Aviation and Roads Policing Unit (Traffic Unit)
One of the key operational units within SO18 is the Aviation and Road Policing Unit.
The unit is manned by a small group of traffic officers, trained in Road Collision Investigation, Traffic Law Enforcement and experienced in dealing with collisions and incidents involving aircraft on the airfield. They are responsible for evidence gathering at the scene of any serious incident involving aircraft arriving or departing Heathrow's runways, taxiways or stands and work alongside the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the Department for Transport.
The officers can be distinguished from their armed colleagues as they wear white caps, high visibility jackets and drive conventionally motorway marked battenburg liveried vehicles. They can be regularly seen on the strategic motorway network surrounding the airport, the perimeter roads and also on the terminal forecourts where, along with enforcing the road traffic regulations and assisting the free flow of vehicles, they undertake a highly visible public reassurance counter-terrorism role.
This small group of highly specialised officers have led the implementation of new legislation, the Railway & Transport Safety Act to regulate drink/flying offences in the UK. Seen as being particularly controversial, information about a suspected offence is normally received from either the airline or airport security personnel. Having informed police, there is a requirement that such allegations are investigated which is undertaken by these officers. Utilising special breath test devices, officers screen crews alleged of having consumed alcohol to prove or disprove the allegation. These rules relate not only to pilots, air traffic controllers, cabin crews but also to ground engineers. Penalties imposed by Courts are particularly severe although the majority of individuals who have been convicted have been foreign members of crew working for foreign carriers.
Read more about this topic: Aviation Security Operational Command Unit
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