Inspector Shilvock

We spoke to Inspector Jon Shilvock, who has over 17 years' service with Greater Manchester Police (GMP). He spoke about why he enjoys working for the Roads Policing Unit and some often overlooked aspects of their work.

The attraction of working for the RPU.

"It's the sharp end of policing. We're expected to deal with significant incidents, from serious road traffic collisions to serious crimes.

"We cover a huge area which various in demographics and geography. You have your inner-city areas and rural outer districts.

"We're responsible for responding to those areas and keeping people safe. It's a very varied role."

We operate the Special Escort Group.

"They're a very highly trained group of officers responsible for escorting dignitaries, politicians, VIPs or Royalty. They also do transport runs for Category A prisoners.

"We work closely with neighbouring forces so there are often transports between force areas. If it’s a high profile trial for instance, that might be held in Liverpool for someone who is being housed at Manchester."

We're at the forefront of tackling the region's most serious crimes.

"Combatting Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) is a big part of our work. These criminals try and avoid police officers on the roads. But have the sort of vehicles, capabilities and training to bring them into custody.

"It might be during a response to a burglary or an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera activation. When we seize a vehicle it's rarely just a case of them not having a licence; there's usually something else associated that we find.

"We're often responsible for finding and seizing that evidence that puts the most dangerous criminals behind bars."

Tackling Car cruise events

"Sadly, we have had fatal collisions at car cruises.

"We need to make sure they're policed correctly - being present and visible to members of the public and countering any anti-social driving.

"We can go through stages where there are several throughout any given weekend."