accident.

"They just don't think that someone has been killed or seriously injured and we have had the job of matching up body parts," he said.

"Motorists are just annoyed that their journey is being delayed.

"People killed in road crashes die a violent death but some members of the public think we pick on speeders because we've nothing better to do - or we see them as an easy target.

"Road rather than traffic policing is a more accurate description of what we do because road crime covers a whole range of offences.

"Stopping speeding or drink-driving is as important as preventing drug trafficking or burglary - and has as much, if not more impact, on the lives of people in North Yorkshire.

"We analyse all injury accidents so we are able to target areas for enforcement - no one leaves the office without a clear idea of where they are going and why they are going there.

"We don't just go and sit in any lay by we fancy and hope for the speeders to whizz past us."

Cross-border criminals are a particular problem in a rural county like North Yorkshire, with villains coming in from places such as Leeds and Middlesbrough to plunder what they see as a soft target.

And recovering stolen vehicles, or those carrying suspects, is another role the traffic police fulfil, but car chases have always excited controversy because of fears of the public being put at risk.

Now a new method of pursuit driving has been developed with the aim of improving both tactics and safety.

Not all forces have signed up for the training, but North Yorkshire is already well on the way to having all its officers up to standard.

And because neighbouring forces have also signed up vehicles can be tracked seamlessly across county divides with each police team locking in to the pursuit - secure in the knowledge that all his colleagues will be using the same strategy.

Elvington airfield is used as a training area for the new technique, before officers try it out on the roads where their performance will earn them a pass or a fail on the course.

While the team trying to break the British motorcycle landspeed record recently could only stand around miserably in the drizzle, North Yorkshire and Cleveland Police cars roared along the runway.

Richard 'Rocketman' Brown wouldn't turn on the speed in anything less than perfect conditions, but the police pursuit training team is trained to deal with whatever comes at them. Traffic constable Richard Parsons, from Scarborough Police, is one of the trainers on the four-day course.

As another Volvo flew past, hotly pursuing the 'bandit car' he explained that cross border pursuits could mean crossed wires in the past, with different forces employing their own methods and code words.

"This is the first time we've had any one system laid down for bringing the pursuit to a safe, tactical resolution," he said.

"What we impress at all times is safety and if a member of the public is likely to be put at risk then we will abort the pursuit.

"The new system has already been used live by officers and we've had a very positive response. At high speeds its important to know exactly what role you are playing and what everyone around you will be doing and officers say this takes a lot of the stress out of the chase."

Another weapon in the traffic police's armoury is the 'stinger', which they also train with at the airfield.

The James Bond-esque device, which folds neatly into a suitcase, is an extendible lattice of spikes, which can be thrown across the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Each of the spikes is a hollow quill which spears the tyres but releases the air slowly so the vehicle can be brought safely to a halt.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.