Police will conduct an audit, assessing applicants over a six-month period. Video / Alex Burton, Alyse Wright
The Herald can exclusively reveal police are carrying out an audit of hundreds of applicants after some recruits who failed physical tests were allowed into police college.
The investigation follows concerns about political pressure to meet the target of 500 extra officers by November.
The Police Association says the move to exempt some applicants is concerning and warns that lowering fitness standards could endanger officers and compromise public safety.
Police have launched a wide-ranging investigation of hundreds of police recruit applicants after learning some prospective cops who failed physical tests got approval to start police college anyway.
Police announced they would investigate by carrying out an audit after the Herald started asking questions about whetherany exemptions or discretionary decisions had been made when considering applicants’ fitness levels.
The Herald understands the decision to allow substandard recruits into police college by way of an exemption would have been made at the top level of police.
Police sources, the Police Association and the Labour Party believe rules have been modified because of pressure from the Government to get 500 extra police by November – a policy described as a “priority” by the coalition Government when it made the announcement in May last year.
This is a clear breach of the recruitment policy.
After the Herald asked whether exemptions were permitted under any circumstances, Assistant Police Commissioner Tusha Penny said police had “recently” discovered three applicants were approved to start police college without meeting requirements for the Physical Appraisal Test (PAT), which was a “clear breach” of policy.
Assistant Police Commissioner Tusha Penny said three applicants were approved to start police college without meeting requirements for the Physical Appraisal Test in a "clear breach" of policy. Photo / Jason Oxenham
She said an audit will be launched to examine applicants over a six-month period in an effort to find out how widespread the issue is.
The audit would entail reviewing hundreds of applicants, given the maximum capacity of recruitment wings at police college had just been increased from 80 to 100 applicants each month.
“We will be undertaking a reconciliation between recruits and their application process to check that there are no other deviations from the required standards. This will cover a six-month period and the findings will be reported publicly,” Penny said.
Penny said on being made aware of the breaches, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers emailed recruitment leaders and spoke with executive leaders.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers was announced as the new Police Commissioner in December last year. Photo / Dean Purcell
“Commissioner Chambers has made his expectations very clear, reiterating that the current high standards required to become a police officer remain in place and directing that action is taken to ensure it does not happen again,” Penny said.
The Herald asked whether anyone in the police force had been put under pressure to soften their approach to applicants because of the Government’s target.
Penny didn’t answer the question directly but said getting 500 additional officers by November 27 was “ambitious”.
The PAT involves a 2.4km run, press-ups, a vertical jump examination and a grip-strength test. It’s unclear how exactly exemptions were applied, but the run and push-ups are widely regarded as the most challenging aspects of the fitness test.
‘Political pressure’ to deliver Government promise
Labour Party police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen believes political pressure has led to police quietly lowering fitness standards for police recruits. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Police Association and the Labour Party believe the rules have been bent because of political pressure to meet Government targets.
The Herald sought responses from both Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Associate Police Minister Casey Costello, asking if either of them had put pressure on police or suggested that exemptions on fitness standards be introduced to boost recruit numbers.
Police Minister Mark Micthell denied interfering in the process.
“There has been no political interference with police and its recruiting programme. The coalition Government set the police a recruitment target and the funding to increase police numbers by 500.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell (left) says there's been no political interference after it was discovered exemptions had been given to some police recruits who failed fitness standards. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He told the Herald delivering on the extra 500 cops was an operational matter for police.
“Both myself and Minister Costello have been very clear that standards were not to be dropped,” he said.
A spokesman for Costello also denied she’d suggested fitness exemptions be introduced, saying recruitment and training of police is an “operational matter” and ministers have no involvement in this.
“As ex-police officers, Minister Mitchell and I are well aware of the very high standards of New Zealand Police and it’s very important that those are maintained.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell (left) and Police Commissioner Richard Chambers. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour’s police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen, who formerly worked with police for a decade, told the Herald it’s highly unlikely police decided to change fitness standards by themselves.
We need to understand who applied political pressure.
“The New Zealand public need to understand what ... directive was given in order for those rules to be bent. We need to understand who applied political pressure to police in order to deliver on a coalition promise,” she told the Herald.
The Herald has learned that some within the police are frustrated standards have been lowered and exemptions for substandard candidates were introduced.
Andersen said she too was informed by a police insider earlier this month that recruits who failed the PAT were being approached and reconsidered.
Andersen said that amounted to a “significant” breach of standards, it put other officers at risk, and diverting from rules that had been in place for years was a bad look for the police.
“I’m really concerned that this political deal-breaking is compromising the brand and reputation of New Zealand police.”
Fitness exemptions putting the front line at ‘serious risk’
Police Association vice-president Steve Watt says allowing substandard applicants into police college presents a risk to the applicant, frontline officers and the public. Photo / Michael Morrah
Police Association vice-president Steve Watt also believed it was likely that the rules had been softened because of political interference.
Watt felt the target of getting an extra 500 police by November was looking “highly unlikely”, considering only six additional police officers had been added to the books since the Government first indicated it would boost frontline numbers.
“The reality is there is this political pressure on police at the moment to try and get those 500 across the line come November this year. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a professor in statistics to appreciate that there’s only seven months to go,” Watt told the Herald.
“We’d be naive to think there isn’t political interference on this.”
His biggest concern was that allowing applicants to enter college who didn’t meet minimum standards presented a danger to the applicant and other frontline staff.
It puts themselves and other members at serious risk of injury and harm.
“Policing is a physically and mentally demanding job, and it requires a high level of acuity,” Watt said.
He gave the example of a newly sworn staff member who hadn’t met standards having to face off with a violent offender.
“If one of those police members isn’t up to the physical standard that is required to deal with that situation, it puts themselves and the other members that are trying to deal with that individual at serious risk of injury and harm.”
He believed police were struggling to attract enough candidates because pay was poor and the role had become increasingly dangerous, with staff being assaulted and gang members more willing to use firearms.
“You add all that into the mix and it’s just not a career that a lot would want to be joining.”
‘Dropped the ball’ on fitness standards
The Police Association's Steve Watt is worried other standards may have been compromised in the effort to hit the Government's target of 500 extra officers by November. Photo / NZME
Watt believed police had “dropped the ball” on the fitness requirements and that raised questions about what other standards for entry had been compromised.
He said lowering the fitness standard was “highly unusual” and the association would be seeking assurances from police that no other standards had been changed.
“Our worry is that police have dropped the ball in regard to the PAT. So, what other requirements of recruitment are being considered to be reduced or have been compromised to try and lift those recruitment numbers?” he said.
Applicants completing the PAT must score a minimum of 11 points to be accepted into the police college training programme.
Police bosses have always been adamant publicly that standards for those wanting to join police would not be reduced to boost frontline numbers.
Police measure applicants according to a body mass index (BMI) matrix that determines how many points they accrue.
For example, if a male applicant takes more than 12 minutes to complete the 2.4km run, they wouldn’t score any points. But if they did it under 10 minutes, they’d score four, five or six points, depending on their BMI.
Police leaders have always been adamant when speaking publicly on the issue that standards for joining the police would not drop, despite the target of adding 500 extra police.
Assistant commissioner of leadership, talent and development Jill Rogers, who’s helping to oversee the drive to boost police numbers, removed some “unnecessary barriers” to applicants wanting to apply to start training at police college in July last year.
She announced applicants with a restricted driver’s licence would be able to apply, as well as those who had a resident visa that allowed them to work in New Zealand.
While those tweaks allowed a greater number of people to apply, Rogers was adamant that getting into police college would not be made easier.
“Our standards remain very high and that will not change,” she said at the time.
Deputy commissioner for people, leadership and culture Chris de Wattignar also denied any plans to alter standards while being questioned by Andersen during a select committee hearing in December.
“No, we’ve got to keep the recruitment standards where they are,” de Wattignar said at the time.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald‘svideo team in July 2024.
