11 August 2005

Greens support pledge's community policing focus

The Green Party supports Labour's commitment to more community police, Police Spokesperson Keith Locke says.

Labour's fifth election pledge was announced this morning.

"Community policing is the only effective way to deal with youth crime.

"We've got to stop the kids graduating from petty offences to major crime, which requires the cops to work closely with families and their communities.

"The Onehunga High incident this week, where young thugs attacked teachers, shows we have some distance to go.

"Youth crime could be tackled better if the police were more ethnically representative. New recruitment could focus on getting more sworn officers from migrant communities.

"Positive policing can also be more closely linked to community programmes, so kids can get appropriate and effective education to give them some direction in life."

"Reducing the crime rate also requires a serious focus on eliminating child poverty."

ENDS

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