Hawkins defends police traffic units

The two Christchurch 111 incidents at the centre of allegations over poor response times by traffic police were answered in four minutes and two minutes respectively, Police Minister George Hawkins told Parliament yesterday.

Helped by Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen, Mr Hawkins also sought to justify the special status of traffic police through figures on saved lives.

Opposition MPs have suggested that traffic police are too pre-occupied with issuing speeding tickets and gathering revenue to attend other calls.

Mr Hawkins said highway patrol staff attended events off state highways when there was immediate risk to life or property or when other staff needed back-up.

New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark on Monday released an email about the failure of three traffic units to reply to repeated calls to respond.

The email, with the writer's details blanked out, said there was no reason for the units to be logged out and not listening to their radios.

"My reason for wanting them was to stop an offender who had taken a 2-year-old child away from its mother," the email read.

Mr Hawkins said an investigation showed police were dispatched to the call within four minutes.

He also stood by his claim, and that of Police Commissioner Rob Robinson, that surveys showed the public were more concerned about being involved in a car crash than anything else.

Mr Robinson said earlier yesterday that the public repeatedly told police in surveys that their number one concern was being killed or maimed on the roads.

A Ministry of Justice 2001 crime survey published last year cites the public's greatest fear is being in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver (57.7 per cent very or fairly worried), just ahead of being burgled (57.1 per cent), and being sexually assaulted or raped (32.1 per cent).

However, National Party law and order spokesman Tony Ryall doubted "the public is more worried about traffic than serious crime".

Prompted by Dr Cullen, Mr Hawkins said highway patrols had helped reduce road deaths by 40 per cent since 1990, despite an increase of 15 per cent in vehicle numbers and a 5 per cent rise in the population.

* Have you had a 111 problem? Do you know a spot where police go to trap motorists? Email newsdesk@nzherald.co.nz