Police and minister deny speed-ticket quota

Police Minister Annette King and Police Commissioner Howard Broad restated after a meeting today that there was no quota policy for speed tickets.

At a press conference at which they reaffirmed police policy on traffic policy, Ms King said the social cost of injury crashes was estimated at more than $3 billion.

The Government had earlier dismissed a leaked memo urging police to issue more traffic tickets as a one-off operation.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said she agreed with Ms King and Central district police commander Superintendent Mark Lammas that it was a rogue memo.

"I don't think one swallow makes a spring," she said this morning.

Police are being accused of having a ticket quota after a leaked Central District Highway Tasking Sheet called on officers to get its ticket count up.

It said: "...as it is the last week before the end of the accounting year for us it is a great opportunity to get our ticket count up to ensure we end up as the top group in Central".

Mr Broad said constables have wide discretion and that is why officers would operate a ticketing policy without direction from superiors.

He said he gives broad policy direction but cannot tell officers when to give a ticket.

Helen Clark told TVOne that the Government never had a policy of national quotas.

"On the other hand, if you talk to police they say they have to have some way of measuring their performance. The issue is how they do that,' she said.

Police yesterday defended how traffic tickets are issued and deny there is a quota system after the embarrassing internal memo was leaked.

National's law and order spokesman, Simon Power, said: "This is clear evidence that Labour has been covering up the target system and proves what the public has suspected all along."

He said the Government had misled the public saying targets did not exist and that ticketing was not a revenue-gathering exercise.

"But that is obviously not the case."

National Road Policing Manager Superintendent Dave Cliff said there was no quota system and the number of speeding tickets had actually reduced.

- NZPA

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