10. SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) Link to this
to the Minister of Police
What is the Government doing to put more police on the streets of New Zealand?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Police) Link to this
As promised, the Budget has provided $182.5 million for 600 extra police to help keep New Zealanders safe. Three hundred will go to the Counties-Manukau Police District by the end of next year, and there will be 300 more across the country by the end of 2011. The Government’s top priority has been to increase the number of front-line police, and this funding honours that commitment.
Hon JUDITH COLLINS Link to this
I expect that it will lead to a police service that is better able to respond to crime, and whose visibly increased presence will deter crime in the Counties-Manukau region.
How will other districts in New Zealand benefit from the Government’s commitment to provide extra police?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS Link to this
As a result of this Government’s commitment to achieving a police to population ratio of 1:500, by the end of 2011 another 300 police will have been recruited and will be serving throughout other parts of New Zealand, to boost current district policing requirements.
Hon Clayton Cosgrove Link to this
Why does the Minister continue to claim that 600 extra police are being put on the streets by National, when she knows that approximately 380 of those new police recruits had already been funded by Labour in Budget 2008, which means, in fact, that National’s total contribution over the next 3 years is just 75 more police officers a year—not much more than one police officer per electorate?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS Link to this
As everybody in New Zealand should now know, most of the Labour Government’s policies were not actually funded. These ones are.