The Southern police director has rejected suggestions the region is under-resourced and said staffing had in fact increased in the past 10 years.
The comments come after a survey of about 5000 New Zealand Police Association members found 86% thought front-line general duties officers were under-resourced when responding to emergency calls.
Association southern region director Mike Thomas said the problem was the result of staff being pulled into new initiatives over the past two years, such as the District Command Centre (DCC) and File Management Centre (FMC).
But Southern district commander Superintendent Mike Pannett said the survey was misleading.
‘‘According to staffing numbers, Southern district has not seen a reduction of staff on the front line in the last 10 years, but an overall increase of sworn police officers by 53.''
Police had introduced initiatives to support the work of front-line officers and remove non-essential work so staff could spend more time servicing the community, he said.
‘‘Southern district is also, in most areas of measurement, leading the country in our work.
‘‘From case management to crime reduction and citizen satisfaction, Southern district is continuing to achieve results not currently seen around the rest of the country.
‘‘This is not only due to the current policing framework we have, but to the dedicated work our staff do 24 hours a day, 365 days of the week, without fail.''
While the association undertook two-yearly surveys to gauge staff satisfaction, New Zealand Police completed its own surveys every year, Supt Pannett said.
‘‘It is within the workplace survey, shared publicly every year, where police are able to ascertain the views of police across the country, and identify areas where we need to improve.''
New Zealand Police and the association regularly discussed the welfare of staff, he said.
