Police traffic officer charged over crash

File photo / NZ Herald

A police traffic officer has been charged with careless driving after he crashed his patrol car into a tree.

Constable Gary Neil Morgan, of the North Shore Police strategic traffic unit, crashed the car on Puriri St, Takapuna, on June 11.

North Shore area commander Inspector Les Paterson said Morgan was turning around to stop a vehicle he had just speed checked when he hit a tree.

"The tree looks quite good but our car doesn't," he said.

No one was hurt.

Mr Paterson said the case had been reviewed by a police committee, resulting in a summons to court.

Morgan was still on active duty.

"There's no way that a matter like this would be job-threatening," Mr Paterson said.

"If he's convicted it goes back for a review for any disciplinary proceedings, so there is kind of a double jeopardy whammy if you're a police officer - you kind of get it from all angles."

Morgan will appear in court again next month.