Police numbers limit safety programme

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 513, 23 November 1993, Page 1

Police numbers limit safety programme

A draft Safety (Administration) Programme (SAP) was submitted for consideration by Ruapehu District councillors when they met in Taumarunui last Friday. The SAP allocation of hours is administered by the Ministry of Transport and provides funding mainly for the enforcement and education activities carried outby Police as 'contractors' to the Ministry and involves the allocation of Police time to the various parts of the programme. Police-inspector Jeff Holloway and Snr-SergeantNigel McRae of the Traffic Safety Branch in Wanganui presented the programme and explained the need for proposed amendments saying that, because of police numbers it was not possible to increase the overall number of hours. Following are the police hours allocated to each activity in the Ruapehu District: □ School road safety education - 200 □ Community liaison - 100. □ Peak traffic flow supervision - 1 10. □ Drinking or drugged driver control - 1500. □ Promotion of restraint devices - 230. □ Attendances at crashes - 510. □ Incidents, emergencies and disasters - 70. □ Events and escorts - 60. The proposed amendments are as follows: □ Bicycle helmet control - 20 (1993/94) 70 (1994/95). □ Community needs safety campaign - 2830 (1993/94) 2100 (1994/95). □ Speed control - 710 (1993/94) 1140 (1994/95). Inspector Holloway explained, in response to a question, that despite the recent introduction of more modem testing equipment, the times allocated to 'Drinking or drugged driver control (1500 hours) were unlikely to be reduced owing to the "stretched" nature of the district and the time it takes to get offenders back to the testing stations. Tuni to Page Two

Safety programme

From Page 1 Cr Bob Peck asked if the quality of policing had been affected by the amalgamation of police and traffic officers. Inspector Holloway said that the Wanganui Police District (of which Taumarunui is part) has been very fortunate to date but there is a possibility that Wanganui may be losing as many as 18 staff through natural attrition. "No staff have actually been lost so far but positions, when they become vacant, may not be filled. The whole question of police allocations nation- wide is currently being reviewed," he said.