Operation Snap (FOI Ref: 1141A/25)
FOI Request Reference: 1141A/25
Thank you for your request for information, received 3/6/2025
Request
1) How is Op Snap staffed? That is to mean are there permanent members of staff or is it part of an overtime or rotating duties?
2) Does the force have any plan in place to deal with the increased demand in submission volumes evidenced on the attached? (47% increase this calendar year from 1647 in Jan to 2424 in Mar).
3) What are the forces internal service level agreement / target for reviewing and actioning footage?
4) Does the Op Snap team/lead have a comment or thoughts on the most recent data that suggests 8% of all submissions have not been processed fast enough to meet the 14-day NIP period where there has been an offence that would have been otherwise actionable. (Note these are not marked as late submissions this is separate from this figure).
5) Is there any internal mechanism that monitors repeat offenders? The concern is if the above trend becomes common serial offenders will amass a pile of warning letters and not actually be held accountable.
6) What are the forces position on Op Snaps effectiveness in general and does the above findings raise concerns going forward as to its efficacy.
7) What is the publishing schedule of Op Snap results, notably the force has only just published data for Feb/March and is months behind. Is this as a result of increased demand? Is there an indication that the trend highlighted above around processing lag has increased into April/May?
Response
Please find enclosed our response.
1) How is Op Snap staffed? That is to mean are there permanent members of staff or is it part of an overtime or rotating duties?
Staffed by Police Officers who are permanent members of staff working Monday to Friday.
Currently no overtime.
2) Does the force have any plan in place to deal with the increased demand in submission volumes evidenced on the attached? (47% increase this calendar year from 1647 in Jan to 2424 in Mar).
The volume of submissions is continually reviewed and mapped in order that we can predict future demand. As a result of future increases predicted, a proposal has been written to increase the team size to match future demand.
3) What are the forces internal service level agreement / target for reviewing and actioning footage?
The service level agreement is the generic WMP service level agreement.
4) Does the Op Snap team/lead have a comment or thoughts on the most recent data that suggests 8% of all submissions have not been processed fast enough to meet the 14-day NIP period where there has been an offence that would have been otherwise actionable. (Note these are not marked as late submissions this is separate from this figure).
It is common in all vehicle related issues for less than 100% to reach a positive outcome – for example, vehicles on the road that have been sold with no current keeper.
Our priority focus will be to continue to improve road safety through the delivery of appropriate sanctions, maintaining public trust and confidence in our ability to respond positively. To sustain the delivery of this operational approach, staff capacity will be prioritised in accordance with the severity of each submission (in line with the Regional and National Road Safety Strategy and Fatal Four) and current working practices will be reviewed and amended to generate further staff time to investigate submissions.
Through this approach, we will continue to drive and recognise the significant positive impact that individual road users can play in contributing to improving road safety across the West Midlands Region.
5) Is there any internal mechanism that monitors repeat offenders? The concern is if the above trend becomes common serial offenders will amass a pile of warning letters and not actually be held accountable.
The police use a system called PENTIP which monitors all individuals and checks their eligibility for appropriate disposals. Warning letters are also monitored using internal police systems
6) What are the forces position on Op Snaps effectiveness in general and does the above findings raise concerns going forward as to its efficiency.
Op Snap is an effective tool to assist in proactively ensuring our roads are safe whilst, recognizing the positive contribution our local community can play, in directly influencing attitudes and driver behaviors.
To maximize the effectiveness of Op Snap, WMP would have to have the support from NextBase to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative data to correlate against KSI locations for road traffic offence. Consequently, contributing to the overall aim of “Vision Zero Strategy” and improving the safety of a road network that denies criminal use and protects vulnerable road users.
7) What is the publishing schedule of Op Snap results, notably the force has only just published data for Feb/March and is months behind. Is this as a result of increased demand? Is there an indication that the trend highlighted above around processing lag has increased into April/May?
No, it can take up to 6 months to finalise an investigation and the outcomes will not be 100% finalised until that point in time.
The governance and sharing agreement is as per the force website, West Midlands Police will continue to proactively publish on a quarterly basis (every three months) Op Snap metrics, to ensure we are working towards a common goal of information sharing to deliver a safe road network for the West Midlands Police Region.