Dangerous driving and social media platforms

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033915

I note you seek access to the following information:

• Does your police force actively target social media platforms to gather evidence of dangerous driving, with a view to bringing charges against dangerous drivers?

• Does your police force have a website whereby the public can upload video footage of dangerous driving, including from dashcams, helmet cams, mobile phones and social media content (eg via an ‘Operation Snap’ type scheme)?

Please provide the following data for EACH of the last five financial years (defined 6 April to 5 April, so from and including 2018/19 to 2022/23):

• How many driving offences were recorded by your police force in each of the last five financial years whereby the evidence used to charge offenders was gathered solely from video footage on social media or online posts (please include offences spotted by your officers seeing such posts on social media platforms and offences reported by the public supplying video footage to your police force voluntarily)?

• How many driving offences were recorded by your police force in each of the last five financial years whereby the evidence used to charge offenders was gathered solely from the public supplying video footage to your police force voluntarily?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

• Does your police force actively target social media platforms to gather evidence of dangerous driving, with a view to bringing charges against dangerous drivers?

No, the MPS does not actively target social media platforms to gather evidence of dangerous driving.

• Does your police force have a website whereby the public can upload video footage of dangerous driving, including from dashcams, helmet cams, mobile phones and social media content (eg via an ‘Operation Snap’ type scheme)?

Yes, the MPS does have a website where the public can upload video footage, please see the following link:

Report a road traffic incident

• How many driving offences were recorded by your police force in each of the last five financial years whereby the evidence used to charge offenders was gathered solely from video footage on social media or online posts (please include offences spotted by your officers seeing such posts on social media platforms and offences reported by the public supplying video footage to your police force voluntarily)?

• How many driving offences were recorded by your police force in each of the last five financial years whereby the evidence used to charge offenders was gathered solely from the public supplying video footage to your police force voluntarily?

Please see below the details of total allegations where video footage has been received from the public (voluntarily) via our online portal. However, please note that to ascertain details in relation to if any of these offences were supported by social media, this would require a manual search of the total cases listed below. At a conservative 2mins to read each record would take in excess of the 18hrs provided under the Act and would result in a cost refusal response being issued.

Allegations	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Grand Total
Totals	2803	4905	6113	6455	14488	20803	55567

Please note that traffic offences are summary offences and not chargeable offences unless the incident involves or is linked to ‘crime’ case where it will then be recorded as a ‘chargeable’ crime and have a crime reference number.