ACT police reassure public in wake of Victoria breath testing scandal
Stringent oversights will prevent a repeat of the breath testing scandal that has rocked the police force in Victoria, ACT Policing say.
This week it was revealed Victorian police had faked more than a quater of a million roadside breath tests in an apparent ruse to dupe performance targets.
The scandal was unearthed in an internal police audit, started after the Victorian Transport Accident Commission raised concerns about anomalies in police data.
A spokeswoman for ACT Policing said there was no need for a similar audit in the capital.
"There is no evidence to suggest that our statistics are inaccurate or that there is any need for an audit here in the ACT," the spokeswoman said.
"We have oversights in place both on the road and administratively to monitor these statistics."
ACT police had an annual goal of breath testing one in every three drivers, the spokeswoman said.
"Based on approximately 330,000 licence holders in the ACT, our annual goal is approximately 110,000 RBT’s.
"This is a goal only and is part of a bigger road safety strategy here in the ACT and is just one part of prevention, education and deterrence methods in place to improve and maintain road safety."
Meeting this goal was not tied to funding, and individual officers were not given personal targets or quotas, the spokeswoman added.
"In 2016 we conducted 117,717 RBT’s, in 2017 we conducted 92,376 and year to date so far in 2018 we have conducted 23,017 RBT’s.
"These figures change based a number of factors including crime trend analysis, increased roadside drug tests etc."
Police officers in Victoria said they were being asked to conduct up to 50 — and at times as many as 100 — breath tests in a single shift.
The Transport Accident Commission has "frozen indefinitely" $4 million in annual funding to Victoria Police in the wake of the revelations.
An external investigator, former Victoria Police chief commissioner Neil Comrie, has been appointed to probe the scandal.