Tempers flare - ex-cop confronts 'unsafe' drivers

Roger Stevens with a parking warden outside Takapuna Primary School. Photo / Dean Purcell

Heated exchanges outside school gates over campaign some say amounts to racial abuse.

Tempers are boiling over at an Auckland school's gates as a neighbouring retired police officer takes on drivers he believes are endangering children's lives.

Police and Auckland Transport have been notified after reports of racial abuse and heated exchanges between parents at Takapuna Primary School and a neighbour who has been documenting what he believes is driving behaviour that could kill.

A video of concerned parent Sophie Jarrett confronting retired police officer Roger Stevens who lives opposite the Auburn St entrance to the school was posted to social media last week.

She filmed the incident after witnessing Mr Stevens confront some drivers the week before, she said.

"I saw him approach an Asian woman and take photos and she was asking him what he was doing. He was talking about Asian drivers."

She said he then began speaking to another man who was also of Asian descent.

"He said, 'He's not parked right and he needs to grab the Road Code and learn how to drive,' and I said that he needed to learn how to be a human being and treat people with respect."

Mr Stevens said he was fed up with and deeply concerned about dangerous driving outside the school that included illegal parking, speeding and talking on mobile phones while driving. He said he took photos to document what was happening and to discourage people from acting dangerously.

"We will probably have to wait for a kid to die for something to be done.

"It's not about Asian drivers, it's an issue about driver responsibility or irresponsibility," he said. Ms Jarrett confronted Mr Stevens again last week, filmed the encounter and posted it on Facebook where many others also reported run-ins with him.

Mr Stevens and his family have had a close relationship with the school, his wife had been on the PTA and their son had attended the school.

"Some people commend me for my actions because they know why I take photos and that there is concern with the safety of the kids and not for the convenience of the parents who can't walk 50m down the road."

The photos were evidence of what was happening, and Mr Stevens said he had written multiple letters to AT in recent years.

Auckland Transport said it received one complaint from a member of the public on Wednesday.

"We sent a parking officer to the school [twice] ... he observed that people were well behaved and there were no safety issues," a spokesman said.

The agency discouraged members of the public from taking their own action, and said any "evidence" gathered would be little help for official investigations.

If someone has safety concerns they should notify police or AT.

A police spokeswoman said officers were aware of and monitoring the situation.

Takapuna Primary School principal Cindy Walsh said two parents had complained to her about Mr Stevens and although she had no intention of speaking to him, she was satisfied with the police and AT response.

She was not concerned about dangerous driving outside the school but was in communication with AT about extending the five-minute time limit of some parks.

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