Assaulted officer may get wish

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 1

Assaulted officer may get wish

By

BRAD TATTERSFIELD

A Christchurch traffic officer who was beaten up while making an arrest on Wednesday evening wants wider powers of arrest and protection for traffic officers — and Government moves are under way that might grant those wishes. Traffic Officer Mark Kenworthy suffered a broken nose and bruises in the incident. His case is the latest of 15 assaults on traffic officers in Christchurch in the last year, which have left two officers with permanent damage to facial bones. Christchurch’s senior chief' traffic officer, Mr lan McLauchlan, said that many minor assaults on officers were not included in last year’s figure. It was a significant increase on the number of assaults in previous years.

Public Service Association representatives have been meeting the Undersecretary of Transport, Mr Jeffries, over assaults on traffic officers.

Mr Jeffries said last evening that the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, was “on the verge” of a decision on whether to extend traffic officers’ arrest powers to include assault. He said Mr Prebble was “inclined towards” extending the arrest powers.

A Ministry of Transport research unit has begun a study on whether to provide batons or other “deterrent equipment” to officers. The study is expected to take between three and four months.

In July last year, complaints about assaults on officers prompted the Ministry to send officers on night patrol in pairs. Mr Jeffries said it was

likely that pairing of day patrols would begin in some areas "fairly quickly." The P.S.A.’s latest approach to the Government came after an officer was assaulted and badly beaten in Auckland on Sunday. The assault was deliberately planned as part of a gang member’s initiation. Traffic Officer Kenworthy has been off work since the assault, although he will return to light duties on Monday. He may need surgery to straighten his broken nose, which has caused him considerable pain. He said that at 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday, he and another officer had stopped a van with 12 occupants on Barbadoes Street He chased the driver for about 600 m over several properties before apprehending him.

Two other officers suffered minor injuries while assisting Traffic Officer Kenworthy. Two men have been arrested, and one will appear on charges including assault, resisting arrest, and vehicle offences. Traffic Officer Kenworthy said that if an officer was assaulted, under present law he had to wait for a policeman to arrive before an arrest could be made. Traffic officers can arrest persons for refusing to accompany them. He said officers should be given hand-held radios to keep contact with other officers once they left their cars. “In this instance, a hand-held radio could have saved me a lot of pain,” he said. He says he will be a “bit more wary” when he goes out in patrol- cars again. f