Dedicated road police numbers fall

Dedicated road police and highway patrol numbers have dropped despite a rising road toll.

Since 2008 the total number of units on the roads has decreased from 1112 to 975, figures released to The Press under the Official Information Act show.

New Zealand has just experienced its worst year for road fatalities since 2009, with the death toll for the last 12 months sitting at

379.

An analysis by think tank the NZ Initiative, which examined crashes per kilometre driven, found the chance of a person in a car dying on the road was 41 per cent higher now than what it was in 2013 and 12 per cent higher than

2016.

In Auckland road police numbers have fallen by 57 since

2008, with Auckland City’s force declining the most from 65 to 33 officers. Wellington followed a similar trend, dropping from 88 officers in 2008 to 60 last year.

Treasury figures show $323m, or 19 per cent of the police budget, was allocated for road safety programmes.

Only $58 million was spent on police road safety spending in 2012. This increased to $91m in 2017.

In April 2017 police were granted an extra $10m to create more dedicated road policing positions after 111 road police officers were moved to other areas of the force.

NZ Institute research fellow Sam Warburton said he disputed the police road safety funding figures.

Figures he received from government showed funding for road policing had remained ‘‘relatively flat’’ over the past nine years.

Objectives for transport were set by the Government every three years. This provided funding signals to NZTA and councils, Warburton said.

NZTA decreased funding by 2.4 per cent in 2012, but was then increased by 4.7 per cent in 2015, he said.

‘‘The level of funding had probably reduced the effectiveness of road policing.’’

Figures obtained by the NZ Institute also showed total spending on road policing remained relatively static, especially after inflation had been taken into account, he said.

National road policing national manager Superintendent Steve Greally said police took road safety seriously and were dedicated to reducing trauma on the roads.

This was done through a mixture of prevention and enforcement activities, with police utilising a ‘‘whole of police’’ approach to road safety, Greally said.

‘‘As a part of this approach all constabulary police have the power to, and it is expected they will, undertake road policing activities should they witness unsafe behaviour,’’ he said

Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter said the Government was considering funding levels for road policing as part of a new government policy statement on land transport (GPS).

‘‘We are already moving as fast as we can, with an extra $22.5m boost for low-cost road safety treatments on 30 high-risk rural roads,’’ Genter said.