Police Minister blissfully unaware of report
new-zealand-national-party
Thu Jul 19 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Police Minister blissfully unaware of report
Thursday, 19 July 2007, 3:32 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party
Chester Borrows MP
National Party Police Spokesman
19 July 2007
Police Minister blissfully unaware of damning report
Police Minister Annette King first read a vital internal report on police recruitment standards when it was published in the media, despite claiming she gets regular updates from police, says National’s Police spokesman, Chester Borrows.
He is releasing an answer to a parliamentary question that shows Annette King did not see a copy of the damning report until after it had appeared in The Dominion Post.
The report, by Senior Sergeant Iain Saunders, a senior trainer at the Police College, said ‘some of the public are probably being placed at risk or offered very poor service’ as the standard of recruits plummets.
“The newspaper published details of this secret report on Saturday June 23, but Annette King has admitted she didn’t see it until the following Monday, June 25.
“Why not? She said on June 26: ‘Over the past 18 months, since I became Police Minister, I have regularly received verbal assurances and updates from the police administration that the standard of police graduating from the college is being maintained.’
“Well, she didn’t get this update, and it brings into question how on top of her portfolio she really is.
“If she had been following the concerns over recruitment – the declining standards, the struggle to get numbers, how one fifth of UK recruits have left, how police have no idea why most officers leave – she would have made absolutely sure she was kept up to date.
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“This is a concern because the problem of declining standards – the latest being 25 recruits last year who had convictions, including for theft, obstructing police, and wilful damage – is a problem of her Government’s making. They promised 1,000 extra frontline police without checking if they could deliver.
“It seems she prefers to remain blissfully unaware of problems in the hope they will go away – or that if they don’t, that she won’t be blamed for them.
“Maybe former Police College instructor Dion Blair was right when he said Police HQ gagged Iain Saunders from reporting his research last year.
“Annette King is good at claiming credit when things go right, but as soon as it looks like something might hit the fan, it’s an ‘operational matter’, like she claimed over the stab-resistant vests supply debacle.
“Well, that’s not good enough. The police deserve better support from their Minister, and the public deserve a Minister who is kept up to date.”
Attachment: answer to parliamentary question
ENDS
Answer to parliamentary question
11835 (2007). Chester Borrows to the Minister of Police (5 July 2007): Has she received a copy of the report by Senior Sergeant Iain Saunders regarding recruiting standards; if so when?
Police Minister Annette King replied: Yes, on 25 June, 2007
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