27 March 2002
The Government's hasty announcement this morning on Auckland policing is a knee-jerk reaction which will make no
difference to Auckland residents, says National's Police spokesman, Tony Ryall.
"Auckland is losing experienced police officers hand over fist, and the Government's answer is to plug that gap with
18-year-old cadets.
"That's hardly going to stop the boy racers on Queen Street, or fix the problem of burgled Mt Albert residents waiting
25 hours for a cop to turn up.
"De facto police are simply no substitute for frontline police, but George Hawkins can't see that. He refuses to address
the problem of experienced police officers leaving in droves.
"The Government would be better off heeding the advice of the Auckland Mayors and spending $2.5 million providing
Auckland-based police training for Auckland recruits.
"Even the Police's own projections show that today's announcement on numbers will make no difference. Auckland City was
already short of 60 sworn staff at the end of January and documents show the region will still be 30 short at the end of
June," says Mr Ryall.
Ends