Free rein for fraudsters no surprise

Reports of Auckland fraudsters being let off the hook because police are too overworked to prosecute them comes as little surprise, says National's Police spokesman Tony Ryall.

"Earlier this month, National revealed there were hundreds of "unallocated" fraud files piling up in Auckland City and Counties-Manukau police stations which the Police Minister has tried to explain away as "warranting further inquiry".

"This is nonsense when it is obvious these files have been allocated but no one has any time to work on them.

"Week after week we hear stories of Auckland police being stretched to the limit trying to cope with a crushing workload. We hear of car crash victims being told to do their own police work, and now we have fraud victims being told to use private eyes.

"When will George Hawkins finally get the message that the Auckland police force is in crisis, not doing "pretty well" as he so blindly believes," says Mr Ryall.

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