Bedfordshire police commissioner Olly Martins has said that Turning on M1 speed cameras
permanently and having sponsored uniforms and cars could help bolster a
cash-strapped force's coffers,
The Bedfordshire commissioner said he was "actively looking" at ways to generate more money because the force's "desperate financial plight" left him "no option".
Mr Martins said the county's force was "stretched to the limit" with
169 officers per 100,000 population against a national average of 232
and 388 in London.
The county has the fourth highest level of gun
crime per head, fifth highest level of burglary, robbery and vehicle
crime, seventh highest level of knife crime, and a high terror threat,
he said.
The commissioner has already lost in a council tax
referendum asking for the public's permission to increase the police
precept and launched a petition calling on the government to ensure the
force is adequately funded.
He said the force's grant funding was "realigned
to the reality of the county's policing challenges" he would have to
use his powers to permanently turn on the cameras between junctions 10
and 13, one of the busiest stretches of the motorway.
Asked
whether easyJet could sponsor the county's "panda cars", Mr Martins
said: "I'd welcome it because that's an alternative to reducing our
police numbers below a level that I think is already putting our force
in a position of not being viable."
The speed cameras are linked
to variable limits, which can be reduced to below 70mph when there is
congestion, a crash or bad weather.
The majority of speed fine revenue goes to the government, but Mr Martin's office said a proportion goes to the local force.
"Strict
enforcement of the speed limit could raise £1m and to me that's better
than losing 25 more police officers," Mr Martins said.
"I am running out of levers to pull to keep Bedfordshire Police financially viable," he said.
Hugh
Bladon, from voluntary lobby group group the Alliance of British
Drivers, criticised the idea of making money from speed cameras. "These
cameras are alleged to make roads safer, they are not to make money for
the police or government or anyone and to suggest that it is... I'm
lost for words," he said. "It is completely contrary to anything to do with road safety and utterly obnoxious."
