A day of action targeting criminals on the roads saw more than 50 vehicles stopped by police.
Suffolk Police and partner agencies carried out a day of action in Lowestoft to disrupt criminal activity – with more than 40 vehicles caught speeding.
Police checked 57 vehicles as part of a Protective Services Operation on Thursday, August 6 – with just nine of the vehicles leaving the site in Lowestoft clear.
The multi-agency day of action saw vehicles which were suspected of criminality brought back to a site at Belvedere Road in Lowestoft, where checks were carried out.
During the day vehicles were pulled over for a range of offences including not having insurance, not paying car tax, defective brake lights, having tinted windows, driving while using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.
One person was arrested while 45 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) were issued.
Police said a 42-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drug driving and taken to Great Yarmouth Police Investigation Centre for questioning.
He was subsequently released under investigation pending further inquiries.
A second man was stopped for possession of an offensive weapon, namely a baton torch.
Acting Inspector Patridge, from the Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team (RAPT), said: “It has been a busy day of action in Lowestoft.
“The idea is to detract criminals on the roads and this is the first day since the pandemic which we have run an operation like this.
“We have got marked and unmarked vehicles around the area and they have been escorted back to the check area.
“This is the new norm, but while we have applied new measures that includes all the officers all wearing masks, we will continue to organise days of action like this.
Cars, motorbikes and other vehicles were stopped as officers from the RAPT team, Operation Sentinel team, the Road Casualty Reduction Team, officers from the Special Constabulary, the Dog Unit and the National Vehicle Crime Team joined together with partner agencies – including East Suffolk Council’s licensing and Norse teams – to carry out the police led multi-agency vehicle check between 9am and 3pm on Thursday.
With the aim of the operation to disrupt criminal activity, to catch those committing driving offences, and to remove unsafe vehicles from the road as vehicle examinations were carried out, Acting Inspector Partidge added: “The key messages are that there needs to be a responsibility (of the vehicle owner) to check the vehicle.
“Even in times like this we will still be running these operations.”
As well as the vehicles being checked, TORs issued and one arrest, police said that three searches were conducted on the day of action, with one offensive weapon seized.
There were two “immediate prohibitions” of vehicles, with 41 vehicles to receive a notification of intended prosecution “for excess speed.”
Among the Traffic Offence Reports which were issued for a variety of offences were 15 for not wearing a seatbelt, two for no insurance, two for careless driving, three for driving whilst using a mobile phone, three for having no MOT, four for illegal tyres and six for illegal registration plates.
Reaction
Acting Inspector Pete Partridge, who was overseeing the checks, added: “This operation targeted criminals committing all types of offences across the county, ranging from drugs to motoring offences.
“This work is intelligence led and are stopped and brought back to the check site where our officers can conduct their checks and take appropriate action, such as making arrests and seizing vehicles if necessary.
“We will continue to hold these operations on a regular basis, both to target any criminals who may be travelling through Suffolk, but also to remove unsafe vehicles and people driving illegally, making our roads and county as a whole safer for everyone.
“We will continue to target motorists who commit these offences and will do all we can to promote road safety across the county.”
Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: “I’m very pleased to see another productive, proactive operation by the Constabulary on our roads – well done to all involved and thank you to all the partner agencies that also got involved.
“These multi-agency days of action are tremendously successful in keeping criminals and defective vehicles off our county’s roads and I fully support the Constabulary’s approach to fighting crime and keeping us all safe.
“As so many vehicles were found to be defective, it shows how importance our Roads Policing team is for bringing criminals to justice and keeping the road network safe and the traffic flowing.”
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