Tony Ryall
National Police Spokesperson
28 June 2004
Joe Average shouldn't be driving police cars
Non-sworn police officers should not be driving marked police cars, says National's Police spokesman, Tony Ryall.
"Non-sworn staff do have an important role, but they are not qualified law enforcement officers.
Mr Ryall says the problem with driving marked police cars is this: the public may flag the car down only to find
non-sworn Joe Average is behind the wheel and unable to help. That will cause ill-will towards Police at a time when
they need support.
"According to the latest available information, in February it took Auckland Police an average of 23 hours and 10
minutes to respond to burglary inquiries.
"I am certain local people would say that sworn police would be better investigating crime scenes than collecting
revenue with speed cameras," says Mr Ryall
Ends