Cop speaks out about speed cameras

Over the years, police have defended speed cameras insisting they are used to prevent deaths on the road but one cop is speaking out against them.

If you have ever had the suspicion speed cameras were just cash cows for the government, then Amy Pridham may well be the whistleblower you have been waiting for.

"Nothing is done by the book or how it should be done," she claimed.

She is a former police officer and is dirty on the force for using speed cameras to fill government coffers.

"It would generally be a sergeant and they would say 'Amy you've only got six traffic infringement notices in the last 4 months, you need to get more'," she alleged.

Amy alleges she was encouraged to add to the $20,000 speed cameras make a day, which is more than $7 million a year.

She claims speed cameras were set up at sure thing infringement hot spots, not necessarily dangerous black spots.

"It's a pretty simple piece of machinery to use but when it all boils down to it to be able to prove something in court is completely different to being able to press a button and know something works," she said.

Amy's former boss, Head of Traffic Superintendent Tony Rankin defends the current system.

"There are processes in place, people are trained to use speed detection devices and the expectation they will use them in accordance with that training," he said.

"If Amy has information and wants to talk to me about it or anybody else about it, so that it can be fully investigated, were willing to do that."

Amy has since moved on with her life, insisting she is not bitter about her time in the force.

"I don't know where the funding is going from all these infringements," she said.

"It's definitely not going where it should be going to train the police officers to do the things that need to be done."