New powers for police to prosecute tens of thousands of speeding drivers and vandals Police can only use the powers when defendants plead guilty. Currently the police have the power to prosecute uncontested, low-level traffic offences, such as speeding, driving without insurance, or failing to produce a driving licence - as long as the defendant pleads guilty. If the changes, which will be trailed at nine police forces, are adopted it would mean that police-led prosecutions can now cover over half of all cases heard in Magistrates" Courts. Mrs May told the Association of Chief Police Officers autumn conference that the changes would cut back on police red tape. She added: "I want us to be bold and imaginative about transforming policing and the wider criminal justice system to save time and money and deliver a better service for the public. Our policing reforms have already stripped away 4.5 million hours of wasted police time - the equivalent of 2,100 officers on the streets. But we must work ever harder to increase efficiency right across the force to help the focus on fighting crime. Currently the police have the power to prosecute uncontested, low-level traffic offences, such as speeding, driving without insurance, or failing to produce a driving licence - as long as the defendant pleads guilty.