Another police memo

[spudchucka]

Exactly. In other words. REVENUE COLLECTING.

I've explained the ins and outs of it. If you still think it is soley about the $$$ value of the tickets issued then I'm wasting my time here.

[Finn]

Congratulations NZ. It appears the only thing NZ is good at anymore is failure. What a shithole.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectID=10392281

[Blackbird]

I normally refrain from commenting on speeding and ticketing issues because it’s a circular argument which only results in everyone getting pissed off and life is too short for that. It also ends up with personal attacks on individual members of the police which by and large, are unwarranted.

I’ll cheerfully admit that I speed on the open road but choose the time and place and don’t ride like a twat with other traffic about. If I do get nailed by the law in these circumstances, I can’t whinge too much. Maybe it’s my age showing!

However, my biggest bitch is scenarios such as overtaking slower traffic. I guess like most people on KB, I like to get back on my side of the road as quickly as possible. Looking at the speedo is the last thing I do whilst overtaking although I know that I’m often well over the limit whilst doing so. I’ve had one or two close calls with patrol cars suddenly appearing from the other direction and is the major reason I bought a radar detector. Overtaking quickly and safely would seem a sensible thing to do, despite some of the speeds being in breach of the law.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that the “quota” (dress it up any way you like) tends to lessen the discretionary aspect of policing speed limits because it’s a key performance indicator in the job spec and that’s a real shame. Lou Giradin’s quote of “Speed doesn’t kill people, stupidity kills people” is never more apt. A lot of us have kpi’s which have a direct impact on our pay or career prospects and it’s no different in this case. I have a fair bit of sympathy for cops as individuals in this respect and personal attacks are playing the man, not the ball.

Well, that’s my one and only rant on this subject!

[Squeak the Rat]

Man I've missed 7 pages of police bashing....

(p/t).

The thing that is starting to annoy me about this whole debacle is the refusal of the top brass and politicians to say "yes NZ, that is exactly what we are doing".

Instead it is arguments based purely on semantics. We don't care whether it's a quota or a performance target. We don't care if it's a police led directive or one from the government. The fact is that NZ'ers are pissed off that the system prioritises traffic offenses over other crime.

If the top cops can't tell us the TRUTH, then who the hell can we trust in this country?


ps - if the cops are starting to leak all these memos, does this mean the police are revolting? (p/t again)

[Finn]

The thing that is starting to annoy me about this whole debacle is the refusal of the top brass and politicians to say "yes NZ, that is exactly what we are doing".

If this Government told us exactly what there are doing they would all be lynched. Being deceitful and relying on the ignorance and lack of intelligence of the average kiwi is much easier.

[scumdog]

ps - if the cops are starting to leak all these memos, does this mean the police are revolting? (p/t again)

No, some of us police are rather nice actually!!

[Swoop]

The fact is that NZ'ers are pissed off that the system prioritises traffic offenses over other crime.

If the top cops can't tell us the TRUTH, then who the hell can we trust in this country?

This is exactly what the higher levels of the police and the politicians are refusing to acknowledge and the damage it is doing.
The public/police relationship is vital in our society, and especially so for the police.
Without the co-operation of the public, our police force would not be able to solve any of the more serious crimes committed. Just look at the handless body murder in wellytown or any of the other major crimes over the years. The public are the eyes and ears of our police, and without the goodwill of the public...
The stance taken by the upper echelons of police management is destroying public perception and confidence in the front line police.

[Ixion]

I guess it is no different to Income Tax..we work, we pay taxes, we speed we stand a chance of getting a ticket.....we want nice clothes we have to pay for them...............life's dusty path.......the Police are not the only revenue collectors.....don't see any threads about people who work for Inland Revenue, where does it end, lets complain about petrol station attendents and tell them to hassle BP to reduce price of petrol...........all they are doing is earning a crust just like the Police are and the only difference is that they are more exposed to abuse because it is easier............

You miss the point (unless your post was a piss take), and in defense of the indefensible actually condemn it . It is completely different to income tax . Income tax is openly and obviously a tax. It is avowedly designed to raise revenue.

The laws on speeding, and the fines imposed for breaches of them are NOT supposed to be about raising revenue. They are intended to make the roads safe, or safer.

If the Area Commander had instructed his cops to issue more tickets because there hd been too many accidents caused by speeding , few would have complained.

But he did not instruct that more tickets be issued because of concerns about safety. He instructed that more tickets be issued because of concerns about meeting his ticket quota , upon which police funding depended .

The inescapable inference is that the tickets issued in obedience to his orders were not issued to make the roads safer, but to raise revenue. The accusation that the police have strenuously denied until now.

There is only ONE acceptable reason for a senior policeman to order cops to issue more tickets, and that is road safety. In this case , that was not the reason for the order.

[Lou Girardin]

WHY WOULD I WRITE MY MP YOU FUCKTARD ,

Because public pressure IS forcing changes in Police policy.
You would have to write your letters in lower case though, they wouldn't take you seriously otherwise.
Try to keep the profanity down too, Pollies are sensitive souls.

[Lou Girardin]

You pay my wage, then I will revolt...

We do.

What is being obscured by all the clever accounting is the bottom line. That is, the Govt LOVES the dosh tickets are bringing in.
In MOT days, few of the current tactics would have been approved by the Director. Mainly because the Pollies were scared stiff of a voter revolt over 'unfair' ticketing of drivers. We weren't allowed to hide, radar units had to be in plain view, etc etc.
When Labour became aware that NZer's, in their apathy, would accept almost any amount of fiscal rape, they brought in the 11 km/h tolerance instead of the previous 15th percentile for speed camera trigger points. For instance, one speed camera zone had a 127 km/h trigger point. Then they started pressuring Police Officers (through the bosses, of course) to start writing chicken shit speeding tickets under the guise of road safety. Hence the quotas.
Some of the filthy lucre this produced was then plowed into ever more sophisticated speed measuring devices, the result being that HP is immeasurably better resourced than the poor tossers trying to catch crims.
But it is changing.

[Pixie]

The 'incentive' of getting off the ticket if they fit another tyre (gotta bring a reciept) makes them do it.

How does the Clark Regime make any money on that?

[Finn]

We do.

I don't

[Pixie]

The LTSA , alas, are awake to the fact that timesheets are invariably , in every industry, classified as works of fiction.

That amounts to calling the policeman a liar

[The_Dover]

That amounts to calling the policeman a liar

Surely the porkies wouldn't tell porkers?

[scumdog]

How does the Clark Regime make any money on that?

They don't.

It's a win -win-win.
I keep my 'quota up.
The boss sees I AM working
The public don't have to pay

And nobody has ever said to me "Your tickets aren't providing enough revenue."

It's about the ticket numbers, NOT the revenue per se. (Of course that IS a perk)