IN A CASE THAT WILL SEND shivers down your spine, a Traffic and Highway Patrol officer stationed at Gundagai in NSW has faked infringement notices to boost his statistics and protect his rank, Wagga Court has heard.
The officer, 39-year-old Stephen Alan Saltmarsh, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of unauthorised modification of restricted data in the NSW Police Force computer system (known as COPS) and three counts of knowingly making a false statement.
Saltmarsh was scheduled to be sentenced on March 21 although one of his options was to make an application to have the charges dismissed under Section 32 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act.
Undisputed facts tendered to the court revealed Saltmarsh repeatedly entered false information into the police computer at the Gundagai police station between May 28 and July 18 last year.
Saltmarsh entered names of people he purported to have booked who were from other countries, including China, Vietnam, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Thailand and South Korea, claiming to have picked them up on the Hume Highway for traffic offences that included speeding, driving in the wrong lane, inappropriate use of high beam, minor vehicle defects, driving an unregistered vehicle and not wearing a seat belt.
The offences came to light on July 30 when the Office of State Revenue contacted police to notify them of discrepancies.
It was found that in nearly 20 cases, there was no record of the people booked by Saltmarsh having entered Australia and the ACT registration numbers of their vehicles either didn’t exist or belonged to other vehicles. There were no in-car recordings of the stops, although there were recordings of vehicle stops before and after.
Saltmarsh was interviewed and charged on November 24.
This brings up an interesting point: if, was we are regularly told, there is no quota for police officers issuing traffic infringement notices, why would a Highway patrolman feel the need to increase his numbers to protect his rank? And if there is a quota, how does this contribute to saving lives and reducing the road toll? In any case, we have often commented that police officers are under increasing pressure, made worse by being seen by the public as revenue collectors rather than performing a public service. Our sympathies go out to Leading Senior Constable Alan Saltmarsh, even though his actions were clearly unprofessional, and to his long-suffering colleagues. They deserve better.