In what seems like a major election gambit, Prime Minister Bill English today announced that the police numbers will be increased by 1,125, including 880 extra sworn officers on the frontline.
With this increase, the number of police will go up from 11,925 to more than 13,000 by June 2021 while the number of sworn-in police officers will increase from nearly 8,900 to about 9,800. This increase will also include 20 ethnic liaison officers who will work towards reducing crime in the communities.
The numbers will increase the police workforce by almost 10% during the next four years. The first recruits will begin training in July and hit the beat in November this year.
There have been concerns about the increasing crime rate in New Zealand, even after being the fourth safest country in the world, and the community has been demanding an increase in the number of police officers for a long time, something that opposition parties, Labour and New Zealand First, have already been promising, thus building pressure on the government.
Announcing the $503 million Safer Communities package, Mr English said that a big focus would be on responsive police services, child protections, and regional and rural areas. He said that there is a growing demand for traditional police services and “serious crime is absorbing more police.”
The increase was expected after an announcement made by the then Police Minister Judith Collins last year. Mr English used the opportunity during his state-of-the-nation speech—first major speech of the year—to make this announcement on Thursday at Auckland’s Stamford Plaza Hotel.
Kiwi-Indian MP Kanwaljit Bakshi said that Auckland will benefit from the “significant investment” to “keep our communities safe.”
“Knowing there’s a nearby police presence at all times is something our community expects…We want police attending home burglaries more quickly, seizing more assets from organised crime, reducing deaths from family violence, and reducing reoffending by Maori,” Mr Bakshi said.
Terming the announcement an “election stunt”, NZ First Leader Winston Peters said that National has been conning the public over the state of crime in New Zealand.
“While 90% of burglaries went unattended and 97% in Northland, they said crime was falling and adjusted their stats accordingly… They brought in a catch and release programme—grab the offender, give them a warning, and send them home. Great for the statistics,” Mr Peters said.
He said that Mr English who is “desperate to be elected” was trying to copy parts of their policy where they proposed 1,800 new police officers “as soon as they can be trained.”
While police numbers are going up, Mr Peters said that they are actually down when compared with the population of the country. In 2016, there were about 525 people for every police officer. With this increase, the number gone up to 600 people per officer, he said.
Labour Leader Andrew Little has also said that the package "proves Bill English is a follower, not a leader," pointing that Labour had also proposed increasing police numbers by 1,000.
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Mike Bush welcomed the announcement and said that the additional police numbers will ensure that they have “right tools and resources to do their jobs and achieve the best possible outcome for victims.”
"The addition of these new staff means we can deliver more to support victims, prevent crime and hold offenders to account. The investment will see an increase in resourcing for every police district," he said.