Police officers have been caught speeding on duty almost 5000 times over six years - paying more than $1 million into the national coffers for their driving sins.
Most officers were clocked driving at 11-15km/h over the limit but some were fined for speeds of 50km/h or higher.
The numberof speed fines issued to vehicles registered to police - detected by speed cameras only - were revealed in a report published by the law enforcement agency.
The report also reveals key information about alcohol and drug, speed, mobile phone, red light and safety belt offending as well as fleeing driver incidents.
Officers were most commonly caught for speeding between 11-15km/h over the limit but in some cases speeds were 50km/h or higher.
In January-March this year the district with the most fines issued was Waitemata, followed by Auckland and Counties Manukau.
Speeding police
The Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 states that drivers "must not exceed speed limits" but emergency vehicles are exempt in some circumstances.
As far as police are concerned, a speeding offence is not committed if, pursuant to the rule, the vehicle was being used by an enforcement officer engaged on urgent duty and compliance with the speed limit would be likely to prevent the execution of the officer's duty.
Accordingly, notices are waived if they have been issued when these circumstances apply.
Any officer who gets a speeding ticket while on duty has to provide a full explanation for their offence.
If the speed is not justified, they must pay the fine out of their own pocket.
All fees collected from police infringement notices and offence proceedings are transferred into Government funds.
The Government - not the police - then determines how it will spend the money collected, through its budget processes.
Road policing operations manager Inspector Peter McKennie said sometimes police needed to speed in vehicles to get their jobs done.
"Our people go to work every day to protect our communities - that is their purpose and their focus; to keep people safe," McKennie said.
"As part of this, our officers frequently undertake urgent duty driving when responding to high priority jobs.
"They use a TENR (Threat-Exposure-Necessity-Response) risk assessment.
"Unfortunately, sometimes they get this assessment wrong.
"Any officer found to be speeding unjustifiably is held accountable and pays the infringement."
McKennie acknowledged that police needed to be "setting the standard" when it came to road safety.
"Our role is to enforce the law, so there is more onus on us to get it right," he said.
"When we do make mistakes, we handle those mistakes quickly, remedy them, and learn from them.
"It is important that every member of Police lives up to the trust and confidence the public places in us."
The number of fleeing driver incidents has also spiked in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period in previous years.
Fleeing drivers - pursuit numbers hoon upwards
From January to March this year there were 1127 occasions where drivers fled police and were pursued.
Over the same time in 2018 the number of fleeing drivers was 896, 876 in 2017 and 784 in 2016.
On March 15 a major review of pursuits by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and police was released.
Despite some sectors calling for radical changes or the total banning of the police tactic, the review found the current policy "can provide the necessary balance between public safety and public protection".
However eight recommendations to "enhance police understanding" of the rules were made.
The review also highlighted the need for further research to understand why some drivers flee
Police have engaged in more than 30,000 pursuits in the past 10 years, during which time 79 people have been killed in crashes.
Others have been killed in pursuit-related incidents including police shootings - and hundreds, including those in the fleeing cars and the patrol cars chasing them, have been injured.
