Mobile police stations defended

Greg O'Connor. Photo / Supplied

Police plans to dispense on-the-spot punishments for minor crimes were just an extension of parking wardens giving out tickets, the head of the Police Association says.

Greg O'Connor said the proposal - where all patrol cars would be equipped with mobile fingerprinting machines and other digital devices used to process offenders - was mainly about speeding up the process by using technology.

Before police were given the powers to hand out instant speeding tickets, people endured the lengthy process of having "their name and address taken and there'd be a whole file done to prosecute a person", Mr O'Connor said.

"A parking warden issuing a parking ticket - it's just an extended version of that isn't it? And you can take fingerprints at the same time and identification details."

The recommendation is to be presented to Government in the police "Fit for the Future" project.

It would possibly cover summary offences such as disorderly behaviour, vandalism, tagging and indecent exposure.

Mr O'Connor said the idea was not new; mobile police stations already existed.

"For example, when we have of breach of liquor ban operations a lot of the processing is done away from the police stations.

"At Mt Maunganui on New Year's Eve, people arrested are not taken back to the police station, they're often just processed and moved on. It doesn't change anything, it's just technology."

The idea also has support from Auckland QC Peter Williams, who said the plan could save defendants time and the embarrassment of turning up to court.

In other countries where police have these powers, they often get in touch with social agencies, he said. Rather than offenders just being processed through court, their underlying problems - such as alcohol and drug addiction - were addressed. That saved money and, more importantly, addressed underlying causes of crime.

"On the other hand, it places a huge responsibility on police to act in a fair and proper way and not to abuse their powers."

Green MP Keith Locke said it would be dangerous to give the police the right to judge and penalise people.

"We must jealously guard the separation of police and judicial powers. Not only must justice be done, but it must be seen to be done. This is very difficult with spot fines for criminal behaviour.

"The advantage of court proceedings is that judges can stand back, and look at what occurred objectively, and apply the law fairly."

He said on-the-spot punishments during street demonstrations would be "a recipe for further unrest".

However, his party supported the police focus on speeding up court cases.

Police Minister Judith Collins said she did not want to comment on the recommendations until she had seen the police report.

Police Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope, who revealed the ideas on Tuesday, said the proposals were still in the early stages.