The memos leaked to the press last year, combined with Howard Broad's admission (backed up by Police Association president, Greg O'Connor) that traffic cops have ticket quotas (sorry, performance targets), showed that cops did have a good personal reason for issuing tickets. Promotion prospects could be affected if there was a continued failure to meet said targets, one memo stated. As laser and radar guns have no auditing capability (the machines do not record the date, time and speed each time the unit is triggered), the Police can get away with fabricating evidence and blatantly lying. There's nothing to contradict them. The magistrate will simply take the cop at his word. Such capability would not be expensive to build into the units either; in fact, I can't imagine it would add more than a few dollars to the cost of each, should the Police forces demand it. But they won't ask for it, as they know its main function will be to serve as a tool for exposing Police dishonesty.
As with any prosecution, the burden of proof should fall on the prosecuting body. They should be made to
prove guilt. Under the present system, precisely the opposite is true; the accused has to
prove his innocence.
Recent surveys have revealed public trust in the Police has reached all-time lows. This is, in part, down to the negative publicity following the Clint Rickard trials, the Irene Ascher debacle and the various other high profile incidents in the press. The Police should be actively encouraging the introduction of stricter controls as a method by which they can demonstrate their honesty to the public. Consider the following:
- Cop pulls over motorist for doing 120 in a 100 zone. Cop refuses to let motorist see the radar / laser read-out. Motorist goes to court and pleads innocence. Cop simply stands up and states that "I, Officer #666, did see said motorist doing 120, verified by the reading on my radar / laser unit. No 'evidence' presented, but magistrate finds motorist guilty.
- Cop pulls over motorist for doing 120 in a 100 zone. Cop shows motorist the read-out. Motorist doesn't believe it and challenges it in court. Cop produces audit log from radar / laser unit showing the times triggered and the readings recorded. Cop shows calibration logs for the unit in question. Magistrate doesn't need to rely on the cop's word or honesty, but instead can convict on the evidence presented.
Now, which situation do you think is going to reinforce the Police's reputation with the public at large?
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