Police officers from around the country are being sent to Northland on temporary five-week rotations as overrun staff struggle to cope with a surge in violent crime, including nine alleged homicides already this year.
Police did not give the Herald a precise breakdown of the costs of flying and accommodating the extra officers, but said it was expensive, unsustainable and short-term.
The squeeze on resources from the spate of killings means staff have been diverted from other police investigations, according to Northland district commander Superintendent Matt Srhoj.
“Homicides take up huge amounts of resources for a significant number of weeks and it creates difficulty to deal with some of the other matters that also require attention from us,” he told the Herald.
He said police didn’t want to be in a position where they’re struggling to keep up and so “we put the call out for help”.
He said the four most recent homicides, two of which occurred in Kaikohe, happened in quick succession which was “very unusual” and meant some investigative staff were pulled off other jobs.
“We have a high level of adult sexual assault and child protection matters that are a priority for us, and when we have to start drawing on those reserves to assist [with homicide investigations] that’s when we ... put the call out for help,” he said.
Srhoj said the pressure on resources was worst in mid and Far North towns like Kaitāia, Kaikohe, Kerikeri, Moerewa and Kawakawa.
In the past three months, 90 officers from Southland, Canterbury, Wellington, Auckland and the Tasman district have been brought in to boost frontline, investigative and road policing numbers in Northland.
More rotations are possible in the coming months.
He was grateful for the assistance of those who had volunteered to help and said police were starting to make headway on the backlog of cases.
“We’re hugely appreciative of their support.”
However, he accepted the cost of flying staff to Northland and accommodating them was not sustainable long-term.
“It’s certainly not a model that we want to be using all the time. It’s obviously quite expensive,” he said.
Srhoj was unable to give the Herald a precise breakdown of the costs involved in the national operation to support Northland.
Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi chair Mane Tahere said the lack of police in Northland was “dire” with whānau losing confidence that police would respond to or investigate reported crime.
“We’ve had major concerns for a long time now, and these concerns come directly from whanau, hapu, and marae,” he told the Herald.
The iwi leader was particularly concerned about child abuse investigations and believed because of constraints on police some cases had been “parked up”.
He acknowledged there were signs of progress since the deployment of extra staff.
“Since the surge of police numbers, we’re starting to see people being investigated and charged. But that just shows you how dire straits the situation has been” he said.
He said locals felt safer with more police on the streets but believed it would take time to get through a backlog of cases that had piled up.
He wanted to know what the long-term strategy is for policing in Northland, and how iwi could help.
Tahere said increased investment in community-based solutions like Māori wardens and drug and alcohol rehabilitation services would help local law enforcement.
“We [iwi and hapu] want to be part of the solution.”
Kaikohe youth support worker Wayne Creswell agreed more community-level support was needed.
The former meth addict works as a peer support worker at Whakaoranga Whānau Recovery Hub.
He didn’t think political leaders cared or understood the plight of some communities in Northland.
“From year to year, we don’t even know if we’re getting [government] funding again. It’s not fair.”
He believed Kaikohe got a “bad rap” and there were stories of success in the community.
He was pleased to see additional police on the streets.
“I have noticed over the past few weeks that there’s been a lot more patrol cars driving around,” he said.
The thinly stretched frontline in Northland and spike in serious violent crime has been exacerbated by longstanding difficulties with attracting new staff to the region.
“It’s an ongoing battle. The recruitment strategy is something we are constantly working on,” Srhoj told the Herald.
“We want young, keen people to join our ranks and also those with life experience that decide they want to do something different, something that has real purpose and gives back to the community.”
Three newly graduated constables were set to start work in the Far North imminently and Srhoj urged other locals to help be part of the solution.
“If they’re thinking about joining the police, reach out to us,” he said.
Srhoj said the assistance from police outside the region had helped.
“It gives us the ability to be able to attend to the volume crime matters – things that when we’re under pressure, we really struggle to stay on top of.”
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.