Police drivers’ record defended

Press, 11 September 1986, Page 6

Police drivers’ record defended

Police Association figures purporting to show the need for better driver training for the police overlook the facts, according to the man in charge of police training, Chief Superintendent Jim Morgan. The Association’s figures show that police cars have averaged one accident a day, with one written off every nine days, in the 18 months to March 31, 1985. Christchurch contributed 48 accidents to the total of 548 during that time. However, Mr Morgan, commandant of the Porirua police college, said that during . that time

police vehicles covered more than 53 million kilometres, giving a rate of one accident for every 96,500 kilometres, a better record than for most private vehicles. Mr Morgan said that most police drivers were in the 18 to 25 age-group which statistically had the most accidents, yet the police record was no worse than the national average. “Nearly 55 per cent of the police accidents involved drivers with more than six years service, and so it cannot be attributable to our present training programme” he said. The figures included incidents in which offenders

had deliberately rammed police cars, and minor scrapes.

Mr Morgan said that few drivers were reprimanded or charged. Police recruits are given only six hours and 40 minutes driving instruction during their 24week training course, but Mr Morgan said it was impracticable to extend that by the extra two or three weeks a full driving course would require. “There could be a case made to extend the recruit training course for any number of reasons, but there comes a time when you have to ask if it is cost effective — is the taxpayer getting value for money?” Mr Morgan said.