Police issued over $20,000 in fines while an officer was dressed up as a window washer to catch drivers doing things like using their phones while driving.
Data supplied under the Official Information Act stated the road policing unit used the tactic of an undercover officer dressed up as a window washer on four occasions between September 13 and September 28, 2022, in Auckland.
In the four operations conducted by staff, 144 infringement notices were issued.
Out of the 144, 68 were for people not wearing seatbelts (including two for no child restraints), 70 were for using mobile phones and six were for red light offences.
All 144 infringement notices were issued a $150 fine, meaning the total number of fines issued by police was $21,600.
Another 23 miscellaneous infringement notices were also issued for offences like Warrant of Fitness or driver's licence offences. Police said most of these were offered compliance so no fines were issued if the terms of compliance were met.
After a video filmed by a member of the public showed the undercover officer dressed as a window washer at an intersection in Manurewa, police admitted the tactic "wasn't appropriate".
"We acknowledge the officer dressing to appear as a window washer is not appropriate and we will be communicating with our staff this should not be happening in future," Counties Manukau road policing manager Inspector Tony Wakelin said.
Insp Wakelin said police were trying to look for drivers who had run red lights or were using their cellphones because the offences are contributors to deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads.
"The use of a plain clothes officer to watch for these offences is a standard operating tactic to prevent death and serious injuries on our roads," Insp Wakelin said.
He added there have been 20 road-related deaths in Counties Manukau in 2022.
"It’s a risk that is not worth taking and police regularly carry out operations targeting red light runners because we know the danger this type of behaviour poses," Insp Wakelin said.
