SA Police hiring more prosecutors for mobile phone camera disputes

Motorists caught by new traffic cameras using their mobile phone will be hit with fines in three weeks time. And SA Police is preparing for a huge showdown in our courts.

SA Police is hiring extra prosecutors in anticipation of potential backlash from disgruntled drivers nabbed by the state’s new mobile phone detection cameras.

Authorities will start issuing fines to motorists caught on camera using their phones while behind the wheel from the middle of next month.

However, police are bracing for possible pushback by seeking additional staff to handle any increase in work created by drivers disputing their fines in court.

The new prosecutors will not work exclusively on mobile phone camera expiation disputes but will join the general prosecutor pool to ease workload pressure across the board.

An SA Police spokesman confirmed “SAPOL is using a portion of funding obtained to support the prosecution of contested matters before the courts”.

An advertisement on the state government’s jobs website shows SA Police is looking to recruit prosecuting solicitors to fill “multiple short-term and long-term temporary contracts and vacancies”.

Junior and senior roles are available and applications close on August 30.

SA Police uses both police prosecutors and prosecuting solicitors to deal with court matters, such as people challenging fines.

Both police prosecutors, who must be qualified to the rank of at least senior constable and have completed a prosecutor’s course, and prosecuting solicitors – who are civilian lawyers – carry out the same tasks.

Prosecuting solicitors are often cheaper to hire, with salaries ranging from $67,693 to $101,003 per year, depending on experience.

Senior constables earn between $92,720 and $106,174 per year.

SA Police have busted thousands of drivers using their phones since mobile phone detection cameras were switched on in June. Pictures: SA Police.

The state government switched on SA’s first mobile phone detection cameras at five locations in June.

A grace period, during which drivers caught on camera using their phones will only receive a warning rather than a fine, is running until September 18.

Beyond this date, those nabbed will be fined $556 and stripped of three demerit points. They will also have to pay a victims of crime levy of up to $102.

During the first week of the grace period, 8603 drivers were busted using their mobile phones. Across the first month, almost 31,000 drivers were snapped using their phones. Three motorists were caught 19 times each.

Just one month before the cameras went live, questions were raised over the effectiveness of the technology after documents obtained by 7News revealed an earlier secret trial outlined “inconsistencies” with the results.

The report revealed image quality issues could cast doubt over the integrity of the system.

However, an SA Police spokesman at the time said “instances of false detections are extremely low” and an officer would view the images before fines were issued.

Last year’s state budget papers showed the cameras were expected to generate almost $25 million in expiation revenue in 2024/25, with the figure decreasing to almost $23 million the following year, and lowering again in 2026/27 to about $21 million.

The mobile phone detection cameras are located at South Rd, Torrensville; on the North South Motorway, Regency Park; Port Wakefield Rd, Gepps Cross; the Southern Expressway, Darlington; and Port Rd, Hindmarsh.

Originally published as SA Police hiring more prosecutors for mobile phone camera disputes