Police 'disappointed' as stats show staff are getting snapped by speed cameras at twice the rate of last year

A digital speed camera in place on a New Zealand road.

Police staff have received more speed camera tickets in the first half of this year than they did during all of 2017, leaving their road policing head "disappointed".

Police's Road Policing Driver Offence Data statistics, released this month , shows the total number of police vehicles caught speeding by cameras each year.

Some of the incidents involve vehicles being driven in the line of duty to urgent jobs, and those tickets are waived, but if police are unable to justify the camera detection, they receive a fine like anyone else.

In 2015, the total number of offences not waived was 220, in 2016 it was 263, and last year it was 244.

This year, the statistics show police staff have already exceeded last year's total as of June 30, with a total of 260 offences recorded.

If police continue to be caught speeding at this rate, the total for 2018 could reach 520, which would nearly equal the 524 recorded in 2011 - the highest number of offences recorded in a year since 2009.

A disclaimer included with the release says "police employees who travel in excess of the speed limit are treated no differently to members of the public, and depending on the circumstances may be subject to further disciplinary action".

Police National Manager for Road Policing Superintendent Steve Greally told 1 NEWS he was "disappointed".

"Police staff are well aware of the risks of exceeding the speed limit when driving," he said.

"Police officers are trained in, and undertake, urgent duty driving but there is no excuse for speeding when not undertaking these duties.

"I am disappointed and I expect a higher standard from our staff."

A police spokesperson stressed that the figures include infringements involving all Police employees, both constabulary and non-constabulary, as well as non-Police employees who are authorised to drive Police vehicles for a particular purpose.

Police said they do not maintain an internal register of the officers who receive speeding fines.

The way police decide which fines are waived changed in 2014 - before then, any speed camera photo of a police vehicle with flashing red and blue lights on was deemed to be on duty, and the fine was waived automatically, but officers are now asked to explain the situation in all cases.

This change led to a significant rise in the number of detections, but the number of offences not waived stayed about the same.

The average number of speed camera detections against police vehicles (which were not waived) between 2009 and 2017 was was 357 per year.


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