§ 12. Mr. Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many policemen are engaged on motor cycle traffic patrol duty in England and Wales.
§ Mr. George ThomasNo central record is kept of the number of police officers engaged on motor cycle traffic patrol, but the information available to my right hon. Friend indicates that there are about 1,100 officers assigned to full-time duty of this kind.
§ Mr. ShepherdDoes not the hon. Gentleman regard this as totally unsatisfactory? Should not he study the French arrangements for efficient motor cycle traffic patrols, give them an élite status and use them as part of the aid to nationalise the police force?
§ Mr. ThomasI will not deal with the latter part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question with which I am not at all out of sympathy. The police forces of the country are studying all the time what happens in other countries. There are about 4,400 motor cycles used in the police service, and the figures which I gave are not a complete indication of the amount of time spent by patrols on road duties.