Much in the manner of teachers and health workers, the Police Association is skilled at arousing public concern when its members' interests are not being met at taxpayer expense. Brimstone and bluster greet any examination of the department's costs. The public, of course, is receptive to the association's pleading. Generally, we do not begrudge what it costs to fully support those who undertake some of society's really dirty work. In the eyes of most people, the police force is, therefore, the last place the Government should look to for savings.
This sentiment has not deterred the Minister of Police. George Hawkins is angry that the police budget is overspent by $20 million. This year, he raised his concern about spending practices with the Auditor-General. His main target then was poor management practices among senior police. He cited the shifting of a headquarters from a five-year-old building in Papakura to a flashy "glass mirror-windowed" building in Otahuhu. Such wasteful spending, said Mr Hawkins, was jeopardising the safety of frontline officers, some of whom needed new cars and radios.
Few would quibble with such an assessment, or with Mr Hawkins' long-standing antipathy to those who "spend up with other people's money." But now the minister has turned his attention to those same frontline officers. First, he questioned why recruits should receive a salary and have their student fees paid while training. Why anyone would want to pay for the privilege of training to do one of the most dangerous and stressful of jobs was a question he doesn't seem to have asked himself.
This week, most absurdly, dozens of officers have been ordered to return their cellphones. And, as part of the same cost-cutting drive, Auckland police motorway units were told to park during rush-hours to save on fuel.
Such measures can only be counterproductive to efficient and cost-effective policing. The instruction to conserve petrol by using cars less frequently suggests the return of Mr Plod - and a plodding response to crime. And the cellphone recall overlooks the importance of that tool in emergencies, especially when criminals are able to intercept the police radio network. Officers without cellphones could often be more in the dark than those they are trying to apprehend.
A spokesman for Mr Hawkins attributes the recall of cellphones to their misuse. One officer in the Counties-Manukau district apparently used one to ring a sex line. But surely it would be better to take strict action against isolated cases of abuse than to order such a wide-reaching and demoralising measure. Crime has never been more difficult to combat, and officers on the beat need and deserve all the help they can get. Anything that damages their operational capability is misguided.
The Police Association says the minister is labouring under the misapprehension that the force is awash with money and that wastage is everywhere. Somewhat alarmingly, however, its president adds: "He might have been right five years ago - he is not right now." The association was, in fact, saying much the same sort of thing five years ago.
At that time, it was protesting against the Minister of Police's decision to advertise inside and outside the service for the next police commissioner. The Government's sole aim then was to extract best value from the service. Before that - and subsequently - Governments have tried, and failed at least in part, to impose greater budgetary discipline on the force.
It is apparent now that the police are paying a heavy price for the $107 million Incis fiasco. This round of cost-cutting must relate to the police commitment to pay back the Government for a computer system it does not have. Mr Hawkins seems determined to remind all and sundry of the money wasted in that debacle.
But the minister might remember that a past Government approved that project, then failed to monitor it adequately. This Government has inherited a share of the blame. It is time to acknowledge that role and take on part of the financial burden. It will be money well spent if it prevents cost-cutting exercises that turn the police into a laughing stock.
<i>Editorial:</i> Don't make police a laughing stock
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