Police ticket quotas

[yachtie10]

I am curious to know if the "police quota" system has changed since National has taken power.
Partly due to the fact National criticised it a lot so it would be hypocritical for it to be still in place. But mainly due to it encouraging pedantic and maybe even dishonest policing (not seen the dishonest myself just the pedantic)

I know I am being hopeful but if we can restrict replies to constructive ones from those in the know it would be helpful (this includes you scumdog)

[MIXONE]

Police quotas?
You must be kidding...

[Usarka]

There are no quotas. There are only performance measurements and targets like in any other job.

[yachtie10]

There are no quotas. There are only performance measurements and targets like in any other job.

If you look i have put it in quotes
I know there was no official quota
Question still stands

[MSTRS:Me]

There are no quotas. There are only performance measurements and targets like in any other job.

It's only not a quota in the sense that a quota is a maximum number, not a minimum number...

[rapid van cleef]

hmmmm. UK cops have quota to reach for a certain no. of offences permonth. some go hard out in the first 2 weeks of the month then find a quiet country lane to sit in and chill out. i know this .........fact!

[Ixion]

It is possible to distinguish between quotas and performance measures (though only for one who knows all the details).

If every cop in the snakepit is turning in 70 or 80 tickets a month (just to pluck numbers out of thin air), except for Officer Bumblebee, who is only issuing 10 per month, despite being on the same territory and shifts etc , then Sergeant Snakely is entitled to suspect that Officer Bumblebee is spending too much time at the donut shop , and not enough time snaking. That is a performance measure, Officer Bumblebee is not performing.

But if Sergeant Snakely gathers his men together and tells them that each and everyone of them must up his ticket issuing numbers to a minimum of 100 per month, then that is a quota.

[MSTRS:Me]

explained here

[yachtie10]

The questions isnt if there is a quota
The question is has the policy changed since national took power
I take it the policy of ticketing anything 11km over the limit is still inplace

[Winston001]

The questions isnt if there is a quota
The question is has the policy changed since national took power

What policy do you mean? The one which requires patrolling police officers to have a certain number of contacts with the public each hour?

[Ixion]

The questions isnt if there is a quota
The question is has the policy changed since national took power
I take it the policy of ticketing anything 11km over the limit is still inplace

Yes. The 10kph "discretion" is unchanged. The real question is how zealous are the Cheeses about making sure that PC Plod and Officer Bumblebee actually ticket everything that they see over 110kph. Some officers have always turned a Nelsonian eye . Are they now at less risk of incurring Sergeant Snakely's wrath therein. There is no way we can know this. It is an internal police matter.

[yachtie10]

What policy do you mean? The one which requires patrolling police officers to have a certain number of contacts with the public each hour?

I mean
before national came to power there were many political arguments in the media about traffic enforement changes by labour (sourcing from parliament)
One of them was putting performance measuremeants for police issuing tickets for traffice offences (called by national quotas)
another was the anything 11 km\h over the limit must be ticketed

I am interested if anything has changed since national is in charge
I suspect nothing has changed because the government needs the money

I hope someone who is working in this area might pass on some knowledge

[red mermaid]

Nothing has changed and the reason for that is Constablary independence, ie: politicians (the government) will not interfere in any police operational matters.

[yachtie10]

Nothing has changed and the reason for that is Constablary independence, ie: politicians (the government) will not interfere in any police operational matters.

thanks for the reply
but the labour goverment put these policies in place so surely the national government can modify them or have rules changed on that

[Ixion]

Not really. The 10kph discretion is a Police operational policy, not a government one.

As the piscine gentlewoman has noted, Ministers will not usually openly meddle with police operations (there have been exceptions). What Ministers *can* do is to intimate to the Commissioner that certain offences should be regarded more or less seriously. That, for instance " We are the government, and we believe that the people want speeding heavily cracked down upon". The Commissioner is not required to take any notice of such an intimation - but if he does not he may find the Minster less accomodating to things that he , in turn,wants. Backs must be mutally scratched.

So the question is not whether the policy has changed, but whether the present Ministers (of Police and Transport) are less "hung up" on speeding than their predecessors. My own opinion, based on nothing whatsoever, other than having met them and noted their comments in the media, is that Ms Collins and Mr Joyce (the latter especially) are somewhat more pragmatic than their predecessors; and probably less likely to take a demanding line about speeding.

How that actually translates into operational policing is not definable. Ultimately a more easy going attitude in the Beehive probably means that Sergeant Snakely makes less fuss about ticket numbers, and Officer Bumblebee feels more able to turn that blind eye. But no-one is going to explicitly state any of that.