By ANNE BESTON
Crime-solving in Auckland is in crisis, with overworked detectives forced to ignore a backlog of almost 400 cases, says a confidential report.
The internal report, written by a senior Auckland detective and obtained by the Herald, says Criminal Investigation Branch staff are working under an "intolerable workload," too afraid to speak out for fear of jeopardising careers.
The report also says CIB staff are "often publicly humiliated in the courts and in front of complainants and victims they are trying to assist" because they do not have the experience necessary to do the job.
CIB is the branch that investigates murder, rape and aggravated robbery as well as more minor crimes such as burglary.
The report says Auckland has 23 fewer detectives than in 1992.
In the past two years 21 detective sergeants had left the city district - a 95 per cent turnover.
The district now has vacancies for 11 detectives and four detective sergeants.
The report says the problem of recruitment and retention in the CIB is "getting to crisis point where there are critical risks for the district and police as a whole."
One Auckland detective, who did not want to be named, said he was dealing with five serious cases, one a murder, which would normally be the workload of a detective with at least five years' more experience.
"It's difficult to explain to people who are not in the police just how bad it is. It's at crisis-level, basically."
He said that among the 400 cases yet to have staff allocated to them were serious crimes such as rape and child abuse.
It was embarrassing to tell burglary victims that their complaint would not be investigated because staff were just too stretched.
Although research for the report was done in January, the situation had probably got worse since then, said the detective.
He agreed with the report's finding that senior detective work no longer had the status it once held, with long hours and high stress levels taking a toll on family life.
The report says there is big pressure on junior staff who are shouldering major criminal investigations for which they do not have the necessary training or experience.
When these inquiries and files are picked apart in court hearings, staff are publicly humiliated in front of the complainants and victims.
Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Fitzharris said the issues raised in the report were being taken seriously and would be discussed at a key meeting of senior police staff in Wellington.
"It's an internal issue and it's one we're keen to deal with. There are issues around the country but some of the issues are specific to Auckland and because of the size of the place that's clearly significant."
Police Association president Greg O'Connor - who told an association conference in Wellington yesterday that staffing was the force's biggest problem - said emphasis in the 1990s on community policing and cutting the road toll had taken money and resources away from crime-fighting, and had undermined the status of hard-graft detective work.
He had heard a former police commissioner refer to CIB staff as "dinosaurs."
"It's the legacy of a decade where the academics were constantly telling us there was more to policing than catching crooks.
"The result of that philosophy is now being seen."
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