Clayton COSGROVE

Law and Order Spokesperson
Cuts to police budget endanger progress

Savage cuts to police funding in this year’s Budget will undermine the progress that is finally being made in terms of reducing the level of crime in New Zealand, says Labour’s Law and Order spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove.

“The police are to be congratulated for achieving a 6.7 percent drop in total recorded crime in 2010,” Clayton Cosgrove said.

“But around the country senior police staff are right now having to grapple with demands to make drastic cuts to the police budget for the 2011-12 financial year.

“The progress in terms of a reduced crime rate can be traced back to the huge increases in police funding and police numbers that were instigated by Labour in the 2005-08 term of government,” Clayton Cosgrove said.

“The increases in police numbers have slowed markedly under National, and the cuts that will be announced in May’s budget --- as part of John Key’s so-called zero budget --- will undermine the progress that we have been making.

“I feel really sorry for the police who have done a wonderful job. Their jobs will become much more difficult from now on, particularly in the majority of police districts that will actually lose staff.

“The demand for cuts this year are believed to be more savage than any since we have seen since the 1990s when National was last in government.”

ENDS

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