Traffic ticket numbers triple in five years

Police Minister George Hawkins

The number of traffic tickets issued by police has almost tripled in five years.

The statistics, released by Police Minister George Hawkins to ACT, show the number of police issued traffic tickets increased from 136,999 in 2000 to 395,913 in 2004, a 189 per cent increase.

ACT deputy leader and police spokesman Dr Muriel Newman said the increase was "criminal".

"At a time when the community is really worried about crime, these figures show this Labour Government has got its priorities all wrong," she said.

Dr Newman said too much money was going into traffic policing at the expense of public safety

The biggest increase was in tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit by 11-15km where 161,916 tickets were issued in 2004, compared with 3785 in 2000.

"These extraordinary ticket numbers add fuel to the argument that the time has come to split traffic duties from the core role of policing," Dr Newman said.

"The Government continually claims that it has given additional resources to the police, but the reality is that most of these new officers are drafted into traffic duties and funding is ring-fenced for that purpose."

ACT believes police numbers need to be increased by at least 2500 to match Australian rates.

"I look forward to the budget and hope we will see an increase in our frontline police numbers," Dr Newman said.

Dr Newman's comments follow debate earlier this year about police resources being used to cover traffic policing and coincide with claims from Wellington city and Lower Hutt police that they are understaffed, under stress and that their safety is at risk.

- NZPA