Top cop failing to keep public safe, claims Labour police spokesman Stuart Nash

Police's Eastern District Commander Sandra Venables (right) is refuting claims by Napier MP Stuart Nash (left) that she is failing to keep the community safe.

Labour's police spokesman Stuart Nash says he has lost confidence in Napier's police district commander, claiming there has been a "hollowing out of policing" under her watch.

In an opinion piece for Hawkes Bay Today, the Napier MP said he struggled to see how district commander Sandra Venables was keeping communities safe or executing proper strategies to ensure police had resources to fight crime and solve cases.

"I have to admit, this is a very big call, but I feel that the concerns of our diverse communities are not being taken seriously at all," he said.

In response, Ms Venables said police structures evolved to meet community needs and police were focused more strongly on prevention activities.

She said greater emphasis and resources had been put into preventing and responding to serious and violent crime as well as child protection, young people and family violence, which remained the biggest risk areas for local communities.

This resulted in 15 new positions being created in the past year across these areas, over and above the district's previous staffing allocation.

Mr Nash said changes in Napier policing, including the transition from a station which could house 81 staff and had cells to a satellite station which could hold 41, and the depletion of community policing capacity, was "not policing excellence at all".

"This whole hollowing out of policing in Napier is a misguided strategy that isn't serving the people of Napier, or the wider Bay, well at all."

The balance between traditional and community policing in Napier had "dramatically changed", he said, to the point where he thought neither was being done well - evidenced by the closing or downscaling of community stations, and "the slow winding down of constables on the beat".

He connected this to a reduction of burglaries solved in 2015 - three of 76 in Clive, 12 of 202 in Taradale, and 112 of 1011 reported to Napier police station.

Police said preventing and resolving burglaries remained a key focus for Hawke's Bay police.

"Considerable resources continue to be dedicated to burglary prevention and investigation as well as the apprehension of those involved," Ms Venables said.

"As a consequence, local resolution rates for property crime are above comparable national figures."

Mr Nash said foot patrols in Hawke's Bay had reduced, with 379 in April 2015 compared to 156 this April.

Ms Venables said visible patrols remained an important part of modern-day policing.

"We police where we need to police," she said.

"We deploy to the demands of the day. There is no reduction or shortage of police in Napier or across Hawke's Bay."

Without cells in Napier, Mr Nash said there were numerous times when no police cars were patrolling the city as police escorted prisoners to Hastings - a process which could take up to an hour. In response, Ms Venables said Eastern District Police remained committed to serving Hawke's Bay's communities and there had been no reduction in staff.

"In Napier alone we are now deploying more staff to conduct front-line and prevention work."