Police seek new blood

Police plan to recruit people as young as 18 as they look to build their numbers to meet the Government's proposed target of 1000 extra officers in the next three years.

Recruiters are also leaving for Britain in a bid to entice 100 experienced officers to join the force in New Zealand.

Although police had always been able to recruit officers as young as 18, the average age of trainees in the past two or three years had been about 28 or 29, said police spokesman Jon Neilson.

A campaign was now starting to actively encourage people in the 18-23 age bracket to join, he said.

"The age is not being lowered. It's [always] been there. All we're doing is saying that we are going to do a round of recruiting campaigning for that sort of school-leaver or tertiary, 18 to 23, 25."

Mr Neilson said potential younger recruits would still need to meet the police criteria on psychological and physical testing.

A tight labour market was one reason police were targeting younger people, and more staff were needed to match existing attrition rates besides meeting the Government's recruitment targets.

Mr Neilson said a recruiting team was leaving for Britain this week.

"They will be interviewing a short list of about 200 and looking for about 100 to come to New Zealand."

Police would be watching closely to see if younger officers required increased supervision.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said he himself had joined the police as a teenaged recruit 30 years ago.

"The job's a little more complicated than it was then," he said.

"But provided the proper supervision is in place - that is essential if we're going to recruit younger people and the association is not opposed to it."

By the time the recruits went through training, they would be no younger than 19 when they hit the beat.

"There are a lot of very mature 19-year-olds."

Mr O'Connor said recruiting officers young could be vitally important.

"While it's good to go away and get some life experience, the reality is a lot of people never come back."

But National Party MP Tony Ryall is unimpressed by the increased focus on younger police.

He told One News: "I don't think most New Zealanders will think it's credible to ask an 18-year-old to go and sort out a quite intense domestic violence situation."

- NZPA