4. RON MARK (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
Which of the policies released by the Police Association in its document Towards a Safer New Zealand, particularly those regarding youth crime, and police equipment and training, does she agree with, if any?
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Police) Link to this
I support a number of the policies released by the Police Association. Some of its suggestions are pieces of work that are already being progressed or investigated. Examples include the provision for police to issue temporary, on-the-spot domestic violence protection orders, increasing police resources through the confidence and supply agreement with New Zealand First, the introduction of a new digital radio network, and, in particular, the development of a police professional registration model.
Is the Minister aware that the Police Association has now joined New Zealand First in its call for Tasers to be issued to every front-line police officer; and that the association supports the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility, and is calling for police-to-population ratios to be comparable to those in Australia; and can she confirm that the Government’s confidence and supply agreement with New Zealand First has a view to achieving those ratios comparable to those in Australia, by 2010?
I can confirm the confidence and supply agreement as set out by the member. I can confirm also that the Police Association has a lot in common with New Zealand First’s law and order policy. It also has many features that have been implemented by this Government and supported by the Police Association.
Dr Pita SharplesTēnā koe, Madam Speaker. E whakaae ana te Minita ki te Kaiwhakawā Matua o te Kōti Taiohi, ki a Andrew Becroft e mea nei, e waru tekau ō-rau ngā taiohi hara e māuiui ana i te mate waipiro, i te mate kai pōauau rānei, a wai hoki rā, whitu tekau ō-rau kāore i te kura, ā, nō reira, ka whakaaro pea te Minita, he pai ake te ārai i ēnei raruraru i te mahi whakatuma, e ai ki te kōrero a te Uniana mō ngā Pirihimana, he whakaaro whakatoi hara ā ētahi, kia hāmenetia te tamaiti tekau mā rua, tekau mā toru tau rānei te pakeke?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[Does the Minister agree with the Principal Youth Court Judge, Andrew Becroft, that up to 80 percent of teenage offenders have drug and alcohol problems, and 70 percent are not enrolled in any form of education; and would she not consider it more constructive to create front-end solutions, rather than engage in what the Police Association describes as the “ideological prejudices of many of those involved in the debate” to lower the age of criminal responsibility?]
This Government believes that one needs to take a multi-pronged approach to the problem of youth offending. We agree there needs to be work at the front end, which is why Schools Plus is a very important policy for this Government, as are our Modern Apprenticeships and other policies that we have implemented to help young people into jobs training and education. We know that early intervention is needed when young people start to go off the rails, and also that one needs policies to deal with those who become serious offenders. We have taken the approach of addressing the issue on all those fronts.
Chester BorrowsWhy did she tell the media yesterday, in response to the Police Association’s policy launch, that she was open to the trialling of antisocial behaviour orders, whereas when the Rotorua District Council proposed a local bill back in 2006 that would have done just that, Steve Chadwick said she was “not convinced it’s a bill I would want to put my name to”; and also 2 weeks ago she told the Daily Post that the legislation was unlikely to come before the House?
Unfortunately, the member is poorly informed. The trialling of antisocial behaviour orders—a project out of the United Kingdom—has certainly been looked at by this Government in terms of our effective intervention policy, and we said we were prepared to look at the project. However, a bill is being developed in conjunction with the Rotorua District Council and the local police, and it is still being developed. Not only has it been worked through with Steve Chadwick, but I have had several meetings about it. The Government awaits that bill when it is ready for introduction. So I say to the member that whoever is giving him the information is not informing him correctly.
Hone HarawiraTēnā koe Madam Speaker, tēnā tātou te Whare; ki te Minita, e whakaae ana ia ki te Uniana o ngā Pirīhimana mā te pūhiko, arā, te Taser, ka whara tūturu te tangata hara, ā, e mōhio anō hoki ia, kei Amerika, mai i te putanga mai o te pūhiko, nui atu i te toru rau ngā tāngata kua whara tūturu kia mate i te mauhere me te pūhiko, nō reira, ka tautoko tonutia e ia kia uru mai te pūhiko nei ki Aotearoa, ā, he aha te take?
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.]
[Does she agree with the Police Association that Tasers are required to “reliably incapacitate an offender”,and is she aware that since June 2001 more than 300 people in the USA have died following exposure to Tasers during arrest situations; and if so, will she still support the introduction of the Taser into Aotearoa, and why?]
There is no doubt that the New Zealand police need another intervention weapon between pepper spray and shooting someone with a gun. Unfortunately, our New Zealand police do not have anything between those tactical options. The trial of the Taser was carried out in New Zealand to see whether it was applicable to the New Zealand situation, how it would be deployed, and whether it would be deployed, and I await the advice of the Commissioner of Police on that evaluation. I am prepared to look at the introduction of another tactical option if it is going to save the lives of the public, including those who would otherwise have been shot, which has fatal consequences, and also the lives of those persons causing problems, because often those people are in a disturbed state, and the only option has been to shoot those people, which obviously has a fatal outcome.