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Police cars with no sirens risk response times, federation says | Police cars with no sirens risk response times, federation says |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Police cars with no sirens are being used for emergency responses, delaying officers and potentially preventing arrests, the Police Federation says. | Police cars with no sirens are being used for emergency responses, delaying officers and potentially preventing arrests, the Police Federation says. |
West Midlands Police has a fleet of 109 Vauxhall Corsa cars intended for neighbourhood policing. | West Midlands Police has a fleet of 109 Vauxhall Corsa cars intended for neighbourhood policing. |
The federation, which represents rank and file officers, said the vehicles had been used for more than 100 urgent calls in the past 12 months. | The federation, which represents rank and file officers, said the vehicles had been used for more than 100 urgent calls in the past 12 months. |
The West Midlands force said the Corsas were "not intended for response work". | The West Midlands force said the Corsas were "not intended for response work". |
'Frustrating' | 'Frustrating' |
The federation's health and safety official Pete Harkness said: "Officers are ordered to drive the Corsa at patrol speed and obey the rules of the road. | The federation's health and safety official Pete Harkness said: "Officers are ordered to drive the Corsa at patrol speed and obey the rules of the road. |
"But the absence of a siren means they often cannot get traffic to move out of their way and this, in turn, can delay them getting to an emergency situation. | "But the absence of a siren means they often cannot get traffic to move out of their way and this, in turn, can delay them getting to an emergency situation. |
"This is very frustrating for the officers and they feel they are letting the public down by not getting to them as quickly as possible in a crisis situation." | "This is very frustrating for the officers and they feel they are letting the public down by not getting to them as quickly as possible in a crisis situation." |
Examples of delays | |
The federation blames cost-cutting for the use of cars without sirens. | The federation blames cost-cutting for the use of cars without sirens. |
Supt Kerry Blakeman, from the force's operations department, said officers who respond to call-outs in cars without sirens have to follow the Highway Code and cannot break the speed limit to cut through traffic. | Supt Kerry Blakeman, from the force's operations department, said officers who respond to call-outs in cars without sirens have to follow the Highway Code and cannot break the speed limit to cut through traffic. |
He said: "Incidents graded as 'immediate' are responded to as soon as possible, usually in a matter of minutes and on many occasions require the use of lights and sirens. | He said: "Incidents graded as 'immediate' are responded to as soon as possible, usually in a matter of minutes and on many occasions require the use of lights and sirens. |
"At no point was the Corsa intended for response work as it is a low performance vehicle." | "At no point was the Corsa intended for response work as it is a low performance vehicle." |
West Midlands Police, which has had to make £120 million of budget cuts since 2010, must find further savings of £100 million over the next five years. The force has also shed 1,500 officers. |