The New Zealand Police have been used as a political pawn which is stretching their resources and seriously affecting their ability to address the real causes of crime, such as gang related supply of illicit drugs.

Valuable police time has been invested in enforcing the Arms Act legislative amendments, including attending gun confiscation sessions across the country, and managing the public relations impact that has driven a wedge between the Police and law abiding firearms owners.
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Police Association president, Chris Cahill, addressed their annual conference with his concern regarding the challenges arising from organised crime. He referred to New Zealand’s borders becoming “increasingly porous”. [1]

“The Police have been badly served by this government. When they have been advocating for greater powers to manage the challenges of organised crime, they have been put in the position of having to invest their resources into law abiding citizens,” says New Conservative leader, Leighton Baker.

The law changes that were passed rapidly, with minimal consultation, will require an estimated 30,000 police hours committed to watch law abiding citizens hand in their legally owned firearms. “Our Police deserve more than to be treated as a pawn in the delivery of political objectives, and need to have the foundation of constabulary independence protected,” explains Leighton Baker.

The mission of the New Zealand Police, to make New Zealand the safest country in the world, is made more difficult when Government influence can divert resource and focus as a result of poorly developed and ill-informed legislative changes.

“New Zealand has changed as a result of ill-conceived legislation that has effectively, overnight, turned law abiding citizens into criminals, and our safety is being compromised as Police resources are redirected from frontline activities, such as combating the supply of drugs, to nothing more than a confiscation nursery service,” concludes Mr Baker.

New Conservative has advocated for the immediate stop to the buyback, and the redirecting of police resource to protecting the public by addressing the combined effects of gangs and drugs.

[1]https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/116606797/police-concerned-for-ordinary-kiwis--want-powers-to-hammer-gangs-destroying-families

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