IR-01-25-19307
19 June 2025
Brittany
[FYI request #31088 email]
Dear Brittany
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request received 26 May 2025, in
which you asked about the existence of ticket or infringement quotas within New Zealand
Police, and associated matters relating to data recording, operational purpose, internal
guidance, risk assessments, and consequences for non-compliance. I have answered
each part of your request below.
1. Ticket or Infringement Quotas:
Has the New Zealand Police implemented any form of ticket or infringement
quota for general duties police officers, including frontline response officers or
those working in Public Safety Teams? Specifically:
•
Are there any formal or informal expectations, targets, or benchmarks
regarding the number of infringement notices (such as for traffic, liquor ban,
disorder, or other offences) that general duties constables are expected to
issue over a specified time period (e.g. monthly, quarterly, or annual y)?
•
If so, what are the specific targets or expectations, and which districts
or commands are applying them?
New Zealand Police takes road safety seriously and is committed to reducing harm on
roads by enforcing land transport legislation. There is no ‘ticket quota’ for Police staff. The
broader Police and road safety sector strategy focuses on promoting safe driving
behaviours and compliance with speed limits, which includes issuing infringement notices
where appropriate.
There are, however, overal performance targets for road policing activities, as agreed
through the Road Policing Investment Programme (RPIP). These are detailed on pages
10 and 11 of the RPIP 2024–27, which is available at the fol owing link:
•
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/planning-and-investment/funding-and-
investing/docs/Road-Policing-Investment-Programme-2024-27.pdf#page=11
These performance measures are set national y to target the areas of greatest risk and
harm on New Zealand roads. This is a national expectation which is then broken down
among districts for operational purposes. Districts may choose how they operationalise
the targets to achieve the national measures. They are not specific to road policing staff
alone; general duties constables are also expected to contribute to road safety through
enforcement where appropriate, alongside their wider responsibilities.
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
2. Recording and Dissemination of Enforcement Data:
• How is individual officer infringement data being recorded, tracked, and
reported?
• Are officers provided with individual or team-based spreadsheets,
reports, or summaries indicating the number of tickets or infringements
issued?
• If such reporting occurs, please provide copies (with any personal
details redacted) of standardised templates, dashboards, or performance
documents shared with staff for any recent 3-month period.
All infringement data issued by individual officers is recorded in Police information
systems, including the National Intelligence Application (NIA), Police Infringement
Processing System (PIPS) and SAP, an operational database. This data can be extracted
at any time for operational or reporting purposes and can be broken down into individual
performance. This data can be accessed by supervisors to look at their staff
performance, however there is no nationalised process for providing an individual officer’s
outputs to them on a regular basis.
Officers are not routinely provided with individual or team-based spreadsheets, reports, or
summaries outlining the number of tickets or infringements they have issued. However,
some Police districts or teams may provide staff with summaries of enforcement activity
for general awareness or as part of performance conversations. This is situational and
not standardised across all districts.
As officers are not provided with individual or team-based spreadsheets, reports, or
summaries indicating the number of tickets or infringements issued, this part of your
request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the document al eged to contain the
information does not exist.
3. Operational Purpose and Relevance:
• What is the operational rationale for recording and distributing such
enforcement data to constables or supervisors, if this is occurring?
• Has Police leadership issued any communications, policies, or
directives explaining how such data aligns with Police’s strategic goals or
performance expectations?
Performance data is not sent directly to constables individually. However, District Road
Policing Managers receive weekly national reports for road policing activities, and it is
their discretion as to whether they disseminate these to individual staff. Various areas of
Police leadership have issued communications to staff emphasising the importance of
prevention-focused policing, visibility in the community, and evidence-based deployment.
These communications reinforce strategic objectives but do not impose numerical
expectations on infringement activity.
4. Internal Policies or Guidance Documents:
• Please provide any policies, guidelines, internal memoranda, or
communications that relate to the use of enforcement statistics (including
infringement or ticket data) for performance management, KPIs, or resource
allocation for general duties officers.
Police does not have a national policy or guideline that sets quotas or numerical targets
for individual officer infringements for the purposes of performance management.
Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the
document alleged to contain the information does not exist or, despite reasonable
efforts, cannot be found.
5. Concerns and Risk Assessments (if available):
•
Has NZ Police conducted any internal review, risk assessment, or
consultation regarding the potential impacts of enforcement expectations or
metrics on officer discretion, community trust, or fairness in policing
outcomes?
I am not aware of any internal review, risk assessment, or consultation that has been
conducted specifical y on the potential impacts of enforcement expectations or metrics on
officer discretion, community trust, or fairness in policing outcomes.
6. Accountability and Consequences for Non-Compliance:
•
Where targets or expectations exist, are there any formal or informal
consequences for officers who do not meet them?
•
Are such officers subject to performance management processes,
disciplinary review, or informal discussions regarding their enforcement
statistics?
As stated in my response to Question 1, there is no ‘ticket quota’ for our employees. The
RPIP outlines national y agreed performance measures, which are designed to support
system-level outcomes across all Police districts. These are not targets imposed on
individual employees.
As such, officers are not held to account for specific infringement counts as a
performance requirement. Where performance concerns arise, they are addressed
holistical y under Police’s existing performance management framework, which considers
a range of behaviours, outcomes, and development needs – not infringement activity
alone.
You may be interested to know that $24 mil ion in annual funding from the National Land
Transport Fund for RPIP 2024–27 is contingent on the successful delivery of key
activities to specified annual levels. This is called ‘delivery dependent funding’, and it
reflects expectations as set out in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport
2024–34. However, this funding arrangement applies to Police at an organisational level
and is not linked to individual officer performance.
I trust this information is satisfactory in answering your request. If you are not satisfied
with the way I have responded to your request, you have the right to seek an
investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to
make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
Yours sincerely
Superintendent Stephen Greal y
Director: Road Policing
New Zealand Police
