A combative debate in Parliament today about police station resourcing is highlighting reports of concern from frontline police that they don’t feel adequately supported.
Police Minister Ginny Andersen and National police spokesman Mark Mitchell locked horns in the House today, with the latter looking to prosecute the Government regarding data released to him by police under the Official Information Act that showed station staffing in 2017 compared with 2022, a period during which 1800 officers had been promised and this was on track to be realised in June.
The data, supplied to the Herald, indicated there had been a net increase of 1576 constabulary staff - sworn staff - between October 31, 2017 and November 30, 2022.
The data appeared to show there had been large staffing boosts in some Auckland and Wellington stations, while other regions saw no change or even lost staff - something Mitchell said backed up reports he received from frontline officers outside main centres that they felt under-resourced.
Andersen, who regularly referenced the 1800-officer boost to show the Government’s efforts to reduce crime, was quick to clarify some aspects of the data in the House when questioned by her opposite.
“What the member may be getting confused with, with some of the data he’s received, is that the additional police that have gone into areas such as Wellington and Auckland have been the increase in those working on organised crime,” she said.
“This includes a mix of investigators, specialist authorised officers handling areas like cybercrime, financial forensic investigators, and asset recovery.”
Police Association president Chris Cahill agreed with Andersen that the data did not provide a completely accurate picture of how station staffing levels may have changed in the past five years, noting that staff listed as being in Wellington’s national headquarters could be based elsewhere in the country and others based in the two cities would be addressing crime on a national level.
But he did reinforce Mitchell’s anecdotal reports that frontline officers weren’t feeling supported, something Andersen claimed she hadn’t heard.
A statement from a police spokesperson said there was confidence all districts were being well-served and noted some staff in Auckland and Wellington were in “relatively new positions” and served a “national operational function”.
The Herald’s analysis of the data found all 12 police districts had registered a net increase in officers.
However, more than half of all stations in several districts hadn’t received more staff or had lost staff in the last five years.
The Southern district had the highest percentage of stations without a staffing boost at 74.4 per cent.
About 70 per cent of stations in Eastern hadn’t seen staffing increases, 64 per cent in Tasman, and 60 per cent in Northland.
Stations with less than 10 staff were most commonly left unchanged at 74 per cent.
Mitchell said he was concerned attrition rates would rise because officers were telling him of the excessive workload they were placed under.
“If the Government keeps on saying its response to the rising level of crime is 1800 new cops and the frontline themselves aren’t feeling that, then it’s not a response that’s working.
“I just think that frontline staff don’t feel like they’re being reinforced at all.”
When asked by Mitchell whether she’d picked up on that sentiment, Andersen said, “No”.
During their exchange in the House, Andersen was admonished by Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe for what he deemed a “personal attack” on Mitchell when she cheekily offered to brief the former police dog handler on how staffing structures worked.
Cahill, speaking to the Herald, was critical of how police had sent the data with only one sentence of context that informed Mitchell that while staff were assigned a base station, “they are not always working from that location”.
He said the debate highlighted how the debating of data was fraught without context, citing how even stations that had received more staff didn’t necessarily mean there were more officers on the frontline.
“That’s the problem with statistics, you’ve got to know what roles they’re doing at these police stations.
“Using raw data isn’t really that helpful to the debate.”
While he wasn’t overly concerned by the data, Cahill said he was worried by the increasing workload frontline officers were facing, with a 60 per cent increase in both family violence and mental health incidents attended by police nationally.
“It doesn’t feel like there’s been any improvement because demand has totally outstripped [officer] numbers.”
The police spokesperson’s statement said officers in rural areas were generally more mobile than being station-based.
“This means most police officers spend the bulk of their time out in the community, active and ready to respond to calls for service at a moment’s notice, rather than assigned to duties at any one station.”