Police to roll out new infringement notice system
New South Wales Police will roll out a new Statewide system of Criminal Infringement Notices (CINs) from 1 November 2007, dramatically cutting police paperwork and saving those responsible for minor crimes from having to attend court.
A Criminal Infringement Notice is an alternative legal process to the arrest and processing of suspects and involves an “on-the-spot” fine for a range of minor criminal offences. It has been trialled in 12 Local Area Commands since 2002.
Police say a CIN reduces the potential risks of arresting and placing a suspect in custody, at the same time freeing up police from red-tape and attending court on minor matters ¬– allowing them to deal with other more serious crimes.
A CIN can be issued for seven offences –
• larceny, for property or sums less than $300
• minor fraud
• goods in custody
• offensive conduct
• offensive language
• obstructing traffic
• unauthorised entry of vehicle or boat.
“The introduction of CINs does not remove the existing options available to police to deal with minor offences such as warnings, cautions and future court attendance notices. It will remain at the discretion of the officer in charge of the matter to determine the action to be taken,” police said.
“As with all infringement notices issued in NSW, the State Debt Recovery Office will take responsibility for payments.
“A person issued with a CIN has 21 days in which to pay the penalty. If they accept there are no additional costs and the offence does not get recorded on the person’s criminal history, and any fingerprints taken at the scene will be destroyed.
“Alternatively, as they can with a traffic ticket, a person could elect to have the matter heard in court. If they are found guilty of the offence it will be recorded in their personal criminal history.”
To prevent re-offenders from receiving repeated CINs, police say they will balance the time saved against community expectations of an appropriate penalty.
CINs Project Manager, Superintendent Robert Redfern, sees the new scheme as beneficial to police and the NSW public,
“By allowing police the ability to issue a Criminal Infringement Notice for minor criminal offences, it is estimated police will save up to two hours processing time per offence — providing more opportunity for frontline policing,” he said.
A fine for a CIN offence will range from $150 to $350.
Police will augment CINs with the introduction of portable fingerprint devices to identify known offenders and outstanding warrants in the field.
A contract has been awarded for 500 machines with a plan for their rollout to begin in 2009.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has hailed both measures.
“This is about freeing up police from paperwork and getting them out on the streets to further drive down crime. It’s a commitment to high-visibility policing,” he said.
