Equipment and Vehicles Policy

2.1 As an RTO you are given three marked vehicles which are not accessible by normal patrol officers, you must use them effectively and within their purpose.

2.2 RTU vehicles should only be driven by RTOs unless an officer is supervised by an RTO ranked Sergeant or above or an RTU Trainer regardless of rank. The only exception to this policy is when responding to life-threatening situations. This policy excludes the Mercedes SL65 AMG, please refer to 2.6.

2.3 The BMW 340i and Porsche Cayenne should be used for general policing, traffic-related incident response, forming roadblocks and performing speed traps.

2.4 The Mercedes SL65 AMG should only be used within a traffic-related patrol or responding to traffic-related incidents. You should never make yourself assignable to non-traffic related incidents whilst using this vehicle unless necessary due to a life-threatening situation.

2.5 If an officer chooses to drive the Mercedes SL65 AMG and has a suspect to deal with, they should request prisoner transport to take the suspect back to the Police Department and then deal with their suspect themselves. This may be disregarded if there is justifiable reason to do so such as a life threatening situation.

2.6 The Mercedes SL65 AMG may only be driven by RTOs ranked Sergeant or above, RTOs ranked below Sergeant may drive this vehicle under the supervision of a RTO holding such rank or a Traffic Trainer.

2.7 All marked traffic vehicles may be used to respond to life threatening situations regardless of vehicle purpose or officer rank.

2.8 Traffic Command reserve the right to ask you to stop driving the Mercedes SL65 AMG if there is a valid reason to do so, including if you have used the vehicle for too long or for the wrong reasons.

3.1 Unmarked vehicles may only be used by Traffic Officers.

3.2 These vehicles can be used for general policing, but you should still attempt to make yourself assignable primarily to traffic-related incidents.

3.3 Unmarked vehicles should be used primarily for being less noticeable as a road policing vehicle but can be used for non-traffic-related incidents.

3.4 Misusing the Road Traffic Unit unmarked vehicles can result in disciplinary action being taken against you.

3.5 Traffic Command reserve the right to ask you to stop driving an unmarked vehicle if there is a valid reason to do so such as if you have used the vehicle for too long or have done so ineffectively.

3.6 Officers who are not whitelisted RTOs may only drive unmarked car if supervised by a RTU Trainer or an RTU Supervisor except in life-threatening situations.

3.7 After using an unmarked vehicle for a while, you should return it and provide other officers the opportunity to use it.

3.8 Officers in TFU gear may not drive or ride passenger in an unmarked vehicle unless necessary due to a life-threatening situation.

4.1 As a RTO you are to use the following criteria in order to establish a speed trap

• The flow of traffic must not be obstructed

• The speed trap must not be in a position to cause harm to yourself or other road users.

• The speed trap must be in a position that does not obstruct pedestrian movement

4.2 Speed traps should not under any circumstances be set up on highway lanes. This includes near the city bridge

4.3 As a RTO, when responding to any other call you must take down your speed trap before leaving the area.