Waikato police dump ticket measuring system and tell officers to 'use their initiative' in shake up

December 8, 2017

Police Association President Chris Cahill says there are better options than just ticking a box on a ticket.

Waikato police are shaking up the way tickets are issued by asking police to "use your initative" as there are better options "than just ticking the box".

The police have changed the way in which officers are judged and questioned on how much work they do, including how many tickets they issue in one shift. 

It comes after a top inspector revealed that a quarter of all traffic fines don't improve safety on roads.

Police Association president Chris Cahill told TVNZ 1's Breakfast programme this morning there isn't a ticket "quota system" and there is no expectation of how many tickets an officer should issue.

"If you are not issuing any tickets then you clearly might not be doing any work so it's been a measure but its not a quota per say," Mr Cahill said.

"You could have an accident that you're at for most of the day but if you were there and stopped 30 vehicles all day and hadn't issued any tickets, someone will probably be saying, well what have you been doing? So it's pretty open and certainly no one is telling you have to have 10 tickets a day."

Rather than being quick to tick a box and issue a ticket, police are now being encouraged to "look a bit deeper".

"Cops want to make a change, we want to get out there and do different things and see if we can have a different outcome," Mr Cahill explained. 

"So what they're saying is lets look at things a bit wider and this is something that we are looking at right across the police...You stop a young guy, 18, he hasn't got his driving licence you could simply give him a $200 fine. He'll never pay it, he'll end up in the court system or you could say 'why haven't you got a drivers licence' and he might say he's got difficulty reading. Put him onto an agency that can help him get that drivers licence. He might end up with a drivers licence and get a job."

SHARE ME

More Stories