Drive for more police bears fruit

A record number of people have applied to become police officers, as the Government prepares to boost the number of cops around the country.

Police Minister Paula Bennett has praised a successful summer recruitment campaign, with 1351 people applying to join the police in January and February - twice the number from the same time last year.

The recruitment drive comes after Prime Minister Bill English announced a $503 million package last month to boost police staffing levels.

The four-year package included funding for 880 more sworn officers and another 245 non-sworn staff, taking the number of sworn cops to 9800 and total police staffing to 13,000.

Bennett said the recruitment numbers were ‘‘a positive first step’’ towards the Government’s target.

She said the Royal New Zealand Police College was preparing to train an extra 220 officers each year for the next four years, with the size of an average recruit wing doubling from 40 recruits to 80.

The first new recruits would begin training in July and hit the beat in November.

The Government had faced pressure throughout 2016 to boost police numbers, with both Labour and NZ First announcing policies of their own for more staff.