12. SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
Does she have confidence in police management; if so, why?
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Police) Link to this
Yes; I am confident that police management are providing leadership and direction, and, where areas requiring improvement are identified, are taking action to address those areas.
Is it acceptable that an offender who absconded while on home detention and had a warrant out for his arrest tried to hand himself into a police station a week later but was told to go away because he was not on the computer, only to allegedly brutally assault an 83-year-old woman a month later?
Does she have confidence in the 111 emergency system, when it took four calls for police to respond to two distressed teenage girls who had run to a nearby house after being held against their will by King Cobra gang members, only for the patrol car to turn up an hour later and after the girls had resorted to escaping by taxi?
I am always saddened to hear stories where there has been a failure in the 111 system, but I say to the member that huge improvements have been made in the 111 system since the review that was undertaken by my predecessor, George Hawkins. With the investment in terms of funding and staff that has gone into it, we now see a much-improved service from the 111 call line. It is unacceptable when it does not work, but there are times when errors are made.
Is she concerned that police have claimed that they were not aware of warrants to arrest Graeme Burton until 3 January this year, when they failed to pick up the two warrants issued on 22 December last year and then failed to act on the warrant to recall Burton issued on 29 December that had been hand-delivered to the Wellington Central Police Station?
Yes, and the police advise me that they recognise there are some failings in the current systems associated with the transfer of information between agencies. These issues are being addressed by the police and the agencies, and I believe they will ensure this is not something that will happen in the future.
Why did police refuse to provide affidavits to back up their claims to the Department of Corrections about Burton’s criminal activities while on parole when they already had sufficient evidence to raid his house at the end of November, when it is the Parole Board that decides whether there are sufficient grounds for recall on the basis of whether he posed a risk to public safety, rather than whether he had committed any crimes?