Police districts’ $24.5m underspend while burglaries unsolved

Police districts have underspent by over $24m in three years while the latest statistics show they are solving just 9.3 per cent of burglaries, says Labour’s Police spokesman Stuart Nash.

“Police districts across the country haven’t spent their full budgets, despite non-resolution rates of crimes being unacceptably high. The worst are the three Auckland districts that have underspent by $14m, despite having the most burgled suburbs in the country with a resolution rate of only 7.2 per cent.

“Burglary resolution rates are down below 10 percent and 86 per cent of Police Association members believe that front line officers are underfunded. Something’s not right here.

“That $24m would make a real difference in resourcing at a time when the hard working front line staff are stretched to the limit.

“It’s madness that district commanders in these areas are carrying a surplus at such a difficult time. The Auckland City district underspent by $6.8m, which defies belief at a time of a very stretched thin blue line.

“Auckland isn’t the only region to underspend over this time. Wellington underspent on its budget by over $2.5m and, somewhat surprisingly, Christchurch $2.6m. Underspending on an allocated budget at a time when crime resolution rates are falling at an alarming rate seems more like poor management than fiscal prudence,” says Stuart Nash.

ENDS

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