Protest over drive for Maori police

A protest call has gone out over police attempts to recruit more Maori officers.

The 12-stop national tour - dubbed Te Haerenga, or the journey - starts today in Whangarei. But the initiative has annoyed some, who claimed it was the first time police had engaged with Maori since last year's so-called "terror raids".

An online call was put out to stage "national mini protests" at each stop.

Police recruiting communications manager James Whitaker said police heard rumours of a protest call. But he said they had worked with iwi over the past few months and had support.

Official figures showed 11 per cent of sworn police staff were Maori.