Andrea Conlan: Police Chief Operating Officer on the scrapped crime prevention initiatives for the 2025 Budget

Police scrapped millions of dollars from crime prevention to meet the Government's savings expectations ahead of this years' budget. 

The cuts were found in funding to burglary prevention programmes. 

Documents show Treasury had warned funding cuts could lead to higher cost and more crime in the longer term. 

But Police chief operating officer Andrea Conlan says difficult decisions had to be made in order to be fiscally responsible. 

She told Mike Hosking prevention is a key focus across the organisation, so it’s not about reducing their effort or focus on prevention. 

Conlan says the specific initiatives were identified as areas in which the money could be moved and reinvested.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Some budget issues at Police. They've scrapped crime prevention funds
for neighborhood support, community patrols, and burglary prevention develoance the
books the mover save seven point eight million dollars. So
what's going on here? Andrea Conlin is the Police Police
chief operating officer in as with us. Andrea, good morning,
Good morning mate. These prevention programs and their value for money.
What's your assessment?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
So just to kind of clarify, the neighborhood support and
community watch programs have their funding is continuing. So the
funding and the other the burglary prevention areas for around
the seven million perennum is the area that has been seized.
This is you know, as part of kind of the
border reinvestment. We receive a lot of funding through from

(00:45):
government and part of that is seeking those areas where
we can find savings to reinvest into that new funding.
And this was the one area for budget twenty five
where the funding was reinvested into the frontline.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Except what exactly is burglary prevention other than I mean,
what did you do? Did you get a pamphlet, did
you have some people telling people not the burgle or
how did it work?

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Sure? Yeah, These were sort of a specific small initiatives
that were run in some areas around the country. So
there were was a smaller initiative in Palmerston North. There
was also a lock light Lines of Sight was the
name of the initiative run in some other areas around
the country. So I guess see the areas in one
of these programs had actually already ceased as were identified

(01:31):
through the budget process, So they're kind of small initiatives. Overall,
As we've said, prevention is a key aspect of our
overall policing and a key aspect of all roles across
the organization. So this isn't about sort of overall reducing
our effort or our focus into prevention. It was around
these specific initiatives being identified as options for taking that

(01:56):
money and reinvesting it the other areas of funding.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
We did receive seven point eight million. I mean, I
know it's a lot of money for you and I
but I mean for the police budget, it's it sounds
like money you found in the back of the couch.
I mean these are small programs.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yes they were, Yes, and you're right, I mean seven
million in the context of you know, where we're sort
of around the five hundred million marks for our total
budget twenty five.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, so just for clarification, because we might have got
this wrong. Neighborhood support, continuous community patrols continue. It's the
burglary prevention that's been cut.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, correct, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
All right, Okay, I appreciate it. Andrea, who got that wrong?
Let's name let's name some names here, Hey, who got
that wrong? I'm in an efficiency and professionalism drive at
the moment. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen
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