Minister of Police Out of Touch with the Realities

George Hawkins comments about the Police being fully resourced shows a concerning lack of understanding when it comes to the realities of everyday policing in New Zealand.

Ex Police Sergeant and Leader of Destiny NZ, Richard Lewis, revealed a worrying lack of staff in New Zealand’s busiest region – South Auckland.

“I managed a squad at South Auckland Emergency Response Group. We could barely allocate one crew of two officers per suburb, which included Otara, Otahuhu, Manurewa, Papatoetoe, Mangere, Papakura and Howick. We were also responsible for policing Manukau and Pakuranga - with no staff to allocate”, he said.

“One serious incident had the potential to deplete your whole squad for a 10 hour shift, this places both the public and the police at serious risk”, he added.

Destiny NZ Policy demands an immediate and significant increase in Police numbers at street level and CIB, with an emphasis on recovering and retaining experienced personnel.

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