NSW: Minister moves to end police quota promotions

AAP General News (Australia)
12-18-2001
NSW: Minister moves to end police quota promotions

SYDNEY, Dec 18 AAP - NSW Police Minister Michael Costa has scrapped a new police promotions
system where officers earn points for booking motorists, saying it could be open to abuse.

A leaked memo revealed members of the Endeavour Region highway patrol, encompassing
much of inner-western Sydney, have been given a minimum daily number of duties to perform
and a daily benchmark of 19 "interaction" credits.

Under the new scheme, points are awarded for issuing tickets for speeding, drink driving
and other offences.

But Mr Costa today moved quickly to quash the scheme, saying it was unacceptable and
open to abuse.

"Police performing their functions is a very good thing, but linking performance to
promotion and setting up an incentive for people to target particular members of the public
so they can get a promotion is a complete nonsense, it's just unacceptable," he told ABC
Radio today.

"If this is the case, it's unacceptable and it ends today.

"People want to have confidence that police are not targeting people, they've got a
responsibility to perform their functions in a sensible manner that ... doesn't put the
public offside and doesn't target them.

"If this (points system) is linked to promotions, clearly there is a possibility of abuse."

Mr Costa said he had been assured there were no minimum quotas for police, adding a
better system needed to be developed.

"We certainly want police performance to be measured, but they've got to come up with
a better system than this one that links it to promotion," he said.

Mr Costa said he would be speaking to Police Commissioner Peter Ryan today about the issue.

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KEYWORD: MEMO COSTA

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