Andrew Little
Leader of the Opposition
MEDIA STATEMENT

13 October 2016

1,000 more police for safer communities

Labour will fund an extra 1,000 Police in its first term to tackle the rising rate of crime, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little.

“Labour will put more cops on the beat to keep our communities safe.

“This will increase the total number of Police Officers to 10,000. We will bring the police to population ratio back below 1 to 500, as it was in 2008.

“Labour will work with Police to ensure the additional officers are concentrated on the crimes that have got out of control under National, and restore community policing.

“Investigations into assaults and, in particular, sexual assaults will get more police resources so criminals who hurt New Zealanders are brought to justice. Burglaries and robberies will be prioritised so that families and businesses are safe.

“Labour will also support Police to stamp out the methamphetamine trade by enabling more resources to break these illegal operations.

“Police are currently stretched far too thinly to stop most criminal activities because National hasn’t given them the funds to do the job properly.

“Year after year, National has failed to increase Police funding to keep up with the growing population. There are fewer Police Officers today than there were two years ago, despite the population growing by 200,000.

“Burglaries are up 32 per cent since August 2014 – that’s an extra 50 burglaries each day. Assaults are up 8 per cent and thefts up 3 per cent, while robberies are up a staggering 66 per cent. Despite promises of a ‘War on P’, that drug is now more readily available and cheaper.

“We will support additional Police with $180 million a year of extra funding. This will mean more Police on the ground with additional support staff, training and the resources required to do what’s become an increasingly dangerous job.

“Labour will support Police and make our communities safer,” says Andrew Little.

Police_numbers_factsheet_12Oct16.pdf
Andrew_Little_SPEECH_TO_THE_POLICE_ASSOCIATION_CONFERENCE_13_10_2016.pdf

© Scoop Media