North Wales Police have been hailed as a role model for the rest of the UK’s forces for the way they investigate serious road crashes and their use of high-tech methods including drones.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones, said he was proud they had been named as the lead force for a new accreditation system. The constabulary has received extra funding of £2 million to head up the new Forensic Collision Investigation Network.

The aim is to get all 43 forces accredited by October 2022. North Wales Assistant Chief Constable, Sascha Hatchett is lead officer for the initiative.

Mr Jones said: “Sacha Hatchett is an excellent and hugely capable Assistant Chief Constable, so she is the perfect choice as the lead officer for the initiative.

“The families of victims deserve to have investigations carried out to the highest possible standard. People being killed or injured on our roads is a crime and that crime deserves to be properly investigated.

Chief Constable Carl Foulkes added: “It’s a really complex discipline to understand what has caused serious injuries or the loss of somebody’s life and we want to make sure we give the very best service.

“We use the latest technology to scan the scenes and drones are being used more and more to assess the road to understand what occurred and who is responsible for it.

“I’ve got a fantastic lead in ACC Sacha Hatchett and she is supported by an incredible team within the forensics department who time and again amaze me about what they do.

ACC Hatchett said: “We have got approximately 350 people across 43 forces who are forensic collision investigation officers who do a really challenging and specialist role.

“I’m hoping that with their support we will take forensic collision investigation on to the next level.

“We believe that a networked approach to this kind of science is something that could be replicated in other areas of policing, so hopefully we set a blueprint for how we can do some of our business in the future.”