Where NZ's 1800 new cops will go
New Zealand will have an extra 1800 police officers on the beat after a $300 million cash injection. Police Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed further details around the allocation of the 1800 additional officers, alongside 485 support staff, spread across all 12 policing districts.
It comes after a $298.8m increase for police in Budget 2018.
Bush says 1280 of the new staff will be deployed to districts, including 200 staff with a specific focus on preventing crime related to gangs and drug-related offending.
A big part of the package is the “unprecedented investment to combat the harm” caused by organised crime, gangs and the supply of methamphetamine.
A further 520 will be national roles aiming to counter high-level organised crime, break national and international drug supply chains and to train, support and coordinate local teams to prevent harm.
They include officers in cybercrime.
As part of the package, 187 new investigators will focus on current and historic complex cases, including adult sexual assault and child protection. District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus welcomed the 102 officers allocated to Auckland City District. Fifteen positions are already in place, with a further 87 positions to be recruited.
“This will enable us to improve both our response time and our investigation timeliness, to make sure that people are safe and feel safe in our communities,” Malthus said.
Bush said the allocation decisions have taken into account feedback from frontline staff, projected population growth, changing crime patterns, and other priority areas.
“Of course, police work in a dynamic and changing environment, and if the facts on the ground materially change, then we would look at where our resources are required to keep people safe,” he added.
District commanders are now starting further work to determine deployment decisions at an area and station level.
“Our communities will benefit greatly through this investment as our staff work to prevent crime, victimisation and help vulnerable people turn their lives around,” Bush said.
“There are currently 340 recruits training at The Royal New Zealand Police College, with 80 more starting every four weeks. We have record numbers of applications, but we are still keen to hear from quality applicants.”
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said the announcement represents an increase in police constabulary numbers of around 20 per cent.
“We all know that our largest population centres in the big cities have high needs for community safety and crime prevention. But I am particularly gratified that the smaller regions and provinces have been allocated significantly increased police resources under the Commissioner’s plan,” Peters said.
In Northland, a 25 per cent increase in police numbers would make a “huge difference” to combat methamphetamine and improve safety, Peters said.
Provincial towns throughout Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki Whanganui and Manawatu gain between 17 and 27 per cent more officers. And 264 new officers will be stationed in rural and urban towns throughout the South Island. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the move allows police to “make real inroads into crime prevention” in order to reduce victimisation, lower reoffending and bring down imprisonment rates.