Almost 250 police jobs cut, Commissioner Andrew Coster promises no impact to front line

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster promises the proposed cuts won't impact frontline policing. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Almost 250 roles within police are set to go as part of a proposal to cut costs but Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is promising it would mean no adverse impacts to frontline policing.

It comes amid the Government’s drive to boost the visibility of frontline officers in communities, which are facing an uptick in retail crime according to recent police data.

Coster, in a statement today, confirmed a proposal had been shared with staff that “focuses on making savings by reducing employee roles”.

It proposed to cut 248 roles and create 78, meaning a net reduction of 170 roles. Of the 248 roles, 128 were currently vacant.

Coster said it was estimated the proposed cuts would free up $53 million over four years. However, he clarified the true figure wouldn’t be known until October when final decisions were expected to be made.

“The proposal focuses on reducing roles in corporate functions, meaning there will be no reduction in frontline services to our communities,” he said.

A separate voluntary redundancy process was also run until November, but it wasn’t open to frontline officers.

“This will help achieve further savings in some cases and reassignment opportunities for affected staff in other cases.”

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says no frontline officers will be able to participate in the voluntary redundancy process. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Consultation on the proposal would last three weeks. Police declined the Herald’s request to interview Coster to explain the nature and predicted impact of the proposed cuts.

Police Association president Chris Cahill told the Herald the 260-page proposal document was comprehensive.

He said his priority was to support members impacted under the proposal but noted at this stage, it didn’t appear the reduction in roles would have an immediate impact on frontline services.

However, Cahill said most back-office roles contributed to frontline policing and as such, the association would be looking for any potential impact under the proposal.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who had led the Government’s efforts to cut public spending, had regularly committed to protecting frontline services from cuts. Some, such as Opposition politicians, had questioned Willis’ assurance, particularly regarding cuts to Oranga Tamariki.

The coalition Government had a strong focus on reducing crime levels. Several pieces of legislation it had introduced sought to decrease more visible crime types and intimidating behaviour. Reducing violent crime and youth crime were among the Government’s primary public sector targets.

While some success had been achieved, internal police data recently showed retail crime had increased 17% in the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

The data, released by the Dairy and Business Owners’ Group sourced from policedata.nz, showed there had been 8207 more theft and related offences such as shoplifting, 66 more cases of acts intended to cause injury, such as assaults, and 17 more cases of sexual assaults and related offences over the same time.

Shoplifting and theft spiked to 49,505 cases, up from 41,298 last year, and 1670 assault cases were attended by police, an increase from 1604.

There was also a total of 106 sexual assaults, up from 89, according to the data.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.