To receive a verbal update from the OPCC on progress of this initiative.
Minutes:
The panel received the following verbal update from the OPCC Director of Operations.
Operation
Snap – Dash Cam Footage
As
Panel members will be aware, Operation Snap is an initiative providing a secure
online facility for the submission of video and photographic evidence relating
to driving incidents. Operation Snap was launched on 31 July last year, with
the support of the Department for Transport.
Operation
Snap investigates road traffic offences such as dangerous driving, driving
without due care and attention, careless driving, using a mobile phone
handheld, not wearing a seat belt, contravening a red traffic light and
contravening solid white lines, however this is not an exhaustive list.
It
works by helping the Force deal with footage already recorded by members of the
public in a safe and secure way, while making the investigation process simple
and straight forward. The purpose of
Operation
Snap is not to ask members of the public to go out and detect offences for the
police, but to deal with those already captured if possible.
There
are a few criteria for uploading content to the Op Snap page – including that
the registration number of the offending vehicle must be provided; and that the
submitter should be over 18 and prepared to sign a witness statement and
possibly give evidence in court.
Evidence
is reviewed by Police Prosecutors to determine whether an offence was actually
committed and whether the charging standards have been met. Footage that
doesn’t meet charging standards or where the vehicle registration number is
unreadable will result in no further action.
For
offences that do meet the charging standards, a Notice of Intended Prosecution
is sent to the Registered Keeper and once a response by the driver of the
vehicle has been received, they are offered one of three options:
Since
launch, Dorset Police received 243 submissions of photographic or video
footage, which has resulted in the prosecution of 91 offences. 13 of which have
attended a Driver Awareness Course, 8 have been passed to Court for processing
and 20 have received a fixed penalty notice The remaining 50 are at various
stages of the ticket process.
152
resulted in no further action which is due to a combination of reasons, i.e.
charging standards not met, not suitable for Operation Snap processing or
unreadable vehicle registration plate. Operation Snap is not suitable for
reporting road traffic collisions or parking offences and due to legislative
reasons, separate processes are available for these incident types.
In
early 2020, Operation Snap will receive a further focus from Dorset Police
Communications Team and the scheme will be re-launched with communications
messages including footage of offences that have been prosecuted during the
initial soft launch phase, which show bad driving behaviour. The communication
messages will also include information about what type of footage Dorset Police
can accept, what type of offences are covered under Operation Snap and how to
upload the evidence. It is hoped to increase the number of offences that meet
the charging standards and decrease the number of submissions that result in no
further action.
Operation
Snap is still in its infancy and work is ongoing nationally to enhance the
system to improve the quality of submissions and increase the number of offences
meeting the charging standards.