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Leader's LetterMarch 2005
Three Simple Steps to Resolve Police CrisisThere has been a lot of recent controversy regarding the performance of our police in fulfilling their obligations to maintain law and order. From the 111 debacles through to rising violent crime numbers and police seeming more interested in traffic tickets than solving crime, there has been wide media coverage. Police are poorly served in cabinet with one of Labour’s weakest ministers, so unfortunately the focus is often on his incompetent performance rather than the real issues. When we confront the police minister over police issues it is not to attack the police themselves, but rather how this government manages this essential resource. We believe the police need our help and we are trying to get a better deal for them by putting up real solutions to their operational problems. Here are three concrete steps to put law and order on the right path: Step one must be doubling the size of the police force. In plain and simple terms there are not enough police and this places huge strains on those in the service trying to cover these staff shortages. When the Police Commissioner asks for 100 extra police for Auckland, he gets 16. The minister says he has given more police, but this is a sham because there are far too few.Doubling the size of the police force will alleviate staff shortages across all operational areas of the force over time and allow the police to realistically meet the pressures of the growing demands on their resources. Step two is to separate traffic officers from the police - the merger was a mistake.This will resolve the farcical situation of detectives, who should be out solving crime,having to down tools and go and issue traffic tickets. This will also allow traffic officers to focus more fully on the good work they have been doing in reducing the road toll, without the distraction of having to do other police work. You see everyone benefits this way - the police focus on policing and traffic officers dealing with traffic issues. Step three is the need to replace the minister. He has come to embody a failed system and simply does not inspire confidence either within or outside the police force. The police require strong leadership and they simply are not getting it. We now have a situation where the Prime Minister is telling the public that the minister is being “bullied” by Opposition members. How does that inspire confidence - a police minister who is so weak the best the Prime Minister can say about his performance is that it is poor because he was bullied? We are a party of solutions and these three steps will go along way to restoring the public’s confidence in our police force. Ron Mark MP
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