Part-time work for police

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 1

Part-time work for police

PA Wellington Changes to police regulations allowing flexible employment of part-time sworn police have been approved by the Government. The Minister of Police, Mrs Hercus, said the changes would allow the recruitment and training of part-time sworn officers for workloads which did not warrant full-time appointments. “I want to emphasise that use of part-time policemen and policewomen will not involve any lessening of our standards,” she said. The officers would be, recruited and trained under stringent conditions

and would be uniformed. Mrs Hercus said the move was no.t a new concept in policing. Existing regulations already allowed the appointment of district constables in areas where the workload was insufficient to warrant a full-time officer. The last district constable, Mr Ben Mason, retired from his appointment at Great Barrier Island in the late 19705. However, current regulations were too restrictive, Mrs Hercus said, because they allowed the appointment of parttimers only where there was insufficient work to warrant a full-time staff member.