West Lothian community police officers trained to use speed guns

Speed checks using hand held radar devices are currently used only by police from the force’s traffic department.

However, traffic officers in West Lothian have been heavily involved in investigating serious motorway accidents so Police Scotland has decided to roll-out speed gun training to its community constables.

An earlier suggestion that community councillors could also be trained to trap speeders by their registration plates have been dropped. The proposal met with opposition from Linlithgow and Fauldhouse local area committees.

Constable Ewan Hannay told this month’s Linlithgow Area Committee that he and fellow community constables were undergoing training.

A police report to the committee said: “Sadly in Quarter 3 we saw one fatality in West Lothian. Enquiries are also still ongoing into previous fatalities from 2021/22 which is unfortunately reducing abilities to engage with the usual speeding initiatives.”

Councillors first heard that community officers would undertake training to use speed guns after funding was secured last August. At the same time there was a proposal to introduce a scheme which had been trialled in Fife where community councillors could act as a “high visibility” deterrent.

Sgt Mike Harte told the Linlithgow councillors in August that in the Fife trial, members of the public noted down vehicle details but did not engage with drivers.

“The information is passed back to Police Scotland who engage with drivers and advise them that, if Police Scotland had caught them speeding they would have been given fixed penalty notices and points on their licences,” said Sgt Harte.

However, Councillor Tom Conn said it wasn’t for the public to do the job of the police, adding: “If there’s an issue with speeding in a community then why aren’t Police Scotland dealing with it?

“I really think it is for Police Scotland to do this rather than members of the community who could face verbal abuse and threats.”

He cited parents who had been involved in a survey outside Springfield Primary who had faced a barrage of abuse.