1. Safety 2016 Barry Watson Lyndel Bates Gayle Di Pietro Cristina Inclan
Enhancing road policing in LMICs through the identification of good practice principles

2. Overview The role of traffic law enforcement in road safety
Road policing challenges experienced in LMICs
Findings from a review of relevant theoretical concepts and models
Principles to guide good practice road policing
Priorities for the future

3. Role of traffic law enforcement
Road safety agencies around the world rely heavily on traffic law enforcement to modify road user behavior
Traffic law enforcement involves three processes:
Setting of traffic laws eg. alcohol limits, speed limits
On-road policing eg. breath testing, speed cameras
Application of sanctions eg. fines, loss of licence
It is most effective when it encourages community-wide compliance with road rules (and doesn’t just involve apprehending and punishing offenders)

4. The effectiveness of road policing
A range of road policing programs have been shown to be effective around the world including:
Seat belt enforcement
Drink driving enforcement
Manned and automatic speed enforcement
Some approaches are more effective than others
Need to adopt ‘good practice’ approaches to optimize safety benefits
Criminological and psychological theories have informed the design of ‘good practice’ programs
Source: Bates, Watson & Soole, 2012

5. Road policing challenges in LMICs
Insufficient human resources devoted to road policing
Insufficient technology and equipment to conduct breath testing, speed enforcement etc.
Limitations in legislation e.g. police may not have power to randomly pull-over and/or breath test drivers
Operations often focused on apprehension rather than deterrence
Corruption is endemic in some places, leading to widespread punishment avoidance
Difficult to achieve widespread, general deterrence
Road policing is often held in low regard

6. Aim of project Method & Results
Identify the theoretical principles underpinning good practice road policing to inform the design of capability- building initiatives in LMICs
Method & Results
Review of the traffic law enforcement literature focusing on relevant theories and concepts
Two perspectives emerged as most useful:
Deterrence Theory
Procedural Justice

7. Deterrence theory (1)
Criminological theory used to inform the design of traffic law enforcement programs like random breath testing and speed cameras
Classical deterrence theory asserts that the effectiveness of a legal threat is a function of the perceived certainty, swiftness & severity of punishment
Perceptions toward penalties are influenced by direct and indirect experience of punishment
By way of introduction to deterrence theory, it is worth noting that road safety in Australia has featured the extensive use of traffic law enforcement programs,like as RBT, speed cameras and red light cameras. These programs have proven very effective in reducing the road toll and have been strongly influenced by deterrence theory. These programs have featured the strategic use of police resources to increase the public’s perceived risk of apprehension for breaking the law.
Deterrence theory is a criminological theory which focuses on the effect of legal sanctions on controlling criminal behaviour. The traditional or classical form of this theory asserts that the effectiveness of a legal threat is related to the perceived certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment. In practice, a key concern is the perceived risk of apprehension and punishment among potential law breakers.
More recently, empathies has also been given to impact of punishment avoidance, not just punishment, on behaviour. For example, it has been suggested that getting away with an illegal behaviour, such as driving unlicensed, may do more to encourage the behaviour, than being punished does to discourage it.
Sources: Homel, 1986, Vingilis, 1990

8. Deterrence theory (2) Specific deterrence General deterrence
deterring traffic offenders through the fear of further punishment
General deterrence
deterring the general driving population by exposing them to the threat of apprehension (without necessarily punishing them)
more widespread effect on the community
Sources: Homel, 1986, Vingilis, 1990

9. Extended deterrence theory
The influence of punishment avoidance
“. . it is possible that punishment avoidance does more to encourage crime than punishment does to discourage it. Offenders whose experience is limited largely to avoiding punishment may come to believe that they are immune from punishment, even in the face of occasional evidence to the contrary”
(Stafford & War, 1993, p.125)

10. The dynamic nature of deterrence
Homel’s (1986) ‘Hole in the Bucket Model’

11. Good practice guidelines from deterrence theory research
Road policing is most effective when it is unpredictable, unavoidable and ubiquitous
Road policing operations need to be:
Conducted in an intensive and sustained manner (to increase the public’s perceived risk of detection)
As random in nature as possible (to maintain unpredictability)
Utilise both highly visible operations (to promote general deterrence) and targeted operations (to reduce punishment avoidance)
Supported by mass media and public education campaigns (to reinforce general deterrence)

12. Procedural Justice (1)
Criminological perspective focusing on people’s perceptions toward police decision-making and their use of authority
Stronger perceptions of procedural justice have been found to be associated with:
Stronger perceptions of police legitimacy
Greater cooperation with police
Greater trust of police
Lower recidivism
Source: Bates (2014)

13. Procedural Justice (2)
Limited research to date within the road policing field
Emerging evidence suggests that procedurally just traffic interactions have positive impacts on both:
Public perceptions toward the police and the enforcement activity, as well as behavioural intentions
Police perceptions about the value and purpose of the activity
Further work required to develop and evaluate procedurally just traffic policing operations, particularly in LMICs
Source: Bates (2014)

14. Good practice guidelines from Procedural Justice research
Road policing operations should be designed to optimise:
Voice - enabling road users to communicate their perspective
Neutrality - ensuring road policing decisions are based on the facts, not other factors
Respect - ensuring road police demonstrate respect to the public
Trustworthiness – ensuring road police demonstrate a concern for the welfare of the public
Source: Bates (2014)

15. Conclusion
Need to develop and evaluate strategies to enhance traffic law enforcement in LMICs targeting:
Adoption of strong, evidence-based policies and laws
Improvements to road policing policies and practices
Implementation of effective offender management systems
Road policing operations are more likely to be effective if they:
Promote general deterrence, while minimizing punishment avoidance
Are perceived to be procedurally fair

16. Dedicated to the sustainable reduction of road crash death and injury
Dr Barry Watson
Tel.:
Global Road Safety Partnership
c/o International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
P. O. Box , chemin des Crêts CH-1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland
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