Police will review their handling of the road closure following last week's fatal car crash on State Highway 88, but are unlikely to make any changes to the way serious crashes are investigated.
SH88 was closed for five and a-half hours from 3.55pm last Thursday, after 16-year-old Liam Christopher Stevenson, of Dunedin, died when his car and a container truck collided near Ravensbourne.
The length of the closure was criticised by members of the public, including a former police officer, when it emerged up to three hours was spent waiting for the rostered crash analysis forensic mapping officer to arrive from Alexandra.
Southern district police commander Superintendent Bob Burns said he would be examining the handling of the incident.
"I will certainly be looking at a review of the situation from the road policing group, so that I can have some confidence that travelling members of the public are not being unduly obstructed from carrying out their business and how we could improve response times for specialists," he said.
However, police would not be revisiting the controversial roster system which added to the delay.
Alexandra-based Senior Constable Alastair Crosland was called to the incident "because he was the crash investigator available", Supt Burns said.
The other serious crash investigation officers covering the Central Otago, Waitaki and Otago-Southland districts are based in Dunedin and Invercargill.
The rostered specialist would continue to be mobilised, irrespective of where a crash occurred, Supt Burns said.
The only Southern district police staff paid a callout rate were "minimum numbers of AOS [armed offenders' squad] members".
"The police is like any other business. We base our callout procedures on need and fact. With the number of fatal crashes we have in our district, three specialists are more than enough."
Thirty-one people died in 30 fatal crashes in the Southern district last year.
Retired police senior sergeant Mike Lyons said the length of the closure was "completely unnecessary".
"Common sense would have resulted in the local specialist being called out from his base in Mosgiel.
"I am sure the area controller will take on board the criticism and take steps to ensure a similar event is avoided." Supt Burns agreed the situation could have been dealt with better - "that is the beauty of hindsight".
"I would have certainly liked to see it less than that [five and a-half hours] and we will look at opportunities to reduce the disruption to traffic for future events.
"Police are always conscious of the difficulties this type of crash can cause the public and this has to be balanced with the need to gather all available evidence for the investigation, coroner or criminal court," he said.
"The deceased, the deceased's family and friends and the community deserve no less attention than any other investigation where a life has been lost." Police Association Southern district director Brett Roberts said penal rates for crash analysts were cut three years ago.
"The CIB and AOS also had their stand-by rates cut. It's a sign of the times. We have to work with the resources we've got and to the best capabilities we've got," he said.
"In a situation like this, our staff are expected to do an exceptional job in a very short period of time, otherwise they get criticised.
"But, maybe we do have to be a little bit smarter."
