125 Arrested in April Crackdown on Criminal Use of the Roads in Cleveland

During a month-long campaign tackling criminal use of the roads, 125 arrests were made in Cleveland and over 300 fixed penalties were issued to drivers.

The national campaign, led by the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), saw officers tackling those who cause high harm within our communities by using the roads for a criminal purpose, and detecting offences linked to the four main causes of fatal and serious collisions on roads, known as the ‘fatal four’.

The ‘fatal four’ consists of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding, distraction and not wearing a seatbelt.

The number of offences linked to the ‘fatal four’ include:

• 45 drivers using their mobile phones whilst driving
• 997 speeding offences
• 53 drivers under the influence of alcohol
• 59 drivers under the influence of drugs
• 37 motorists not wearing seatbelts

Officers also stopped a number of vehicles where suspects had been identified linked to offences including no insurance, possession of firearms, theft of motor vehicles, possession of drugs, domestic violence, child neglect, section 18 assaults and attempted murder.

As a result of these offences, 317 fixed penalties were issued to drivers and 125 arrests took place.

Matrix Superintendent Paul Richardson said: “During the campaign, Matrix officers, with the assistance of colleagues from a number of additional Cleveland Police teams, proactively targeted those who cause high harm by using the roads criminally and sought out those offences relating to the ‘fatal four’ to try to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions in Cleveland.

“The results speak for themselves in that there were 125 people arrested and over 300 fixed penalties issued. This tells us that we need to continue to target those who criminally use our roads in order to protect our communities and bring perpetrators to justice.”