Bay to get specialised crime team

A new specialist police team will target organised crime in the Bay.
The four-strong team of three police staff and one civilian member will start working from January next year and target some of the area's most sophisticated and organised criminal rings.
An additional five staff will also be on the beat in the Bay early next year to deal with emergencies and investigations.
It is not yet decided where the new squad will be based but it will work across the region, focusing on gangs and organised crime activity.
Tauranga would be considered along with Rotorua.
A two-person youth development team for programmes focusing on youth at risk offending has also been earmarked for the Bay of Plenty.
Bay of Plenty Police district commander Superintendent Gary Smith welcomed the increase in staff numbers and said the organised crime squad would bolster the work police were already doing in the region.
"Any additional resources is good news. Organised crime is a priority area and the squad will complement what we already have," Mr Smith said.
Advertising for staff to fill the four positions will begin soon and be done within the Bay as well as nationally.
A business plan for the organised crime squad and its responsibilities was still being drawn up, Mr Smith said.
He was unable to say where they would be based.
"I am in discussions with area commanders and we are considering the best place to put them."
Eastern and Christchurch are the other two police areas that will also benefit from the addition of an organised crime squad.
The increase in frontline police numbers is part of the latest Budget, which outlined an extra $172.9 million over four years for police to be spent on new staff and other areas.
This year's Budget boosted total police spending to $1.03 billion - an increase of $73.6 million over last year.
Nationally, police will get an extra 245 staff, taking sworn and civilian police numbers to over 10,000 for the first time.
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson said most of the extra staff announced in the Budget would be in frontline roles with most going into metropolitan Auckland and the upper North Island.
A substantial capital investment of $27 million had also been made to cover the funding of new equipment, vehicles and buildings needed to support new and existing staff.
The new funding would pay for about 60 new investigation and response staff, 24 organised crime group members, 36 youth aid and youth support team staff and 15 in a range of other roles.
Police Association regional director for the Bay of Plenty Mel Ridley said the additional staff numbers were no where enough and the announcement was "a token gesture".
A dedicated organised crime squad was long overdue.
Organised crime and gangs and meth were a big problem not being addressed, he said.
The squad is due to start work in January 2006 when funding comes on stream but this is too late according to Mr Ridley.
"It's not good enough. We will be that much further behind."
Police Association president Greg O'Connor agreed the announcement did not go far enough. The association has been running a campaign called "Fund the Frontline" to get 540 extra police in the next two years.
"This area of policing needs a significant boost in police numbers to build and maintain public confidence and meet their understandably high expectations of service," said Mr O'Connor.