Aging cop cars another concern for Police

The current state of the Police road fleet is further evidence of how budget cuts are having an impact on frontline policing, Labour’s Police spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says.

Material released under the Official Information Act shows 71 police vehicles failed their warrant of fitness tests in the last year.

“Given 58 vehicles have more than 200,000km on the odometer and almost 100 are more than 10 years old that is hardly surprising.

“These cars are crucial to police carrying out their work. Officers’ safety should not be compromised, yet these figures suggest police are walking a fine line in that regard.

“The number of police vehicles has already been reduced by more than 100 since this Government took office, so it is doubly concerning to learn that dozens more have been off the road or out of use because of warrant of fitness issues.

“It follows recent moves to reassign members of organised crime squads to fight child abuse.

“Police Minister Anne Tolley might like to pretend her budget cuts are having no effect. Unfortunately for her the facts confirm they are.”

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