Smile: you've been nicked

Devon police step up Operation Snap

Devon and Cornwall Police have published dashcam footage of miscreant motorists and want more drivers to send them material. They're calling it Operation Snap, using  a secure online system that allows people to send them video and photos.

Since it was launched in July 2019, they've had nearly 1,200 submissions. Of these, 631 drivers have had action taken against them, whether that is a court summons, points and a fine, a driver education course or warning letter. Nearly 100 more instances are currently under investigation.

Chief Inspector Steve Lenney, head of roads policing, said: “We know that members of the public can get frustrated when they see drivers getting away with offences that can place them and other road users at risk.

“Operation Snap is a great initiative allowing motorists to share their footage with us for consideration of prosecution in addition to the fantastic work of our roads policing and No Excuse officers challenging poor driver behaviour daily.”

The majority of prosecutions are for drivers not paying due care and attention to other road users, but also include using a mobile phone at the wheel, driving through a red light and crossing solid white lines.

Chief inspector Lenney continued: "We’re determined and robust in our approach to policing the roads and while working with our communities, we will take every opportunity to make roads safer for all. This portal allows us to effectively deal with digital footage and photos of traffic offences in a safe and secure way and I would encourage those with dash cams to submit clips of wrongdoing.”

Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez said: “This is a great example of new technology helping the police to bring people to justice and quite literally saving people’s lives.

“As the national road safety lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners I secured  £100,000 from the Department for Transport to roll the programme out across 12 police forces in England and Wales so I am naturally pleased that my own force has been able to use it to such good effect.

“It is clear that the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads is unacceptable and needs drastically reducing through more enforcement of road traffic laws and increased partnership working.  That’s why in Devon and Cornwall I have signed up to Vision Zero with partner agencies across the area to reduce those killed on our roads by 50 per cent by 2030.

“But the police can only be in so many places at any one time so other road users can become our eyes and ears and it makes absolute sense for the police to use good video evidence of poor driving and bring people to justice when appropriate."

Operation Snap can only be used for submitting evidence of road traffic offences, not for sharing clips of road traffic collisions or any other crime.

For more information or to submit your dashcam footage, please visit www.dc.police.uk/OpSnap