Police Strength Highest Ever

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30892, 27 October 1965, Page 16

Police Strength Highest Ever

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, Oct. 26.

The New Zealand Police Department had reached the greatest strength in its history, the Minister of Police (Mr Allan) told the annual conference of the New Zealand Police Association today.

When the last intake this year entered the Police Training School in September the strength was 2788. a net gain of 68 over the previous year, he said.

‘•To gain those 68 we had to recruit 293 new members,” the Minister said. This was 52 fewer than for the same period last year, but, in view of the state of continued full employment in New Zealand, this figure must be regarded as satisfactory, he said. The new recruits had to replace seven deaths. 10 discharges or dismissals, 29 retirements and 179 resignations.

“Understaffing can lead to overwork and a falling off in the service you aim to give to the public,” the Minister said. “The department is making every effort to see that the staffing position, at present good, is still further improved to meet the needs of an expanding population.”

At the moment it was planning for at least one member to take a diploma course in criminology at Auckland University and was also considering incentives for members to receive opportunities for other types of university training.

The president of the association, Detective-Sergeant R. L. Butlir, said the association’s ultimate aim was to see a happy and contented police service. It believed that therein lay the potential for an increasingly efficient police service. “As usual, we are concerned with housing for our members,” he said. “This concern in no way suggests that we do not appreciate what has already been done by the department. Nor have we any doubt that the commissioner shares our concern to see that all our members are satisfactorily housed at fair rentals.”