Police Staff and Community Support Officers: Obstructing a Designated Person

South Yorkshire Police recently reported an irate driver for obstructing a mobile speed camera van.

The as yet unnamed HGV driver, who is aged in his 50s despite his lack of maturity, used his vehicle to block the camera van, which was parked in the town of Maltby on Tuesday, 20th February 2024.

The man was asked to move so that the camera operator could continue with their work, but became "obnoxious" and started to film the encounter (see my earlier article about "Social Media Auditing").

The man is being prosecuted under section 46(2) of the Police Reform Act 2002.

Section 38(1) of the Act enables a chief police officer to designate any employee of their force as a community support officer and/or a policing support officer.

Section 38(6B) of the Act provides details of the powers and duties that can be designated to a community support officer or policing support officer - the operation of mobile speed camera equipment being one such duty.

Section 46(2) of the Act makes it an offence for any person to resist or wilfully obstruct a designated person in the execution of their designated duties. The maximum penalty on summary conviction is one months' custody and/or a fine at level 3 (£1,000).

This legislation could be applied in any situation where a member of the public obstructs a PCSO or police-employed speed camera operator in the course of their duties. It's worth making this point, because unfortunately some ne'er do wells consider PCSOs "fair game" and mess them around in a way they would never do with a sworn constable.

Some police forces use sworn constables to operate their mobile speed camera vans. In this situation, a person obstructing a camera van could be prosecuted for the offence of obstructing a police constable in the exercise of their duties.