The proposal - an attempt to reduce costs and manpower, save time and free up police stations and courts - is one recommendation to be presented to Government in the police Fit for the Future project.
Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope said police heads hoped to create patrol cars equipped with mobile fingerprinting devices and digital equipment on which officers could either dictate to or type statements instead of writing them.
This would give them the ability to process and punish criminals on the spot.
Mr Pope said police were still working out what type of offending this would cover, but it would probably be crimes prosecuted under the Summary Offences Act which included disorderly behaviour, vandalism, tagging and indecent exposure.
It would mean those involved would not have to be processed through the lengthy justice system, in which about 120,000 arrested people go through the courts a year.
"It will be someone who is not a danger to themselves or other people," Mr Pope said.
"We're not going to deal with aggravated robberies... or that type of thing on the street."
Police had been considering the ideas for the past few years, but the recession had "accelerated the thinking" and the Government this year had asked them to prepare a report on future policing initiatives and ideas on how money used on present projects could be reinvested.
"What the Government is asking for, quite rightly, is: are they getting value for money in police services, are we providing the public with what they expect," Mr Pope said.
Police were still working on how the proposals could be implemented, which would include consultation with the justice sector on what sorts of punishments could be served on the roadside.
It was unknown how long the report would take to complete, but police were treating the matter with urgency, Mr Pope said.
Gary Gotlieb, of the Auckland District Law Society, warned that the system was "really going to be judge and jury by the police".
He said if a person decided to accept the charges on the street rather than defend them in court it could "come back to bite them".
"The person on the night might pragmatically say 'Well, I just want to get rid of it' and then afterwards say `Hello, it wasn't me; it was someone else that was doing it and I'm putting my hand up because I want to go to America, and because I've got a conviction like this I can't go'."
Some police agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States carry portable fingerprinting tools in patrol cars and Mr Gotleib said he had heard of some areas which had decriminalised some offences - such as possessing cannabis - so police were able to punish a person on the beat by serving them with a fine rather than charging them with a criminal offence.
He said a law amendment decriminalising certain offences in New Zealand might have to be made for the process to work.
"I can see some merit in it for speeding up the court process. What the police propose as a punishment and if there is a conviction that will be entered, what effect that will have on the person in the future, are my concerns."
A system whereby victims or witnesses of crime can text or email to report the incident is another recommendation in the report.
The Department of Corrections is already considering having criminals appear in court via video link in a bid to cut transport costs and speed up the system.
Mr Pope said police would be recommending the process in their report to the Government.
FUTURE POLICING
• Officers will be able to charge and deal with minor offences on the spot.
• Patrol cars with mobile fingerprinting devices and digital equipment to process offenders from their vehicles.
• Victims/witnesses reporting crime via text or email.
• Prisoners appearing in court via video link.
