Agenda item

To receive a verbal update from the OPCC on progress of this initiative.

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:

• Take part in a Driver Education course
• Accept a Fixed Penalty Notice
• Or go to Court (Depending on the severity of the offence which is determined by the Police Prosecutors)

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.