Literal for profit cameras?

[Drew]

I was under the impression the camera vans have always been operated by contractors.

[R650R]

i find it sad that either you so-little trust your brother man, and/or how you idolise "the police"


what?

Say what just one more time......

Your over thinking it, all im saying is they are introducing problems for themselves. Get off that green herb the jews tricked you into smoking, its making you paranoid.... I don't idolise the police.
I rank them equal with other professional entertainment service providors.... infact I disagree with there being specific charges like 'assault on police' as if they are more valuable than the people they are protecting but that's another thread of its own......

Privatising speed enforcement is a can of worms in a country that ranks it as quite serious offence at higher speeds. We don't have the better judges and courts like UK where they wont let you be done for 'dangerous' speed if the circumsatnces are relatively safe. However get done for 160k plus here and it s rubber stamp dangerous driving charge.....

[pritch]

Well this raises some interesting issues....

Safety of the camera operator... even tho at the moment cameras are operated by some civilians, the perception is that mostly they are cops doing overtime and if a nutter were to vent their frustration the repercussions for the offender would be swift and heavy. But if its some spotty McDonalds style worker on minimum wage they will get endless abuse. This will affect the areas in which the operators are willing to park....

Testimony in court for higher recorded speeds will be less reputable than that of a police officer. The plus for bikers though is in the instance when you get ticketed going other way by them manually reecording your plate you wont get demerits as not an officer issuing the offence.
And there must be legal issues of sorts that would need sorting....

Kinfa for it tho, makes sense to have experienced cops off doing 'real police work' as we all like to call it, catching burglars and bike thieves etc.......

Would they operate onn stat holidays? they are not an essential service....

No, you are waay overthinking it. Originally the operators were Police. The Police said they had to be because they had first aid training blah blah blah. I understand all that is out the window now because it's cheaper to have low waged civilians sitting in a car doing nothing.

Testimony schmestimony. The photo is the evidence, there is rarely an point in arguing. If there is a point worth arguing you should win without it going to court.

Camera operators writing down number plates? Probably an urban legend, most of them are asleep.

Stat holidays are peak work hours for the camera cars, always have been.

[pete376403]

Have there even been any occurrences of aggrieved drivers assaulting/attacking a camera operator? Or setting fire to the van, with or without the operator inside? One or two events like that could reduce the enthusiasm of having these things spread around.

[onearmedbandit]

Just imagine a company like Wilson Parking getting that contract...

[mossy1200]

Have there even been any occurrences of aggrieved drivers assaulting/attacking a camera operator? Or setting fire to the van, with or without the operator inside? One or two events like that could reduce the enthusiasm of having these things spread around.

Early on someone destroyed one with a baseball bat (van camera with open back door) Think it cost him 80k.
A lot got painted screens on the post mounted fixed ones in the first year but that died down.

I remember when they first came out you needed be speeding and in the top 15% above average traffic flow speed to get a ticket. You could get flashed and never receive ticket back then. Must have been around 1999.

[Woodman]

The NZTA or whoever could put up for tender different stretches of road, the price being how valuable they are to the contractor. They could even be sold on the open market like shares. You could even buy a stretch of road for fuck all, then do nothing until it gets known as a non policed road and then one day start policing it real hard and increasing its value then sell it and make a tidy profit.

Where do I sign up?

[Zedder]

Just imagine a company like Wilson Parking getting that contract...

Not a happy thought at all. Those ratbags would charge for parking during gridlock if they could.

[Akzle]

Not a happy thought at all. Those ratbags would charge for parking during gridlock if they could.

boom. rbgiafp .

[Moi]

This falls into the "privately run prisons" ideology as far as I'm concerned.

If the Crown decides, through one of its entities, to penalise one of its citizens then the Crown must be responsible for the entire process. It should not hand over some of the process to a private business for that private business to make a profit.

The police, acting as the Crown's agent, is charged with road safety and the Crown decides that speed is an issue the Crown wishes to address, then the Crown through its agent, the police, has to take full responsibility for that process. At present, if my understanding is correct, the camera van operators are paid from the police budget and so the Crown, through the police, is taking full responsibility for the enforcement of the law and, consequently, the penalties it enforces. If that evidence gathering stage is handed over to a private entity then, in my opinion, the Crown has abrogated its responsibilities to the citizens.

[Akzle]

This falls into the "privately run prisons" ideology as far as I'm concerned.

If the Crown decides, through one of its entities, to penalise one of its citizens then the Crown must be responsible for the entire process. It should not hand over some of the process to a private business for that private business to make a profit.

The police, acting as the Crown's agent, is charged with road safety and the Crown decides that speed is an issue the Crown wishes to address, then the Crown through its agent, the police, has to take full responsibility for that process. At present, if my understanding is correct, the camera van operators are paid from the police budget and so the Crown, through the police, is taking full responsibility for the enforcement of the law and, consequently, the penalties it enforces. If that evidence gathering stage is handed over to a private entity then, in my opinion, the Crown has abrogated its responsibilities to the citizens.

you mean "the crown"? or "her majesty the crown in right of new zealand inc"? cos i suspect you think you know what you're on about.

[Moi]

you mean "the crown"? or "her majesty the crown in right of new zealand inc"? cos i suspect you think you know what you're on about.

The Crown as in the New Zealand Government...

[Hads]

What may happen with a private operator adding their profit margin will be that fines will get so high the number of speeders going past the cameras will drop substantially and they could go out of business.

There will always be speeders, at least until self drive cars are the only vehicles.

They can get creative, e.g. putting cameras on passing lanes.

[Akzle]

The Crown as in the New Zealand Government...

Two different things eh

[Moi]

Two different things eh

True... but interconnected...

Parliament = Governor-General representing the Sovereign + House of Representatives
Government = those members of the House of Representatives who have been appointed as Ministers of the Crown by the Governor-General - can also be called the Executive
Judiciary = they interpret the law that the government administers which has been made by Parliament


Crown is the whole, whereas parliament, government and judiciary are parts of the whole.

I'd suggest that many would say "state" rather than crown.