Police will conduct an audit, assessing applicants over a six-month period. Video / Alex Burton, Alyse Wright
Nearly 50% of police college applicants who needed to be assessed on English literacy failed the test but were allowed to start training as a recruit anyway, according to a police audit of recruitment standards.
A review of standards between January 2024 and April this year, found 266 recruitswere identified as needing to complete a literacy assessment but 128 or 48.1% failed the test.
Despite not being up to scratch in reading, grammar and writing - skills considered critical for front line work - all were allowed to start training to become a constable at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) in Porirua.
Assistant Commissioner Deployment Tusha Penny said having a good grasp of English is an important part of policing.
“Police must be proficient in English. Literacy testing is only required of applicants who do not have level 2 NCEA English or higher or comparable international qualifications,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny says there will no longer be exemptions for applicants wanting to attend police college. Photo / RNZ
Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny said in a statement the audit revealed discretionary decisions on applicants had become “common practice” and there were “inconsistencies and confusion” around the process.
“The preliminary findings identified that our policies and practices were not consistently applied, and discretion was used inconsistently and without a national assurance process,” she said.
The Physical Appraisal Test (PAT) comprises four components including a 2.4km run, vertical jump, press-ups and a grip strength test.
Eight applicants failed the test but were allowed to start police college anyway, and a further nine passed individual components of the test but did so on different dates, which was a breach of policy.
The PAT is seen as critical to testing a recruit’s ability to cope with frontline duties, such as climbing over a wall or through a window.
The audit also investigated the psychometric test and typing.
All applicants passed psychometric testing before beginning at police college but 36 that initially failed were allowed to re-sit without a six-month stand-down period between tests.
The stand-down period is considered best practice by the provider police use to carry out the test.
Penny said Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has made it clear the situation has fallen short of his expectations.
“He has instructed there is to be no further use of discretion to allow people to enter RNZPC [Royal New Zealand Police College] without first meeting all mandatory recruitment standards. There will be no exemptions and no circumstances where discretion is applied,” she said.
Police and Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says the review highlights an over-use of discretion in admitting candidates to police college. Photo / Marty Melville
One candidate was identified as progressing to a recruit wing without passing the typing test. That candidate achieved a 23-word-a-minute standard.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell partly blamed the previous Government for the substandard candidates being accepted into training.
“The review highlights an over-use of discretion being applied to admit people that do not meet a variety of standards to the police college. There is no doubt in my mind that the priorities set by the previous Government around recruiting contributed to this.”
The review did not identify who in police made the decision to drop standards and allow some substandard recruits to start college.
Labour’s police spokesperson Ginny Anderson told the Herald there was a “clear pattern” of recruits failing standards under Mitchell’s watch.
“This raises serious questions about political pressure being placed upon the college to deliver on the Government’s failed promise of 500 more police on the beat,” she said.
She accused Mitchell of never fronting up “to his own failures”.
The Police Association and sources within police have previously told the Herald they also believed rules were bent because of political pressure to meet Government targets.
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.
