Little hope of more police for Chch—Mrs Hercus

Press, 24 January 1985, Page 1

Little hope of more police for Chch—Mrs Hercus

By

PATRICIA HERBERT

in Wellington

The demands by the Christchurch police for an immediate increase of 120 front-line staff are “literally impossible to meet,” according to the Minister of Police, Mrs Hercus.

She said yesterday that police officers just did not grow on trees, neither could they be cloned in test-tubes. It took at least a year to get a recruit “on deck” from the decision to employ. Even then, there were other districts — Hamilton, Rotorua and Palmerston North to name three — where the need for extra staff was more urgent.

Mrs Hercus was commenting on a telegram received this week from the Christchurch branch of the Police Association demanding 120 more staff and threatening direct action if the demand was not met.

The branch sent the telegram after a meeting on Monday and plans to meet again on February 4, two weeks later, to discuss its next move.

The association’s national secretary, Dr Bob Moodie, is handling the dispute. He met the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ken Thompson, on Tuesday and will meet him again next week to talk about staffing levels.

Dr Moodie agreed with Mrs Hercus that the Christchurch branch’s demands could not be met “overnight.” He said the numbers were simply not available and that the force throughout New Zealand was under-strength between 500 and 600. He also said that there was no way the association would support the transfer of staff from Wellington and Auckland because both cities were already under pressure. Dr Moodie dismissed suggestions . that Christchurch had fared badly against other main centres in the allocation of staff, saying that it was invalid to make simple comparisons based on population size and offending levels.

Ethnic mix, occupational character and geography had also to be taken into account.

He emphasised that there was no short-term solution and said the best that could be hoped for was that realistic recruitment policies

would be introduced based on future manpower requirements. Dr Moodie, who clashed publicly with Mrs Hercus last week over the long batons issue, took a more conciliatory line yesterday. He said he sympathised with the problems she was facing and that she had done a good job for the police in the short time she had held office. He also assured her of the association’s co-operation in finding an answer to the staff shortage.

He said it would not be solved by “holding a knife to the Government’s throat,” a remark which might be interpreted as critical of the aggressive stand the Christchurch branch seems to be taking.

Mrs Hercus said that she had been told by Mr Thompson when she became Minister that the police force was under-staffed by 400 and the Christchurch district by 48, but she said that Mr Thompson had added

“straight away” that the numbers could not be made up in a single year.

She said that she was puzzled that the issue should have arisen at this time and seemed equally puzzled by the heat it had generated. She had just delivered the early retirement package long sought by the association and given it top priority. The move would cost the Government an extra $l3 million a year for the next three years, she said.

“To ask for additional police on top of that and in such numbers ... it’s puzzling to me,” she told “The Press.”

“If I assume that a particular district feels it would like to put pressure on me and indicate that it regards staffing as very important, then can I say that the message is very unsubtle.

“I have been aware since day one of the pressures on staffing but I also expect policemen and women to be realistic about Government spending,” said Mrs Hercus.