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Published: June 13, 2023, 7:15 p.m.

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As the Government celebrates its milestone of putting \\u201c1800 new police officers on the beat\\u201d, it can be revealed 270 of them don\\u2019t have arrest powers and work predominantly within stations.

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Police Association president Chris Cahill and National police spokesman Mark Mitchell allege the Government has been misleading.

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\\u201cThey\\u2019re not what the public would call a police officer,\\u201d Cahill said.

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On June 1, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Police Minister Ginny Andersen travelled to Porirua\\u2019s police college to celebrate training 1800 new police officers since the Government came to power.

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The promise was made by the Labour and NZ First coalition in 2018 and has been repeatedly referred to as an investment in \\u201cfrontline\\u201d staff. Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern previously told Parliament the 1800 officers would be \\u201csworn\\u201d.

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But numbers provided to the\\xa0Herald\\xa0by police show 270 of the recruits are \\u201cauthorised officers\\u201d, who legally do not have the power to arrest. Most of these 270 staff are known as \\u201cspecialist crime investigators\\u201d and include those working in electronic crime or as forensic accountants.

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A November 2022 report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority said police were \\u201cfailing to meet the challenges that the present fraud landscape poses\\u201d. Police said at the time that given the scale and nature of the fraud problem, prevention measures were of primary importance in reducing victimisation.

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According to the Policing Act, authorised officers are defined as police employees holding the roles of a station jailor, escort, guard, specialist investigator or transport enforcement officer. They wear black uniforms instead of blue.

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Training for authorised officers varies but typically is shorter and less intensive than the 16-week training course required for constabulary officers.

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There are just over 10,000 constabulary officers on the beat nationwide, supplemented by 525 authorised officers. More than half of the authorised officers - 270 - were established in the past five years under the 1800 new police plan. Fifty of them joined in May.

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Police Association president Chris Cahill. Photo / Mark Mitchell

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Cahill said while authorised officers were always part of the plans Cabinet agreed to in 2018, to call all new officers \\u201cfrontline\\u201d and \\u201con the beat\\u201d was misleading.

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\\u201cThey\\u2019re not frontline, they\\u2019re not sworn officers, and they don\\u2019t have the powers of arrest,\\u201d he said. \\u201cThey\\u2019re not what the public would call a police officer.

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\\u201cWithout clarification, it is misleading. [The Government is] not breaching their agreement, but they need to be clear to the public that 270 of those are not sworn police officers. They\\u2019re of great value - but they\\u2019re not sworn.\\u201d

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Mitchell said Andersen and former police ministers Poto Williams and Hipkins \\u201cintentionally deceived and misled New Zealanders\\u201d.

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\\u201cTwo-hundred-and-seventy of those included in the 1800 are not police officers. They don\\u2019t have powers of arrest and are back-office workers with no presence or ability to respond to violent offending on our streets,\\u201d he said.

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\\u201cThis is a deceptive and shabby way to treat New Zealanders, but consistent with this soft-on-crime Government\\u2019s approach to public safety.\\u201d

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Andersen said the Government committed to an increase of 1800 additional constabulary staff, and this was met on June 1.

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When asked directly by NZME if labelling all 1800 new officers as \\u201cfrontline\\u201d was misleading, she replied: \\u201cThe Government\\u2019s commitment has always included authorised officers. This was set out in the initial Cabinet paper in 2018, which has been released publicly.\\u201d

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National MP Mark Mitchell said the government has deceived New Zealanders. Photo / Mark Mitchell

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\\u201cThe authorised officer designation was established in 2008 under the Policing Act. They\\u2019ve been included in constabulary numbers since then, including during the National Government, who counted them as constabulary for the nine years it was in government,\\u201d Andersen said.

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She said the work these officers would do, such as in high-tech crime, often required experience that was hard to get in existing constabulary employees.

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Andersen is not the first MP to be accused of misrepresenting figures in recent months. In March, Te Whatu Ora apologised after numbers shared by Health Minister Ayesha Verrall were found to be inaccurate.

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National\\u2019s health spokesman Shane Reti also faced criticism\\xa0after Verrall accused him of misrepresenting data\\xa0to make it appear the health system had lost a sizeable chunk of its staff.

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Growing demand for frontline police

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As reports of retail and violent crime increase, Cahill said that demand for frontline officers had grown significantly.

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\\u201cThe world is quite different from 2017. We clearly have a demand from the public for more frontline, visible policing. The increase in the demand for police over that time is dramatic. The public wants to see more blue shirts on the street.\\u201d

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According to police data, reports of retail crime have increased 60 per cent since 2017. While the increase\\xa0could be explained by changes to reporting methods, other sources such as supermarket giant Foodstuffs have reported a 37 per cent jump in retail crime.

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Reported victimisations for violent offending have also risen sharply since 2017.

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The frequency of ram raids has increased in recent months. Photo / Hayden Woodward

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One of the hallmark law and order policies of the Government, the boost in policing numbers was born out of Budget 2017 when the then National Government pledged to increase the force by 880 constabulary officers.

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By Budget 2018, the Labour and NZ First Government had come to power and promised to boost the existing plans by a further 670 constabulary officers and 250 authorised officers.

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There are currently 10,184 constabulary officers and 525 authorised officers, making up the total force of 10,709.

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Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationwide. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.

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