Reporting by the public
With diminishing resources an issue for most police
forces, the public may be a valuable ally in deterring
and reporting mobile phone use by drivers.
Evidence suggests that road users are overwhelmingly
opposed to mobile phone use - 38% claim it is one of
their top 4 motoring concerns¹ - and want action taken.
However, significant numbers of people still do it¹, and
it is likely that many do so because they believe they
won’t get caught². The spread of dash cams, helmet
cams and phone cameras is increasing the likelihood
that evidence of driving offences will actually exist and
- if that footage can be made available to the police -
meaningful action may be taken.
The evidence
capable guardianship. Whilst CCTV and speed cameras
may be criticised for their potential to displace offending
to areas that are not covered by cameras, with this
approach every road user becomes a potential source
of meaningful surveillance and the potential offender
has no way of knowing when their behaviour is being
monitored. It is likely to be effective in deterring a
variety of dangerous driver behaviour IF systems are in
place that turn third party footage into tangible criminal
justice outcomes.
This surveillance is not being imposed in a ‘top
down’ fashion, but driven by ‘bottom up’ demand,
so is also evidence of public endorsement of roads
policing objectives - something that has been hard to
demonstrate in recent years.
When it comes to crime, we often consider the offender
and the victim, but we can also talk about ‘capable
guardians’ - those individuals (or technologies) present
at that time who have the opportunity to disrupt or ‘do
something’ about that offence³. The idea that there are
three elements in any crime event has a long history
in criminology and lies behind a lot of the Situational
Crime Prevention approaches that have been popular
in recent decades. According to this approach, crimes
occur when a motivated offender is present, a suitable
target is present, and a capable guardian is absent.
Capable guardians on the road do not have to be police
officers. For example, speed cameras have been used
to deter, or detect, speeding offences with no need
for a police presence. With reduced police resources,
public reporting capabilities offer the potential of
¹ RAC (2018). RAC Report on Motoring 2018. Available from: https://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/report-on-motoring/rac10483_rom-2018_content_web
² The AA. (2018). What’s the chance of being caught for a driving offence? News report. Available from: https://www.theaa.com/about-us/newsroom/driving-
offence-enforcement.
³ Branic, N., 2015. Routine activities theory. The encyclopedia of crime and punishment, pp.1-3.; Reynald, D.M., 2010. Guardians on guardianship: Factors
affecting the willingness to supervise, the ability to detect potential offenders, and the willingness to intervene. Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency, 47(3), pp.358-390.
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