South Australian police
told to pull over more cars
From The Advertiser
By Joanna Vaughan and Ben Way
June 28, 2007
EVERY uniformed South Australian
police officer has been told to pull over 20 extra motorists each
a year to help make the roads safer.
Each uniformed officer's target of 50
traffic stops a year will rise to 70 and all operational officers,
including those from local stations and crime and operations support
services, will be expected to pull over at least one more motorist
each fortnight from next Sunday.
Senior police have denied the new benchmarks are a revenue-raising exercise.
Assistant Commissioner Grant Stevens said direct intervention was the best way
to modify driving behaviour.
"If they see something that requires an intervention then we expect they
are going to do something about it, whether they are a detective, traffic police
or general patrol," he said.
"We are increasing our focus and lowering our tolerance in relation to poor
driving behaviour and requiring our police to take action in every incidence
where they see driving behaviour which increases the risk to road users."
Opposition police spokesman David Ridgway yesterday said the increased target
for police was "quite clearly a revenue-raising strategy".
"It's clear there's a revenue target expected for each police officer to
achieve," Mr Ridgway said.
"Police making road safety contacts is just a cute way of saying police
will be fining people.
"The community wants to see a greater police presence for the purpose of
public safety, not just going out pinging people."
Treasurer Kevin Foley yesterday declined to comment on whether individual officers
now face revenue targets.
A spokeswoman for the Treasurer said it was the responsibility of Police Minister
Paul Holloway to comment.
Mr Stevens denied suggestions the strategy could be used to increase fines revenue.
"We are not looking at this from a financial perspective. Our expectation
is that traffic contacts will be counted . . . and if people are committing offences
against the Road Safety Act, they should be expecting to face the consequences," he
said.
Mr Stevens said although officers would be expected to increase their workload,
it was important to be aggressive on road safety.
"We are committed to reducing the road toll by 40 per cent by 2010," he
said.
"We are hopeful this will translate to a reduction in serious injury and
fatal crashes."
