Figures released under the Official Information Act show nearly 2000 police vehicles were snapped speeding across 2010 and 2011
In the information released last week, acting Superintendent Rob Morgan says the rise in the number of police being caught "is due to the introduction of lower speed tolerances over holiday periods and is in line with the increase in the number of lower-level speed offences across the general population".
National road policing operations manager Inspector Peter McKennie said it was inevitable that some staff would be caught speeding, but "on the whole our officers are very safe drivers".
Mr McKennie said the latest figures showed police staff were not immune from the law. If an officer was caught speeding, they had to provide a valid excuse otherwise they were fined just like other members of the public.
However, police owned more than 3000 vehicles that spent a lot of time on the road, and it was inevitable some would be caught speeding.
"It's to be expected that, with the number of kilometres we do and the fact the vehicles are on the road a lot of the time, we will get some of these notices.
"We'd much rather have no police employees exceeding the speed limit unjustifiably, but having said that . . . we recognise that this happens from time to time and we hold our staff accountable when it does happen.
"It's something we are actively managing and trying to bring down. It's not necessarily intentional speeding - it may be a lapse in concentration
"We recognise we need to be a role model for the public and that's what we strive to do. I believe on the whole our officers are very safe drivers." Read more
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