Could cops be hiding in here? File picture / Northern Advocate
Could cops be hiding in here? File picture / Northern Advocate
KEY POINTS:
Drunk drivers trying to sneak past police could be pulled over by an ice cream truck playing Greensleeves in a novel new campaign.
Senior Sergeant Nick Dobson of the Central District traffic support unit said he had hired a wide range of vehicles for traffic patrol including campervans,buses, motorbikes and possibly an ice cream truck.
The blitz will concentrate on the central North Island and the Waikato over Christmas.
"Anything could be a police patrol car. We could be in an ice cream truck. We're trying to get people to think a bit more. But I don't want to give away too much.
"They might not even be motor vehicles. We could pull them over in anything - and it might not have four wheels," said Dobson.
When asked if that meant speeders could be targeted by police officers decked out in leather on Harley Davidsons, Dobson laughed.
"Did I say motorbike? It could be anything - it might even be a push bike."
Dobson said the new ploy was an attempt to combat the image of the ubiquitous police Holden on the road.
"It's pretty easy to tell what an undercover police car looks like. If it's not a Commodore, it's a Ford. If we have to be sneaky to catch these people then sneaky we will be. Being sneaky means different vehicles and different tactics."
Road policing manager, Superintendent Dave Cliff, said the policy had been used before, especially in the South Island. The vehicles don't pull drivers over but radio ahead to marked police cars.
Cliff said it cut the effectiveness of the rural grapevine that gave police locations. "In rural areas there's an effective grapevine where people warn drunk drivers about the police.
"This is the best method of deterrent."
But AA spokesman Mike Noon was bemused by the tactic and said police should concentrate on road blocks in problem areas.
"I wouldn't think the problem is people seeing police cars and avoiding them. When they put in a stop there is no avoiding that."
Dobson first unleashed the scheme in Palmerston North in August. He said it was very successful but had disturbed a few locals.
"Someone wrote to the paper saying, 'you've upset my kids. They're scared there's a big burly policeman in the back of the ice cream truck'."
