Sunday, 11 March 2007

Chester Borrows MP
National Party Police Spokesman

Huge ticket rise has smell of quotas about it

A huge increase in the number of tickets issued for exceeding the speed limit by 6-10 kilometres an hour again raises suspicions of a ticket quota and revenue-gathering policy by the Government, says National’s Police spokesman, Chester Borrows.

He is releasing answers to written questions which show that since Labour was elected, the number of tickets issued for exceeding the speed limit by between 6 and 10 kilometres an hour has jumped from 311 to 34,651.

Over the same period, the total number of traffic tickets issued increased by only 1,209, from 709,639 in 2000/01 to 710,848 in 2005/06.

“In 2000, those tickets made up 0.04% of the total number issued, but in 2005/06 they made up 4.9% - that is a huge jump,” says Mr Borrows.

“This is a speeding range, especially around 106-110km/h, where many people might have previously believed they had some leeway.

“With the number of tickets for many other speed bands dropping, particularly for those 20km/h or more above the limit – down 35% – you have to wonder if they are playing catch-up in the lower threshold range.

“And that raises questions about whether there is a Government quota system.

“The Minister has denied this before and no doubt she will do it again, but the fact remains that that is what it looks like.

“Remember the memos leaked from police stations last year?

• Central District staff were urged to ‘get our ticket count up to ensure we end up as the top group in Central’.

• Levin police were told that those who didn’t issue enough tickets would be named and shamed and their pay could be docked.

• Marlborough police pulled an operation targeting drugs and dishonesty crimes so they could focus on traffic tickets until the end of the financial year, and that staff were told to write ‘a minimum of two notices’ each day’.

“Is it any wonder people are suspicious? Perhaps the Minister can enlighten us.”

ENDS

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