04 road toll

[James Deuce]

Hang on a second - have I missed something here? Being as I've only been in NZ for a few months, are you trying to tell me that the Ministry of Transport were responsible for catching speeding, drunk motorists etc? Did they chase down drivers like the HP today i.e. lights sirens & strange moustaches ?

Yes, but they had much better 70s Disco style moustaches.

[Hitcher]

Yes, but they had much better 70s Disco style moustaches.

And decidely more monochromatic.

[spudchucka]

Hang on a second - have I missed something here? Being as I've only been in NZ for a few months, are you trying to tell me that the Ministry of Transport were responsible for catching speeding, drunk motorists etc? Did they chase down drivers like the HP today i.e. lights sirens & strange moustaches ?

Up until 1991 or 1992, (can't remember which) the Ministry of Transport employed traffic officers, whose responsibility it was to police traffic. They did have lights & sirens on pretty black & white cars, some of them did have funny moustaches too. Up until the merger the NZ plolice did not police traffic matters, if they found a drunk driver etc they would call a TO, or sometimes just drive the drunk home and take his keys off him / her.

John Banks promised NZ 1500 new police officers in his election campaign and once elected he simply took the traffic officers and told them they were now going to be police officers. What we got was a bunch of cops that didn't want to be traffic officers and a bunch of TO's that didn't want to be cops.

In a nut shell....... obviously it is a great deal more complicated than I have portrayed here.

[Biff]

Up until 1991 or 1992, (can't remember which) the Ministry of Transport employed traffic officers, whose responsibility it was to police traffic. They did have lights & sirens on pretty black & white cars, some of them did have funny moustaches too. Up until the merger the NZ plolice did not police traffic matters, if they found a drunk driver etc they would call a TO, or sometimes just drive the drunk home and take his keys off him / her.

John Banks promised NZ 1500 new police officers in his election campaign and once elected he simply took the traffic officers and told them they were now going to be police officers. What we got was a bunch of cops that didn't want to be traffic officers and a bunch of TO's that didn't want to be cops.

In a nut shell....... obviously it is a great deal more complicated than I have portrayed here.

Thanks for the history lesson - shit, that sounds like it was a load of bureaucratic bollox back then. A politican that lied in order to get into office - surely not.

So what's the verdict from a police officers point of view, was it a good or bad move?

[MSTRS:Me]

Up until 1991 or 1992, (can't remember which) the Ministry of Transport employed traffic officers, whose responsibility it was to police traffic. They did have lights & sirens on pretty black & white cars, some of them did have funny moustaches too. Up until the merger the NZ plolice did not police traffic matters, if they found a drunk driver etc they would call a TO, or sometimes just drive the drunk home and take his keys off him / her.

John Banks promised NZ 1500 new police officers in his election campaign and once elected he simply took the traffic officers and told them they were now going to be police officers. What we got was a bunch of cops that didn't want to be traffic officers and a bunch of TO's that didn't want to be cops.

In a nut shell....... obviously it is a great deal more complicated than I have portrayed here.

And the rest as they say is history

[spudchucka]

Thanks for the history lesson - shit, that sounds like it was a load of bureaucratic bollox back then. A politican that lied in order to get into office - surely not.

So what's the verdict from a police officers point of view, was it a good or bad move?

As I recall it was a re-election promise, Banks was the serving police minister at the time.

Its difficult to summerise an opinion on an internet forum in few enough words that people will actually bother reading.

New Zealand was pretty much the only country in the world where the nations police did not police the roads. It makes sense that the police should police the roads as well as criminal matters and in fact the traffic powers are a very strong tool to use against the criminal fraternity. However the traffic side of police work is the the most unpopular with the general public and it would be nice to be able to shake that stigma off.

The debate seems a little pointless as I simply don't see it ever changing back to how it was. We do have some separation now with highway patrol, strategic traffic units, tactical alcohol groups, CVIU, etc etc. But the public just sees the blue uniform and doesn't differentiate between the cop that gave them a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign and the cop who might be asking for their assistance.

Overall I would say it was the right move, (but not necessarily a good move) to merge the two groups.

[MSTRS:Me]

and it would be nice to be able to shake that stigma off.

Will never happen Spud

[MSTRS:Me]

I'm sure it's been said before but as long as the HP is all over like a rash but a burglary victim can't get a housecall from the ThinBlueLine then being more popular........well ask yourself

[spudchucka]

I'm sure it's been said before but as long as the HP is all over like a rash but a burglary victim can't get a housecall from the ThinBlueLine then being more popular........well ask yourself

I'm not disputing with any of that. The current level of road policing does seem to be working, (overall) which should be an indication to the pollies and police admin that more resources poured into general policing would be beneficial. For some reason they don't see it that way??

Edit: Policing isn't about trying to be popular, many of the things they have to do are inherently unpopular. What the organisation should aim to achieve is the majority of NZ's approving of their actions.

[merv]

I liked it after the merger, we could ride our bikes a little bit quick, but safely and nobody bothered us. The general police had far more of my respect than the MOT ever did as they were a bunch of little Hitlers. Then the HP got formed and we have the little Hitlers back. That's how it seems to me.

Mind you my last two chats with HP have resulted in a reasonable outcome so perhaps I shouldn't complain.

[spudchucka]

Trust me, they are!!!!

I lived there for 6 years and agree 100%.