Simon Power MP
National Party Law & Order Spokesman

26 March 2006

Worrying claims by burglary victims

National Party Law and Order spokesman Simon Power says reports today confirm many of his fears about crime statistics and public confidence in the police.

”When burglary victims are being told not to bother reporting a crime unless they need it for insurance purposes, something is going very wrong,” says Mr Power.

“It’s been six months since Annette King took up her post claiming that her number one priority was to restore confidence in the police. Six months later, nothing has happened.”

Mr Power says a UMR poll showed that in 1996, 78% of the public rated the police as doing a good job. By 2005, that had fallen to 59%.

And in December a survey in Police News 96% of frontline police said they were under-resourced.

“There’s been too much talk and not enough action on the police recruiting front,” says Mr Power.

“Under funding of frontline police, the 111 crisis, police revenue gathering, slow response times - all these issues and more have been incredibly badly handled by Labour.

“So far Annette King’s provided no evidence to show her stewardship promises to be any better,” says Mr Power.

ENDS

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