Cop's personal car impounded after reckless driving charges

A SENIOR police officer has been charged with reckless driving and will have his car seized after he was allegedly caught speeding twice in the same day in the state's south.

Mark McKenzie, a 41-year-old detective, was snapped by a Multanova speed camera travelling at 125kmh and 134kmh in an 80kmh zone in the Great Southern police district on June 25.

The officer will have his personal vehicle seized under anti-hoon laws and face a $1000 speeding fine. He could also be hit with disciplinary action, following an internal investigation into the incident.

Mr McKenzie is due to appear in Albany Magistrates Court on August 1.

Acting Commander for Regional WA Lawrence Panaia said the officer was on duty and was driving to a job with lights and sirens in operation on both occasions. ``Clearly, there are some ramifications on whether or not that type of driving was justified in those circumstances,'' he said.

``There's two outcomes that you can reach here. One, that the urgent duty driving was warranted and the officer has done nothing wrong, or secondly, that it wasn't warranted and we need to then take action, and that's where it would be a real concern.''

He said the internal investigation would focus on whether the job warranted a high-speed response.

Source