Sergeant Lachy Garrick and Senior Constable Mark Middleton are trialling an unmarked Yamaha MT09TRAP (900cc).
The bike is fully operational, with lights, radio and siren, but without the livery. There is also a fit-for-purpose protective uniform for the rider, which includes a high-vis vest.
Police said the trial is focusing on driver and rider behaviour that causes the most harm on the road: unrestrained drivers and riders not wearing helmets, distracted drivers, impaired drivers, and people speeding. It is also targeting red-light runners.
The emphasis is on changing rider behaviour before crashes happen.
Director of the National Road Policing Centre, Superintendent Steve Greally, said the use of the unmarked motorcycle will help to change "unsafe behaviours" - especially in relation to restraints and cell phone use.
“The fact that these motorcycles will not be immediately obvious as police vehicles is expected to have a positive impact in (preventing) death and serious injuries, as it has in overseas jurisdictions.”
Snr Const Middleton said the public's reaction has been positive so far.
“I’ve completed three shifts with the bike, and I’ve stopped and chatted with at least 100 motorists. The reaction so far has been absolutely positive. No one has expressed any doubt as to my role, the red and blue flashing lights are particularly visible at night and are accepted without question.”
Sgt Garrick has had a similar experience.
“Probably 50 percent of the drivers of vehicles I’ve spoken to haven’t commented at all on our plain uniform or the bike. The other half have expressed surprise or interest in the concept. I haven’t had any negative feedback, which is great.
“Although police visibility is a great deterrence for poor road behaviour, an unmarked motorcycle offers other benefits such as seeing people undertake risky behaviours and then being able to stop them and engage with them to talk about road safety.”
“It enhances our ‘anytime, anywhere’ philosophy and means we can be unpredictable in our patrolling, engagement and enforcement activity for all drivers.”
The trial is running from March until the end of May, initially in Canterbury, before moving to Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and Wellington.
