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Police chief Richard Brunstrom sets target for Christmas convictions of motorists

A controversial Chief Constable is facing a growing revolt among rank-and-file officers over the imposition of targets for convictions of motorists in the Christmas drink drive crackdown.

By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 4:56PM GMT 10 Dec 2008

One police officer in North Wales was required to stand outside a school until he had booked five motorists for not wearing their seat belts, it was claimed by the local police federation

The Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom of North Wales has been dubbed the "Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban" after he called for the number of speed cameras to be trebled and ordered officers to "hide behind road signs and walls" to catch speeding drivers.

Now leaders of the Police Federation, which represents 1,588 officers in the region, want talks with Mr Brunstrom over discontent over management style, mounting paperwork, and targets for penalty tickets.

A survey of more than 500 officers in north Wales revealed many felt overburdened by bureaucracy and that they felt pressurised into concentrating on issuing tickets rather than properly investigating crimes.

At a meeting of North Wales Police Authority the Police Federation representative Chris Warner complained that his office had been inundated with emails from officers concerned about "quantity not quality" demands at Christmas.

He claimed that the campaigns were "not conducive to public support". Mr Warner said: "We had one officer having to stand outside a school to book five people for not wearing seat belts. Having daily targets of penalty tickets is becoming a big issue."

Last year 19,554 drivers were breathalysed on the roads of Wales during the Christmas campaign and 587 of those tested positive. Clive Wolfendale, the Deputy Chief Constable, defended the hardline policy and said: "What he is talking about is a campaign to save lives on the road at Christmas."

The Chief Constable's zero tolerance approach to speeding is not the only time he has made the headlines. He has repeatedly called for the legalisation of hard drugs and earlier this year claimed Ecstasy was safer than aspirin. He spent £4,000 of taxpayers' money investigating 'anti- Welsh' comments by Weakest Link host Anne Robinson. He ordered an inquiry after Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister referred to the "bloody Welsh" after their vote on a Welsh assembly.

Last year he was criticised for using a photo of a decapitated biker without his family's permission.