When I joined the New Zealand Police in 1983, one of my earliest lessons was an introduction to the Peelian Principles, developed by Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing. These principles emphasised that policing is done with the consent of the public, and that the police are part of the community, not apart from it. They emphasise legitimacy, consent, and community partnership. Peel’s philosophy was clear: the police are the public and the public are the police.
The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder, and the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions. Securing the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law is essential to maintaining public respect. The degree of co-operation that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of using physical force.
Policing Is Not Just Law Enforcement
Policing is far broader than enforcing laws. It involves:
The term “law enforcement” implies a narrow, force-driven role: enforcing laws at all costs. It strips away the community-centred philosophy that is the foundation of modern policing and risks eroding public trust. When policing becomes synonymous with enforcement and the use of force, the principles of consent, fairness, and partnership are lost.
The Same Holds True for Road Policing
Consider road policing, a critical function aimed at reducing serious crashes and their catastrophic consequences on individuals and the broader community. Road policing is not simply about issuing tickets or punishing offenders. It encompasses:
By training police in these principles, we not only reduce the likelihood of serious crashes but also increase the chances that drivers leave the interaction feeling respected and less likely to re-offend. This is not a “soft option”, penalties still apply, but it preserves public consent and strengthens legitimacy.
Beyond Enforcement: A Broader Mission
Road policing also involves:
These roles demonstrate that policing is about prevention, partnership, and problem-solving, not merely enforcement.
Why Language Matters
Words shape perceptions. When we call policing “law enforcement”, we risk reducing a complex, community-driven mission to a one-dimensional, force-based role. This is dangerous – not only for public trust but for the effectiveness of policing itself.
Let’s reclaim the language of policing, especially in road safety. Enforcement is part of the job, but it is not the whole job. Policing is about saving lives, building trust, and working with communities to create safer systems. That is the essence of modern policing – and it must never be lost.
Dave Cliff ONZM MStJ
Chief Executive Officer
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), with support of Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), hosted a two-day Traffic Commanders Road Policing Leadership Seminar in September. This event gathered together key road policing and enforcement officials from across the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the Malaysia’s Transport Department, (JPJ) and the enforcement division of the City Council of Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to focus on enhancing skills, knowledge and leadership in road policing and road safety enforcement.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), with support of Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), hosted a two-day Traffic Commanders Road Policing Leadership Seminar in September. This event gathered together key road policing and enforcement officials from across the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the Malaysia’s Transport Department, (JPJ) and the enforcement division of the City Council of Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to focus on enhancing skills, knowledge and leadership in road policing and road safety enforcement.
The seminar was officially opened by Dato’ Seri Jana Santhiran Muniayan, Secretary General for the Ministry of Transport Malaysia, who highlighted the importance of road safety as a shared responsibility and a critical component of public safety.
Key Seminar Highlights and Sessions
The seminar featured an interactive and engaging agenda, with insightful discussions focusing on global and local road safety trends, challenges, and road policing practices. A standout session on the “Intersection Between Road Policing and Street Design” was led by the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI), exploring how urban design can play a crucial role in road safety and support police in reducing the frequency and severity of road traffic crashes.
The seminar aimed to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing between road safety professionals which focused on:
Building Safer Communities
The seminar’s interactive Q&A sessions encouraged collaboration among participants, allowing them to share ideas and discuss policing challenges in their own contexts. By the end of the event, attendees gained valuable insights into enhancing road safety measures and fostering safer communities for all road users.
Looking Forward
The event concluded with a series of recommendations and a call to action for participants to apply the strategies and models discussed to strengthen and enhance road policing in Malaysia and beyond.
The seminar was led by GRSP’s Asia Pacific Team, with support of BIGRS and GDCI, marking a significant step toward enhancing road policing leadership within the participating agencies.
During the 2nd week of November, 51 senior police and traffic enforcement agency leaders from five African countries and Jamaica convened in Mombasa to participate in the 2025 Road Policing Executive Leadership Course (RPELC), a flagship capacity-strengthening initiative supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS). Additional support was received from the FIA Foundation and the Anglo-American Foundation.
During the 2nd week of November, 51 senior police and traffic enforcement agency leaders from five African countries and Jamaica convened in Mombasa to participate in the 2025 Road Policing Executive Leadership Course (RPELC), a flagship capacity-strengthening initiative supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS). Additional support was received from the FIA Foundation and the Anglo-American Foundation.
The RPELC provided an intensive platform for sharing global best practices in road policing, that builds public trust through procedurally fair policing practise, with a strong focus on addressing key road safety risk factors such as speeding, drink driving or lack of seatbelt and helmet wearing. Through interactive sessions and peer learning, participants strengthened their ability to apply evidence-based, intelligence-led strategies to reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities in their home countries.
“Every day in Africa, approximately 620 lives are lost in crashes, and police have an enormously important role in preventing these needless tragedies,” said Dave Cliff, CEO of the Global Road Safety Partnership. “The strong engagement of this group of high-ranking officers demonstrates the deep commitment across Africa and Jamaica to keeping people safe on the roads.”
Jointly delivered by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) and the Johns Hopkins Univeristy – International Injury Research Unit (JHU-IIRU), the 2025 RPELC brought together participants, academics and leading international road policing experts to share best practices by taking a comprehensive ‘Safe System’ approach. Road policing is essential to reducing the enormous burden of global road trauma and ensuring police leaders are well educated on the most effective policing mechanisms to improve road user safety.
BIGRS continues to support police agencies with implementing proven interventions and building leadership capacity and capability to prevent serious road traffic crashes in low-and-middle income countries.
Carey Griffiths was a New Zealand Police Officer from 1985 to 2015, rising to the rank of Superintendent as National Road Policing Manager. Carey now works for the New Zealand Customs Service as Manager Strategy and Programmes.
He shares how the Police talk about speed.
As an ex-New Zealand Police Officer (1985-2015) and National Road Policing Manager, speeding was one of the most difficult road safety topics to discuss with the public and indeed other police staff. I was fortunate enough in my career to engage with many of the leading road safety researchers from Monash University Accident Research Centre, including Professor Ian Johnston and Dr Max Cameron. These researchers and others really changed my mind about speeding, and I ended up as a regular presenter to police training courses, at conferences and in the media on how Police used research to inform its road policing activities.
Now I am out of Police I still see the same frustrating conversations and attitudes coming up time and time again, so I thought I’d share how I had these conversations.
Me: “Put your hand up if you speed when driving your own car” (around 10% of the room will do that while nervously looking around.)
Me: “OK, let’s clarify this – how many of you would regularly exceed the speed limit by say 5-10 km/hr?” (Most people will put their hands up)
Me: “Most people when they think ‘speeding’ think of higher speeds – eg the car blasting past them at 130. And those people we all know intuitively are a risk. The faster you go, the bigger the mess, eh” (usually lots of nodding).
Me: “The research is pretty clear – for every 5 km/hr above a 60 km/hr limit and every 10 km/hr above a 100 km/hr limit, the risk of casualty crash involvement doubles. So how many of you doing 65 km/hr in a 60 km/hr zone feel like you’ve just doubled your crash risk? Or feel any extra risk at all? (Hardly anyone puts their hand up).
Me: “OK – let’s forget about ourselves as individuals. What does doubling casualty crash risk mean across 2.7 million licensed drivers in New Zealand? That’s a lot of people, isn’t it?” (Usually the nodding begins).
Me: “A good example is when you are stuck in heavy traffic and cursing that the traffic is really heavy and why is that? Hey – you are the traffic!” (usually some laughs)
Me: “The problem is that when we think of speeding, we think of that other person who is driving really fast. And in these cases, it’s really easy to see how their speed can cause a crash. Exceeding the speed limit by a small amount doesn’t feel unsafe – we all do it, and it’s harder to see how that causes a crash. And Police trying to enforce lower-level speeding get the ‘this is revenue gathering – why don’t you pick on the real problem?’ claims” (Usually lots of agreement by then.)
Me: “A big challenge is in explaining there are two types of risk. A high individual risk posed by a small number of people going really fast. And a high collective risk posed by a really large number of people going a few km/hr over the speed limit. And they are both a risk, for different reasons. Speeding is actually about us – not just about them.”
Me: “Let’s have a show of hands. In New Zealand and other similar Western countries, are casualty crashes caused more by extreme behaviours or by people like us making mistakes?”. And this is where it gets interesting and the crowd starts to debate with itself. I always have a slide or two on the available research. The AA Research foundation in New Zealand found that :
“in around three quarters of crashes where vehicle occupants were seriously injured the drivers were generally following the rules of the road, but they made a mistake or a poor decision, or something unexpected happened.”
Me: “Police have to target both types of risk. They need to deal with the bad people doing bad things. But if they ignore lower level speed they ignore one of the most significant contributors to overall trauma rates.” (By this stage there’s usually a lot more nodding)
So – the challenge with this conversation is that you need to know your research. It’s not a simple conversation and it doesn’t lend itself to simple sound bites. Police leaders have an obligation to understand the research and to help lead this conversation in a variety of fora to help dispel the myth that speed related crashes are primarily caused by bad people doing bad things and Police are just trying to gather revenue from the compliant.
You have to know the research well, as there are plenty of armchair experts who will try and take you down, so get to know your academics!
“Carey Griffiths was a New Zealand Police Officer from 1985 to 2015, rising to the rank of Superintendent as National Road Policing Manager. Carey now works for the New Zealand Customs Service as Manager Strategy and Programmes.”
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