Drink-driver targeting 'goes too far' says civil liberties group

Police are going too far by targeting recidivist drink-drivers, says a civil liberties spokesman.

Auckland laywer Barry Hart* said yesterday that police were stretching the law by staking out the homes, workplaces and pubs of repeat offenders.

"They're obviously out there doing good policing ... but if the suggestion is they are going to target certain people, recidivist drivers, then that's quite wrong.

"That's going too far; that's bordering on harassment."

Last month, it was reported that Christchurch police had built up a database of recidivist drink-drivers and were using covert surveillance to monitor the worst offenders.

The Sunday Star-Times newspaper reported yesterday that each police district had compiled similar databases containing photographs of the worst drink-drivers; their home and work addresses and the extent of their previous drink-drive offending.

Road policing bosses nationwide said they used the tactics.

Mr Hart said that was unfair.

"The whole thrust of the Land Transport Act is there is the power to stop, there is the power to ask and to be able to check driving licences, do random checks.

"The whole concept is not with a view to targeting a specific body of people ... We're moving towards a Gestapo-like police force if they're going to carry on doing that."

Mr Hart thought anyone arrested after being targeted in such a way could have his or her case dismissed.

"It's contrary to the purpose and principles of the Land Transport Act and they shouldn't be doing it ... if I get any cases where that's done, I'll certainly run that as a defence."

Police national road safety manager superintendent Steve Fitzgerald said the approach was legal. He said offenders were mostly disqualified drivers who refused to drive under the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Waikato police inspector Leo Tooman said his staff used the personalised policing tactics and also got phone calls from concerned neighbours and partners about people they believed should not be driving.

"We do sit down the ends of their streets. The idea is to get them before they're drunk because they're usually disqualified drivers."

Mr Tooman said 38 per cent of drink-drivers in his area were recidivist offenders and were regularly caught by police on Friday and Saturday nights.

Ministry of Justice 2002 statistics showed 109 people were killed and 2006 injured in crashes in which drink-driving was a factor.

A further 19,924 people were convicted of drink-driving, including 1177 people who had more than five such convictions.

- NZPA


* CORRECTION: In the original version of this story, Barry Hart was incorrectly identified as the president of the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, Barry Wilson.