Bashing Police Uplifting for Crims

New Zealand First says the lack of an increase in the Police budget for the fifth straight year shows that the Government is completely out of touch with reality.

Spokesperson for Police Richard Prosser says the Government has started to believe its own propaganda about falling crime rates, and is under-funding the police.

“Even their claim that the police budget is being maintained at last year’s level doesn’t stack up,” says Mr Prosser.

“When you look at the numbers, it’s actually been cut by $45 million. That’s bashing the police, the criminals will be cheering.

“Crime rates are not falling, they’re increasing. What is happening is that people simply aren’t reporting crime because they know the police don’t have the manpower or resources to deal with it.

“The Government has its head in the sand about this and is pretending that technology is a substitute for boots on the ground. A smartphone can’t arrest anyone or investigate a burglary.

“Five years without additional funding for pay rises is probably why so many of our finest are leaving in disgust and moving to Australia where they do pay the cops properly.

“New Zealand First will prioritise spending on the police, we will recruit enough additional officers to give us parity per capita with Australia, we will give them the tools they need, and we will pay our Police adequately to reflect the service they provide to all of us,” says Mr Prosser.

ENDS

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