Do-nothing plan defended

Senior police say a management plan which advises that the investigation of many everyday crimes be "suspended or abandoned" is the best way of dealing with the workload.

The plan, revealed in last week's Weekend Herald, sets priorities for investigations in the Auckland City district.

Crimes deemed of lesser importance include commercial burglary, repeat break-ins, fraud, theft from cars and shops, and criminal damage.

"I don't resile from it. The document lets us know where our pressure points are," Auckland City police Commander Gavin Jones said.

"I think there would be more concern from your readers if they thought that we were not operating from a plan."

Deputy Commissioner Steve Long said he "absolutely" supported the plan which managed risks, including public safety, and considered the seriousness of the crime and health and safety of staff.

He said all districts had to set priorities and it had always been that way because "policing worldwide is never funded to the nth degree".

Comparative crime clearance rates indicated New Zealand police worked effectively, he said.

A 20,000 increase in the number of prosecutions in each of the past two years was an indication they were doing a good job but it was unrealistic to expect police to be able to respond to everything.

"Productivity is at an all-time high," Mr Long said. "This is about expectation management in many respects. We have got to explain to the public what the priorities are. That has to be a rational and realistic debate about the services you buy for your policing dollar."

He said the police may have to do better at informing victims of crime of progress but also in educating the public of the good work they did.

"I agree there is a trust and confidence issue which is a mile wide but there is also an issue of reporting accurately what is done by the police day after day."

He encouraged the public to continue to report crime which was useful for the database even if it could not be immediately responded to.

The number of private investigators, most of whom are former police officers, has increased dramatically in the past 15 years. The industry puts this down to police not investigating some types of crimes. Mr Long said he did not have the information to comment on this while Mr Jones said it was a trend around the world, led by the United States which had twice as many private investigators as police officers.

Policing was a shared responsibility which the public had a role in, Mr Jones said. As an example, he estimated that half of the 9000 thefts from cars each year could have been prevented by ensuring valuables were out of sight.

"Criminals window shop ... if they see a wallet or valuable sunglasses or electrical goods that car becomes a target."

Auckland is bolstering its under-strength investigative ranks in part with a recruiting drive aimed at experienced British detectives.

But Police Association president Greg O'Connor said police management had "suppressed" the true situation of police workload in the same way there had been denials of problems at the communication centres, with P and gangs.

"We've warned about the shortages of detectives in particular and [they have been met with] absolute denials. Now it's out in public so at least by acknowledging the problem something can be done about it."

On the beat

Police numbers per 10,000 population

* New Zealand 19

* Australia 23

* England/Wales 24

* United States 29

* New York City 48

Source: Parliamentary Library