Simon Power
National Party Law & Order Spokesman

13 July 2006

Police recruitment campaign already on Plan B

The Government is only 13 days into its recruitment campaign for 1,000 extra frontline police and already it is on Plan B, says National’s Law & Order spokesman, Simon Power.

He is commenting on an admission by Police Human Resources Manager Wayne Annan that the number of police recruits is already below target and that they are moving to a ‘fallback plan’.

“This is astounding – they are below target after only 13 days.

“They have lowered the physical standards required of new recruits and they still can’t reach their target, so now they are on Plan B – chasing school leavers – and that is a very real concern.

“If they are going to hire young people they need experienced officers to train and oversee them, but when 382 sworn officers left within the past year, that pool of experience is fast disappearing.

“We have one of the best police forces in the world because we have some of the highest entry standards, and we must not let those standards drop.

“The recruitment plan is in real trouble, and at this rate it won’t be long before they are on to Plan C, D, and E. And who knows what hare-brained schemes they will contain.

“The best way to attract new recruits is to have the police themselves talking about what a great career it is, but this Government has allowed the image of the police, and police morale, to sink, and both must be raised before they will have any hope of slowing the attrition rate.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media