There are 104 fewer police officers now than there were when National came into Government.

“Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Police Minister Mark Mitchell are allocating police they haven’t even managed to hire yet,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said.

“The Police Association has been tracking the progress on the government’s promised increase of 500 police, and they’ve been going backwards.

“The actual number of police as at 26 August 2024 was 10,107. Their baseline figure from 27 November 2023 is 10,211 – that’s a decrease of 104 police.

“This means they’re needing to hire another 604 police officers in order to increase the number of police by 500.

“This comes off the back of National making an announcement this week saying crime in Auckland CBD is down, when according to the police victimisation time and place data across all of Auckland it is up; and having set a target of reducing victims of violent crime by 20,000 but the number of victims is up by 30,000.

“Cabinet has also agreed to transfer the power to make changes to our firearms laws – including what is defined as a prohibited weapon – to a gun lobbyist.

“It’s becoming clearer that National’s rhetoric on law and order doesn’t match reality,” Ginny Andersen said.

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