Essex Police to undertake multi-agency day of action to combat crime on county roads
Forces from six other Eastern counties will assist Essex Police in the operation
Essex Police are undertaking a day of action to tackle criminals using the county's roads along with support from officers belonging to police forces from six other Eastern counties.
A main checkpoint is being established in Thurrock, manned by officers from Essex Police as well as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Kent and Norfolk forces. They will also work with representatives from the Environment Agency, the DVSA and DVLA, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and several other partners.
We caught up with Sergeant Jason Dearsley from their Commercial Vehicle Unit.
He says: "We're working with our East England partners where we pool resources like motorcycles and specialist officers for drivers hours, vehicle condition, dangerous goods et cetera, so we can put on big operations in each of the force areas."
He goes on to add why working with other police forces and also partners from other agencies is important: "We're not the experts in everything, we're just the police. We'll look after our bits and these expert eyes will be able to dip in and collectively we'll be able to find offenders and also learn from that as well.
"It's a really good way for us partners to upskill and learn to look out for everything to keep people safe, that's what it is all about."
Officers will look out for any kind of offending, whether it be relatively minor transgressions such as the use of mobile phones while driving, all the way to keeping an eye out for human trafficking or incidents of modern slavery, which is the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority's area of expertise.
Vans and trucks may also be pulled over for inspection, to ensure that the cargo on-board is legal and safely stored. Although it may cause a little disruption, Sgt Dearsley says they are undertaking this operation to ensure motorists' safety.
"If you are a member of public going about your daily business, there's nothing to fear. Give us a wave, say hello, we're here to look after you. Come and speak to us, ask what we're doing, we are more than happy to share.
"The biggest message is that we want to keep you, motorists and haulage drivers safe, that's all we're there for."