Code Of Conduct Issued To Traffic Officers

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32049, 25 July 1969, Page 1

Code Of Conduct Issued To Traffic Officers

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, July 24. A code of conduct on ticket-issuing has been distributed by the Ministry of Transport to all its traffic officers.

The circular was issued by the Secretary of Transport (Mr R. J. Polaschek) yesterday with the approval of the Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon).

Mr Gordon and the Ministry recently denied allegations that in some districts the promotion of officers has been based on the numbers of .traffic offence notices issued, and of successful prosecutions.

The code reiterates and amplifies a policy which has been in force for the last 25 years, according to Mr H. K. Little, chief traffic officer for the Wellington district, who released a copy of the code today. He said it had now been received by all district offices of the Ministry and distributed to all members of the force.

“The work of an officer who issues significantly more tickets than his brother officers is given close scrutiny,” says Mr Polaschek. “An examination is made of the kinds of offences for which the traffic offence notices are issued. If they are for serious offences, the officer is obviously an observant, above - average employee. But if they are predominantly for minor breaches of the law, then we conclude that be is being harsh and too severe on the public. PROMOTION AFFECTED “He will be expected to adopt a more balanced attitude, and unless he does so, his promotion prospects will be adversely affected.” Mr Polaschek says that when a traffic offence notice is issued, the decision on whether to prosecute rests with the district chief traffic officer. He makes up his mind in the light of the information made available to him by the traffic officer and the alleged offender, and uses his judgment and long experience to apply the Ministry policy of inducing the motorist not to offend again. “The chief traffic officer may be callfed upon to justify any decision he has taken, and the effectiveness of his district as a whole in combating accidents is one of the factors taken into account in determining his suitability for further promotion. "If accidents are growing in number, that is a consequence of a greater number of breaches of the law,” says the circular.

"Every breach of the law does not result in an accident, but there are very few accidents which are not a consequence of gome road user taking unlawful action. ■As the number of breaches of the law increases, the Ministry expects that the number of offences detected will increase also. Perhaps this is the basis for the incorrect allegations that promotion depends on the number of traffic offence notices issued,” Records are kept in the head office of the Ministry of the work performed by every traffic officer—oral and written warnings, traffic offence notices issued, for various kinds of offences, the number of applicants for licences tested, the number of vehicles weighed, patrol mileage, the number of hours spent on patrol, and special duties. RECORDS KEPT “No mathematical weighing or special value is given to prosecutions or any other work performed. We also keep detailed records of the number of accidents occurring in the area patrolled by each officer or number of officers,” the circular says. “From these statistics it is possible to determine whether accidents are increasing or decreasing in a particular area, and how changes in the number of ‘accident-promot-ing’ offences compare with the Incidence of accidents. “From the general pattern It is possible to tell, too, whether any particular officer is issuing more or fewer traffic offence notices than other officers working under similar conditions. “If an officer is detecting

significantly fewer offences than his colleagues working in similar areas, and there are no reasonable grounds for his doing so, the conclusion follows either that he is not working hard enough or that he is not seeing offences.” Mr Polaschek says such an officer is then expected to be more observant and to work harder. If he does not, his promotion prospects will be

affected adversely. Education is. and must, remain the Ministry's primary tool in its road safety campaign. In the educational programme, the traffic officer’s first job is to help road users in every way he can, so that they may travel safely and without undue loss of time. His second task is to detect breaches of the law and to take action on thein.

“It creates a bad impression and weaker:; our drive for road safety if breaches of the law, no matter how small, are ignored by traffic officers,” the circular says.

“This makes the public wonder why the law is really necessary. Similarly, our effectiveness is weakened if public support for road safety is iost because of irritation caused through harshness or lack of humanity.” COURSE OF ACTION

If a breach of the law is a minor one, the appropriate action by a traffic officer is to give an oral warning, provided he is satisfied that the motorist appreciates that his driving is not safe, or that he has failed to comply with some other safety requirement in the law but will exercise more care in the future. “If the traffic officer cannot reach this conclusion, then the issue of a traffic offence notice is called Tor. If the offence Is somewhat more serious, and again the motorist is responsive, a written warning is apnropriate.

‘Tor serious offence# and for motorists who do not react responsibly, traffic offence notices should be issued."