Traffic officers talk of ‘fixing, threats’

Press, 18 October 1976, Page 4

Traffic officers talk of ‘fixing, threats’

PA Wanganui A former Ministry of Transport traffic officer has alleged that promotions within the service had been “fixed for friends” — while other officers said that laws have been disregarded because of staff shortages, and called for a top-level inquiry into departmental administration. Officers in the service, and ex-officers — in anonymous interviews with the “Wanganui Chronicle” — alleged that promotions had been “fixed,” and some careers brought to a standstill, because officers “have stuck their necks out.” “If you’re not in with the people at the top, you’re out on your own. It’s a case of not what you know, but who you know,” said one exofficer. Other allegations were that:— Public complaints about minor offences had gone uninvestigated, because of staff shortages and fixed commitments, which made for a heavier workload. Officers had their lives, and those of their children and wives threatened by

people who had been issued with offence notices. Equipment requisitioning had become a major problem for some officers. One officer had waited two years to be issued with a police-issue raincoat. One ex-officer waited 10 months for a radio to be fitted to his motor-cycle, and others told of having to wait six weeks for faulty helmets to be replaced. Officers and ex-officers said as well that there was insufficient pay incentives to encourage traffic officers to make their jobs a career. They said that frustration within the service was rife throughout New Zealand. One said that 79 officers had left the service so far this year. Ex-officers also said they had been forced to take home paperwork, because insufficient time was allowed for the work during patrol hours. Staff shortages also meant that officers were involved too much in servicing summonses. The Ministry of Transport’s annual report to Parliament this year shows that its 989 enforcement staff (including 69 parking meter officers) worked more than 1.5 M hours — 752,922 on patrols, 419,977 on paper work, 119,439 on licence testing and 71,329 in court.

Departmental allowances for clothing were said to be inadequate. Officers were given the materials for uniforms and $7O, and were expected to have their own uniforms made. One ex-officer described some of the worries of the job: “There are times, when threats are made against members of your family, that the job really gets to you,” he said. “One guy rang my wife and threatened to 'get’ our children on their way home from school. I sat back then, and wondered what the hell it was all about. “Generally people think you are there just to issue tickets, not to make the roads safer. The department really needs to look at its public relations,“An inquiry should look at the general frustration, and the lack of a suitable housing pool for those on transfer. They could look at ways of helping officers. At the moment they don’t db anything like that. “When I resigned, I felt as though a big burden had been lifted off my shoulders. I could start to see how the family thinks. In the job, you could never switch off, and you could feel everyone looking at you when you walked into a hotel, or went out, saying ’He’s a cop.’ ’’