West Sussex MP pledges to 'reduce the burden' on roads policing officers after seeing work they do first-hand

Andrew Griffith MP, Member of Parliament for Arundel & South Downs, joined PC Steve Bucksey and officers on the late shift on Friday (April 14) to see at first hand the varied work done by the Sussex Police Roads Policing Unit.

Andrew joined the team working out of their Arundel base – from 2.30pm in the afternoon until 1am in the early hours of the morning – and watched as they ‘dealt with everything that a wet Friday night on the West Sussex roads threw at them’.

During the shift, Mr Griffith observed officers dealing with minor and major driving offences, and saw the ‘array of data and technology which modern policing involves’.

Following the arrest of a suspected drug-driver near Upper Beeding, Andrew followed the processing of the prisoner through the state-of-the-art custody unit in Durrington near Worthing, and the various statements and records needed to support the case for prosecution.

He also used the chance of spending the shift together to catch up with PC Steve Bucksey who is leading Operation Downsway 2023 which targets weekend anti-social road users.

Mr Griffith said: “Sussex Police deserve our support and thanks for the work they do trying to make our county’s roads safe and free of anti-social road users. It surprised me to see just how varied the work of the Roads Policing Unit is and the range of other policing operations they often end up supporting.

“I’ll be taking back to the Home Office not just thanks for the 465 additional police officers Sussex has had since 2019 but also my support for anything which can reduce the burden of form filling or the use of multiple different systems needed to record a crime.”

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