Labour to blame for slump in police confidence

“Labour has shattered public confidence in the police,” says National Party Law & Order spokesman Tony Ryall.

He is commenting on a poll out today that shows 62% of those polled were less than confident in the police.

The poll also shows that 68% of people believe the police put too much emphasis on traffic policing and not enough on investigating other crime.

“This is very sad, but not surprising.

“National has been saying all along that we need less emphasis on revenue gathering and more on crime, but George Hawkins has continued to ignore that.

“And now, the public is saying it has had enough.”

The latest poll follows hard on the heels of one last week which showed public confidence in the police had dropped from 71% to 53%.

“I know the public still trusts individual police men and women. The vast majority of police are fine family people doing their best for our communities.

“Police have a hard-earned high reputation. They shield society against crime, often putting their own lives at risk and they deserve better than the Government is giving.

“But Helen Clark and George Hawkins have shattered the public’s confidence in the police by their attitude and their policies.

“The 111 debacle, the quota ticketing system, and the obvious shortage of frontline staff have wrecked the public confidence, but this is not the fault of the police. They are simply doing their job under impossible conditions.

“This Prime Minister and her government are directly to blame for this,” says Mr Ryall.

National will boost frontline police numbers and abolish parole for violent and repeat offenders.

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