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.

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