Police Minister Mark Mitchell takes questions at the Police Association conference held today in Wellington. Video / Mark Mitchell
Some police union delegates are concerned new gang and public safety policing units are leaving some urban and rural regions under-staffed and leading to an increase in crime.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell was confronted by the concerns while taking questions at the Police Association conference today in Wellington where he also defended his Government’s plan to suffocate gangs while admitting to “sleepless nights” thinking about another police officer losing their life following the death of Matthew Hunt.
In a short speech, Mitchell summarised the coalition Government’s new “direction of travel” for police including new laws allowing police to target gang members through a public gang patch ban and non-consorting orders.
Mitchell claimed the new laws, set to be enforced from November 21, had been received well by police area commanders.
He also cited “positive feedback” about public safety-focused community beat teams deployed in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch which had been staffed by pulling officers from other areas.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he didn't want to see another officer lose their life like Matthew Hunt. Photo / Mark Mitchell
While Mitchell fielded questions, a delegate from Auckland City described re-deployment as “robbing Peter to pay Paul” and had created “crime displacement” as some areas were left under-staffed while beat team staff were “ring-fenced” and couldn’t be used for other means.
A delegate from Counties Manukau referenced a jump in retail crime incidents, saying it was “probably partly because our staff are pulled into Auckland City”.
A representative from South Canterbury said there was an “increased fearfulness that rural [policing] is being hung out to dry” as officers were re-deployed into urban areas.
Mitchell acknowledged the concerns but said it was “nothing new” for police resources to be distributed according to the Government’s priorities. He said police hadn’t advised him of issues of crime displacement, but later told journalists he would be asking police about it.
“In a perfect world, we’d have 20,000 frontline police officers but it’s not a perfect world,” he said to delegates.
The number of frontline officers was also raised by one delegate in light of the Government’s commitment to grow the constabulary workforce by 500 to 10,711 by November next year.
The delegate noted the current workforce numbered less than the 10,211 officers employed when the Government was formed.
Mitchell told delegates the Government was on track to meet the 500-officer target. He later explained the “pause in recruitment” could be linked to a four-week extension to officer training.
A Palmerston North delegate said there was a fear among officers that police’s gang disruption units - part of the Government’s efforts to crack down on gangs - would mean other crimes that had been historical priorities for police like family harm would be forgotten.
Acknowledging New Zealand had “embarrassing” levels of family harm, Mitchell said he’d discussed last night with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith how best to approach family violence.
He believed targeting gangs would help reduce family harm, claiming “a lot” of family violence related to gang families.
Mitchell stood by the new powers the Government had given police, saying his “sleepless nights” contemplating the prospect of another officer dying had convinced him of their necessity.
“I honestly believe that to make our police officers safer on the front line, we have to get on top of the gang problem because they are growing, they are arming themselves, they are prepared to use those firearms.”
Police Association president Chris Cahill wants more clarity on how the new gang powers will be enforced. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It was still unclear exactly how police would enforce the powers such as the patch ban. Mitchell said police could use their discretion on the best approach depending on the threat posed by attempting to strip a gang member of their patch.
While Mitchell claimed the public understood what the Government wanted to achieve through the powers, Police Association president Chris Cahill said enforcement details were still “murky” and should be explained.
“I think the public want to understand how it’s going to work.”
On re-deployed staff, Cahill accepted it had been a challenge while recruitment had progressed but expected that to improve as police increased the number of recruits it trained.
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 NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
