Davis worried too few police on beat

Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour Party police spokesman Kelvin Davis said police needed more funding to increase the number of general duties constables in Northland. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Frontline police numbers in Northland have dropped by 19 per cent over six years, causing one MP to question the funding put into the thin blue line.

Northland had 140 general duties constables in July 2009, but statistics released by Te Tai Tokerau MP and Labour Party police spokesman Kelvin Davis showed that over six years this number had gradually dropped to 114 in April 2015 - a 19.29 per cent decrease.

Mr Davis said more funding was needed to increase these numbers to ensure police were able to do their jobs to the best of their ability.

"Overall there has been a $300 million cut in funding for police since 2009 and a $15 million cut in this year's Budget. They're asking police to do more with less," he said.

The latest police statistics for 2014 showed while 14,897 crimes were reported in Northland only 6458 were resolved.

Mr Davis said the drop in general duties constables in Northland could be the reason for these statistics.

"People who are being burgled want their stereos back, their televisions back and the offenders caught. Yet nine out of 10 times they get away with it," he said. "Police are doing all they can."

Mr Davis said increasing the number of general duties constables in Northland would mean the region would be safer. While on his anti-violence hikoi he stopped in at Whangarei Girls' High School yesterday where he said one girl was "distraught" talking about how her mother was assaulted walking through the main street of Whangarei.

"A safer Tai Tokerau, that's number one," he said.

Northland was not the only region that had a drop in the number of general duties constables - all 12 districts except for Counties/Manukau had a decrease.

General Duties Constables Numbers in Northland
July 1, 2009: 140
July 1, 2010: 139
July 1, 2011: 135
July 1, 2012: 131
July 1, 2013: 131
July 1, 2014: 122
April 4, 2015:113