KEY POINTS:
Fresh details have emerged of problems with police recruits following a damning internal report raising concerns about dangerously low training standards.
Information released to the Herald on Sunday shows 64 charges have been laid against recruits in the past two years, ranging in seriousness from criminal to unprofessional.
It follows the release of a report that Police National Headquarters tried to keep secret - revealing the concerns of senior police college trainer and psychologist Senior Sergeant Iain Saunders.
Saunders wrote to police bosses saying acceptance of sub-standard rookie cops could put their colleagues and the public at risk.
Some recruits took three attempts to pass the entrance test. One had to be taught "how to write letters of the alphabet by drawing within bubble letters in the same style as a 5-year-old".
The report will add weight to criticism that the standard of police recruits has been lowered so the Government can find enough to fulfil its pledge of 1000 more officers by 2009.
Meanwhile, information released to the Herald On Sunday under the Official Information Act reveals police investigated more than 60 allegations of misconduct against recruits at the police college in the past year.
Charges include assaults against fellow recruits and police officers, attempted burglary, academic dishonesty, bullying, exhibiting offensive material, fraud and failing to pay a taxi fare.
Police refused to reveal any more detail about the infringements because it might identify the recruits.
Both the report and the investigations have provoked outrage among opposition police spokespeople. National's Chester Borrows described the report as "amazing". "It unfairly reflects upon the huge majority of police who do the job and are worthy of the uniform to put people in uniform who can't read the alphabet."
He regarded the allegations against recruits as "worrying".
"If you are going to drop standards in order to fill the bill, then there are going to be exposures. The calibre (of recruits) isn't going to meet public expectations or the high standards of the past."
Police Minister Annette King has said it is not her job to screen recruits.
"It's just disgusting that she would try to slide out of responsibility for the standards of recruiting if she is the minister," Borrows said.
NZ First police spokesman Ron Mark said he had been aware "for years" that there were concerns within the police about lowering standards.
"I have heard anecdotal evidence from various officers... They were taking on recruits who didn't meet the standards required. I have heard of communication skills so poor that evidence had to be retaken by other officers. That's crucial."
Mark said efforts to recruit a more ethnically diverse police force could have led to a lowering in standards. "It might well involve attempts to achieve an ethnic balance or gender balance and they need to be upfront about it."
Police Association president Greg O'Connor agreed there were issues around language, which could be at the heart of the report's accusations of lower educational standards.
But while admitting communication problems could have safety implications, O'Connor said the benefits of a multi-lingual force outweighed the drawbacks.
"There always needs to be a balance. I know as a cop, at 3am when I'm trying to sort out a stabbing at a karaoke bar where 90 per cent of people don't speak English - I want someone with me who speaks the language.
"In any one day in Wellington or South Auckland you might encounter five or six languages. It's not only for purposes of political correctness. What we do damn well need is people who speak these languages."
Police HQ is remaining tight-lipped on the report. In a written statement, acting commissioner Lyn Provost said: "I would like to reassure the public that no one leaves the Royal NZ Police College without having passed the tests. There are also comprehensive workplace assessments for the first two years of their career."
Police HQ human resources manager Wayne Annan said that of the roughly 700 police recruited in the past 12 months, around 3.2 per cent were Asian.
He said recruiting from a range of ethnic groups was a fact of life as the population grew more diverse.
At a glance
* A report says training standards and language skills within the police could be putting public safety at risk.
* The Royal New Zealand Police College is accused of accepting substandard rookie cops, some of whom take three attempts to pass the entrance test.
* One recruit did not even know the alphabet, says the report.
* The goal of an ethnically diverse force could be behind some of the issues, but the Police Association says the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
