Internal Disciplinary Breakdown

Preface

Disciplinary action within the Road Traffic Unit is purely internal and is not reflected on a police officer's official record unless they are demoted and/or blacklisted from the Road Traffic Unit as a result of internal action taken by Traffic Command. Traffic Command holds a private record of all internal disciplinary action. All internal disciplinary action taken is done so in line with the Internal Action and Appeals policy and/or Performance Disciplinary. 

Whilst internal disciplinary action will not affect an officer's progression outside of the Road Traffic Unit - unless it is recent and deemed relevant to the role they are applying for - it will affect progression within the Road Traffic Unit and will be considered should the officer apply for any roles therein.

Any internal action which is taken by Traffic Command exists alongside Internal Affairs and in cases where no complaint has been submitted, this will be done by Traffic Command. 

Traffic Command monitors the quantity and quality of observation reports submitted by every police officer holding the rank of Corporal. Any disciplinary action taken in relation to observation reports is not internal and is done so in line with the Performance Disciplinary policy and as such the officer's record will be updated appropriately.

Case Management

Traffic Command reserves the right to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against any Road Traffic Officer where it has been identified or alleged that they have, on duty, demonstrated poor performance whilst conducting their duties as a Traffic Officer. This includes but is not limited to:

• A poor or dangerous standard of driving

• Ineffective usage of RTU tactics

• Breach of Road Traffic Unit policies

• Use of force policy breaches relating to vehicles such as during pursuits or traffic stops

Officers should refer to the Traffic Principles when looking to understand what may attract internal disciplinary action.

Traffic Command will also recognise issues of personal conduct such as unprofessionalism, discourtesy, insubordination etc as poor performance and reserve the right to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against a Traffic Officer for any such reason.

Where a Traffic Officer has been issued external disciplinary action, such as on duty by a supervisor or a sustained internal affairs complaint, Traffic Command will review this infraction and may initiate internal disciplinary proceedings.

Furthermore, where a Traffic Officer is not acting primarily as a Traffic Officer, such as when in TFU gear, Traffic Command will still recognise poor performance under any of the circumstances above and reserves the right to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings regardless of what gear the officer was using.

Recognition

Traffic Command may become aware of poor performance through a number of different ways, however, the most common are:

• Sustained internal affairs complaints

• Trainer referrals

• Directly witnessed

Where Traffic Command becomes aware of a potential issue of poor performance, this incident will be reviewed, triaged and actioned accordingly. The following infographic represents the internal disciplinary process in full:

Grading

As represented above, once Traffic Command has reviewed all available evidence and discussed a recognised/alleged incident of poor performance or conduct, it will be judged on its severity and required intervention and placed into category D, C, B or A. These categories are shown below:

• Category D - No misconduct or malperformance identified, or there is insufficient evidence to prove the allegation.

• Category C - Performance or conduct issue identified with sufficient evidence to prove the allegation. Very low-level incident unsuitable for severe escalation. Rarely used in only the least severe cases. Authorised by a Traffic Lieutenant.

• Category B - Performance or conduct issued identified with sufficient evidence to prove the allegation. Substantial diversionary and rehabilitative intervention is required. Regularly used in response to recognised performance or conduct issues. Authorised by a Traffic Lieutenant.

• Category A - Serious performance or conduct issue identified with sufficient evidence to prove the allegation. Robust, immediate and severe escalation is required. Authorised by the Head of Traffic.

It is at the discretion of Traffic Command how an incident is graded and what punishment is implemented. When triaging an incident and deciding how it should be graded, Traffic Command will consider the severity of the incident, the circumstances of said incident, the officer's level of experience and previous record/internal disciplinary.

Punishments

Where an issue of poor performance is proven and graded C, B or A then the following disciplinary action will be taken according to the severity of the incident:

• Internal Warning - Category C - Informal warning sent to the officer. This officer will be more closely monitored over the next month and further conduct issues will result in more severe escalation.

• Internal Reprimand - Category B - Formal warning sent to the officer. This officer and their actions/decisions will be monitored and scrutinised by Traffic Command and the Training Team for a specified period of time ranging from 1-3 months. 

• Quality Control Patrol - Category B - Officer is required to attend a supervised patrol with a member of Traffic Command in which their understanding of traffic policy and procedure as well as ability to deploy this knowledge will be assessed. Poor performance during this patrol may result in their imminent removal from the Road Traffic Unit, or requirement to attend a second patrol.

• Demotion - Category A - Officer is immediately removed from the Road Traffic Unit.

  • Following a demotion, Traffic Command may also choose to implement a blacklist during which the officer cannot re-apply to the Road Traffic Unit for a specified period of time.

It is at the discretion of Traffic Command which punishment is issued for an incident of any category, as is it their discretion what category an incident falls into, however, in rare cases the above recommendations may be changed to suit the nature and complexity of an incident.

Appeals against any of the punishments listed above above should be submitted as per Section 5 of the Internal Action and Appeals policy.