Confidence in police drops as tickets rise

The unrelenting spiral in the number of traffic tickets is undermining the public's confidence in the police, says National's Police spokesman, Tony Ryall.

He is commenting on the police annual Statement of Intent which shows police are expecting to hand out a quarter more traffic tickets next year - 350,000-400,000 compared with 275,000-325,000 this year. This is on top of a 30% increase last year.

"We question this for a number of reasons," Mr Ryall says.

"Last year, police issued a record number of traffic tickets, yet the road toll went up. There's no certainty this is going to improve road safety this year.

"There's also a real risk that hostility to this increased quota-ticketing will make ordinary citizens less willing to assist the police with general inquiries.

"Some police are reporting that people are not as willing to help as much as they were previously.

"As I travel around the country people are saying George Hawkins is more worried about revenue collecting than crime," Mr Ryall says.

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