Policing the roads: traffic cops, ‘Boy Racers’ and anti-social behaviour

Abstract

This article explores the policing and regulation of young motorists known in the United Kingdom as ‘boy racers’. It demonstrates how police officers' definitional decisions in relation to driving behaviours were influenced by a range of exogenous and endogenous factors, which subsequently shaped the landscape of enforcement and interactions with the community and drivers. A shift over time in the nature of the problem due to urban regeneration, innovations in the technology of the motor car and the availability of anti-social behaviour legislation impacted upon the policing of urban space. The strategies employed in order to police the culture and the related urban space were reminiscent of a deeper policing tradition wherein managing incivilities and local problems is part of the community policing perspective. Data is presented from semi-structured interviews with police, residents and ‘boy racers’, and ethnographic fieldwork with the drivers in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Keywords:

• anti-social behaviour
• boy racers
• community policing
• traffic policing

Notes

1. There are substantial differences and similarities between policing in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Scottish policing shares certain principles and strategies with the UK such as policing by consent and the tripartite system (consisting of police authorities, chief constables and the government). Differences can be found in Scots law, legal systems and historical traditions such as community policing. Scottish devolution had a considerable impact on policing since 1999, with changes instigated from the government, policy-makers, working groups and police organisations (Donnelly and Scott 2008).

2. In Australia and New Zealand ‘boy racers’ are also referred to as ‘hoons’.

3. Dispersal of Groups gives senior police officers the authority to designate an area (in consultation with the local authority) where significant, persistent and serious anti-social behaviour has occurred and the behaviour or presence of groups is contributing to the problem. An area can be designated for up to three-months. Police have the power to disperse groups of two or more individuals and can prohibit them from returning to the area for 24 hours. Failure to comply can result in a £2500 fine or three-month prison sentence.

4. Gives police the power to seize a vehicle if driven in a way which causes alarm, distress or annoyance to the public on or off-road (see Scottish Executive 2006).

5. Multi-agency partnerships set up in local authorities across Scotland with the purpose of addressing youth offending behaviour.

6. Around 30 residents attended in addition to a local businessman and two journalists from the local newspapers. The meeting was chaired by two officers from Grampian Police, the Neighbourhood Director from Aberdeen City Council and two council officials. It was the fifth meeting that had taken place in eighteen months.

7. Pseudonyms have been used in order to protect the identity of respondents.

8. In 1995 the Road Traffic (New Drivers Act) was introduced in the United Kingdom. The Act requires newly qualified drivers to retake their driving test if they acquire six or more penalty points within two years of passing their driving test.

9. In terms of the ‘boy racer’ label, it is worth noting that only those police officers who had direct proximity to the drivers (in addition to the drivers themselves) acknowledged the cultural (and contested) realities of the group in terms of the law-abiding majority, hence their utilisation of the term ‘cruiser’. I use the term ‘boy racer’ since this is how the media and other groups portray the culture and ensure the myth's endurance in the public imagination (see Lumsden 2009b).

10. Intelligence-led policing is an operational tactic designed to reduce crime through proactive policing targeted by criminal intelligence (Ratcliffe 2008).

11. National youth justice voluntary organisation in Scotland which aims to make communities safer by reducing conflict and offending. Services include criminal justice, conflict resolution and restorative justice and reparation.