Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

Police are crucial to ensure a safe, functioning New Zealand. We hope we'll never need them, but we need to know they're there, and ready to go, if we ever do.

The Bay of Plenty is – like the rest of New Zealand – haemorrhaging police officers. We have had 24 officers resign in the past 15 months, for reasons including stress and the unbearably high workload.

We know we're getting amazing value from our local cops, who do an amazing job in spite of being completely under-resourced. The problem is, instead of getting closer to Australia's one officer to every 432 people, in our region we've currently got one to every 936 people.

Youth crime is on the rise with this blue government's molly-coddling tag-and-release programme failing young people and society at large. Young offenders aged 15-19 make up six per cent of the population, yet account for 42 per cent of violent robberies. New Zealand First will hold them to account.

In the 12 months to June 30, 2016 serious assaults resulting in injury were up 7.3 per cent, with public place assaults up 13.1 per cent.

Police morale is at an all-time low and you don't have to be Nostradamus to see it isn't going to get better without serious and sustainable change. New Zealand First has been calling for this ever since this blue government froze funding in 2008.

Our population is booming. Unfortunately, so is our crime rate. Tauranga is now the fifth-largest city in New Zealand, and according to local law enforcement officers, in the last month we have had nine aggravated burglaries, when in the past we would have expected only one.

But help is on its way. Just like we promised and delivered 1000 more frontline police from 2005-2008, New Zealand First will get another 1800 quickly, not this blue government's trickle of 880 new officers over three years (313 of whom will not actually be chasing or deterring criminals). We have proved that we keep our promises.