Road Policing – An Intelligent Approach

Title: Road Policing “ An Intelligent Approach Author: Inspector Ryan IRWIN Affiliation: Victoria Police Victoria Police has implemented a number of new initiatives which are designed to enhance our capacity to achieve improved road safety outcomes. One such initiative is the establishment of a specialist intelligence unit that prepares a range of intelligence products that inform road policing strategies, policy and enforcement. The Road Policing Intelligence Unit  has been established within the State Intelligence Division. The Unit is comprised of sworn police officers and public service analysts who use data from a wide range of sources to prepare high quality intelligence products. The Unit produces tactical intelligence products that inform local tasking initiatives as well as providing the Victoria Police Executive with a strategic Intelligence capability that informs discussion on policy and strategic planning. The unit works in close conjunction with other key road safety stakeholders to ensure that crucial data sets and intelligence holdings are shared between agencies. One of the Unit’s primary functions is to produce target profiles on our highest risk road users. Individuals are identified “ generally by their offending history, and profiled, taking into account a number of factors that are weighted in order to calculate the level of risk posed by the individual. These factors include, traffic offending history, criminal history, collision history, age, gender, known drug and / or alcohol use, mental health, physical health, licence status, access to vehicles. The profiles provide a basis to devise proactive strategies to address each individual.