18 October 2019

Police Minister Stuart Nash is over inflating how many sworn Police Officers are on the force and he’s misleading New Zealanders, National’s Police spokesperson Brett Hudson says.

“When answering written questions, Stuart Nash confirmed there were 9016 sworn officers employed by New Zealand Police as at 1 November 2017. Yesterday when asked what the total was now, he quoted 9732 sworn officers.

“That is an increase of only 716 officers since this Government took office, not 893 as the Minister has previously claimed.

“New Zealanders can’t trust Stuart Nash. He’s flip flopped on his promise to increase the number of police officers including attrition, and now he’s cherry picking numbers out of thin air.

“The Minister is failing New Zealanders who want safe communities, and he’s failing the Police who have been planning for the extra resources.

“This term of Government has been littered with Labour’s broken promises – KiwiBuild, a capital gains tax, free doctor’s visits, light rail, and now police numbers.

“You cannot trust Labour with the safety of New Zealanders.”

ends

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