Auckland Transport buses painted like police cars in $120,000 recruitment drive

• Police spent nearly $120,000 on Auckland buses painted like cop cars for recruitment ads.
• Commissioner Richard Chambers aims to recruit 500 new officers, with applications at a 10-year high.
• A new training campus in Albany will help recruits who can’t relocate to Wellington for training.

Police have spent nearly $120,000 on adverts emblazoned across Auckland Transport buses painted like cop cars.

Five double-decker buses have been wrapped in the police livery and will be driven around Auckland for the next three months as part of a recruitment advertising campaign.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said it was part of his target of 500 new officers.

“Auckland has always been a key recruitment area for us, and we are keen to be highly visible and advertise far and wide. We know that the buses are ideal for reaching the whole of the city,” Chambers said.

An Auckland Transport bus painted with the New Zealand Police livery in a recruitment drive ad campaign. Photo / New Zealand

“This campaign represents another positive step towards delivering our target of 500 additional officers. These newly decorated double-decker buses seat 500 people, which is exactly the number we want to recruit.”

Police have spent $119,800 to wrap the buses in the adverts, which included the printing, installation and 12 weeks of media advertising.

Chambers said recruitment efforts continued to ramp up and applications for police college were trending upwards. There had been a spike in applications this year, he said, with total applications the highest in 10 years.

It comes after a new training campus opened at Albany, which Chambers said, “will also help make a career with the police a reality for those who cannot relocate to Wellington for the full 20-week course”.

“That campus is set to welcome its first intake from the start of July. That is a significant development in our recruitment and training,” the commissioner said.

Currently, recruits spend 20 weeks training at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) in Porirua and can only visit home on weekends.

Chambers said: “Having more officers on the beat is important for deterring crime, enforcing the law and increasing feelings of public safety. We’re committed to delivering on the 500 target.”

However, police did flag challenges in meeting the 500 target within two years in April, citing a lower applicant success rate and more people leaving the police.

The Government had committed to the 500 target, above the 10,211 police employed when its coalition agreements were signed in late 2023.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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