Police Minister has got his gang-busting squad, now he has to deliver the goods on gangs

Strike Force Raptor specialist anti motorcycle gang unit with the New South Wales Police force. Photo / Facebook

Opinion

EDITORIAL

The announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and Police Minister Mark Mitchell about the new gang disrupting unit will tick many boxes for the coalition Government’s constituency. It’s tough talking, it’s direct policing and it makes perfect sense to the majority of people who voted in the National-Act-NZ First parties.

Mitchell has also spoken about his desire for the reinstatement of a downtown Auckand team police base. He can’t order that because that comes under the purview of Coster, but if the boss wants something, the boss usually gets it and while Coster is not a direct employee of Mitchell’s, there’s no doubt there will be discussions happening at Police Headquarters in Wellington about the possibility – more like probability – of re-establishing a police station in the Auckland CBD to combat city crime.

This Government has also promised 500 new frontline, boots-on-the ground officers in this first three-year term. That’s going to be a bit harder to deliver than signing off on a new police base, because of low recruitment numbers, and of course officers - both male and female, and often husband and wife teams - eyeing the money and opportunities in Australia.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster at a press coference on gangs at the Auckland Police Headquarters in Auckland. Photo / Ben Dickens

Last month, 20 officers left for Australia. That’s not many when you look at the 10,549 sworn police officers and the 4839 unsworn staff who make up the New Zealand police department. But if 20 were to leave every month for the next 12 months, then it would make a serious dent in the frontline numbers, adding to the New Zealand recruitment problems.

The Australian recruitment has also cranked up a gear with states now offering New Zealand officers the same ranks, with huge salary increases, after just three months of training at their police colleges.

Hundreds of gang members gather for William ‘Bird’ Hines’ funeral in Foxton. A large amount of police were deployed. Photo / Bevan Conley

The incentives to move to Australia are starting to weigh heavily on career New Zealand officers, frustrated at a number of issues, including low pay for the difficult and dangerous job they do, lack of what some perceive as hierarchal support, a judicial system which weighs the concerns of the offender sometimes, and more often, as much as that of the victim, dealing daily with mentally unwell people and watching gang members flick them the bird while they are riding past on their shiny $50,000 motorbikes.

So Mitchell has a big job to deliver, not only for the thousands who voted for his party, but more importantly the 11,000-plus people in the police, who want leadership and not theatrics.