Police chiefs scrabble over recruits

The 186 new staff are additional to the 95 constables who graduated from the Police College in Porirua last week. Picture / Mark Mitchell

The heads of each of Auckland's three police districts will have to fight it out for their share of 186 new recruits due to arrive in the next year.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad yesterday announced where each of the 458 new staff - the first of 1250 due to join the police within the next three years - would be based.

Each of the country's 12 policing districts were allocated their share of staff, based on need.

However, no specific numbers were given for the Counties Manukau, Auckland City and North Shore/Waitakere districts.

Instead the Auckland region as a whole was allocated 186 staff, 32 of whom will be non-sworn and work as crime scene attendants.

It is understood the heads of each district will meet within the next few weeks and decide amongst themselves where the staff should go.

Counties Manukau, with one of the worst police-to-population ratios in the country, is the district that most urgently needs frontline staff. But all three districts need reinforcements.

The Auckland Metropolitan Crime and Operations Support group will also be fighting for a share of Auckland's allotment of new staff and the head of that group will join the three district commanders at the meeting.

The new staff, who will be employed in the 2006/2007 financial year, are additional to the 95 new constables who graduated from the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua last week.

Of those recruits 15 recruits were destined for Auckland and 18 for Counties Manukau.

Counties Manukau has a police to population ratio of 608 people to every police officer. In the Eastern part of the district, which includes Otara, the ratio is one officer for every 1454 people. The national average is one to 556.

Concerns have been raised by opposition parties about the ability to recruit and train an extra 1250 staff during the next three years, as promised by the Government.

Police Association spokesman Greg O'Connor said it was "interesting" that Auckland was the only region where the staff numbers were not broken down by districts.

"I think it puts quite a bit of pressure on the Auckland districts because we know that they are all desperately short of frontline police.

"Everyone of them have probably got a good case to have all the staff."

Mr O'Connor said while staff were needed all around the country Auckland was most in need. The fact that only 186 of the 458 staff were heading to Auckland could reflect the region's recruitment difficulties.