Police have too much time on their hands

Stuff reports:

Police are cracking down on Uber, the cheap and trendy new-kid-on-the-taxi rank, leaving paying customers on the pavement.

After complaints from the old-school taxi firms, police have begun fining the Uber drivers whose lower fares have been hurting the big cab companies.

The private car hire service has hit back, lodging a complaint of police harassment with the Independent Police Complaints Authority. A spokeswoman said police officers put passengers at risk by booting them out of the hired cars.

Uber has taken the world by storm, and is gaining a big chunk of market share in Auckland and Wellington. It is expected to launch in Christchurch and Queenstown this year. But in the biggest city, police confirm they have stopped several Uber drivers and charged them or issued them infringement notices for using their smartphone app as a meter – a breach that would make them subject to tough taxi regulations.

So do I have this right? The Police have so little crime to focus on, that they are pulling over Uber drivers to check whether or not they are charging an up front fare or a per km fare? As if the difference has any impact on safety. It is a commercial issue, not a Police issue.

The Police have operational independence, but again if I was the Minister I’d be telling the Commissioner that he thinks it is a stupid waste of Police time.