Andrew Coster: Police Commissioner on increased police presence in the Auckland CBD

New Community Beat Teams have been announced - 63 additional police staff will be deployed across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.  

It's alongside Operation Safer Streets, which will see an extra 21 officers redeployed in Auckland's CBD from July - to target anti-social behaviour.  

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told Mike Hosking “We’ve had visibility as a key priority for a long time.” 

Coster said recruitment has turned in a positive direction in the last few months. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Part of the crime announcement yesterday, of course included more
community beat teams, So we're going to have sixty three
in Auckland seventeen and Wellington ten and christ you chare
coppers on the beat. The Police Commissioner Andrew Costas with
us on that's very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
How much of what you're doing all this announcement yesterday
is about you, your initiative and how you run the
police versus the government telling you what to do.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, the government's given us five hundred additional staff, so
there's a great opportunity for us and they've been very
clear they can see nutlift and police visibility. We agree
with that. To do that, we are both investing new
staff but also trying to focus back on our core
after being drawn into a range of other activities.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
And do you agree with it because you were told
to agree with it, or you agree with it because
you thought of it yourself.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Not a quiff had visibility as a key priority for
a long time. I think our challenge has been how
we balance up the other things. So new investments making
a difference there and of course being able or getting
support to step back from some of the things other agencies.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Ought to be doing, like the mental health stuff. Absolutely,
have you done that yet or is that a work
in progress.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
We've recently agreed what the triage approach to this will
look like, so that will be about the things we
can do to manage our time differently. But of course
we need to see a response from others to make
that workable, and we continue to engage with other agencies
on it.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
I was going to see, you're sort of between a
rock and a hard place here, aren't you as willing
as you may be? Who's going to pick up the slack?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah? I mean there's some truth in that. I think
having the support to pull back recognizing there is risk
that attaches with us attending fewer events where families are
in distress. For example, it makes a difference.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
The sixty three, seventeen and ten. Where did those numbers
come from?

Speaker 2 (01:55):
The sixty three allows us to both go twenty four
to seven and our big coverage of the Auckland CBD
plus have three teams of seven covering both the other
Auckland districts, so it's the rationale there. In terms of
the coverage in Wellington and christ Church, we visited that

(02:15):
we will get to a seven day coverage, but we
don't think twenty four seven is required. So we've basically
worked the numbers based on what we think is required.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
And it will make a material difference. So I'll be
able to walk down Queen Street and see a material
difference because things have changed.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well, certainly our visibility is already increasing as the result
of the priority that we've put on that. But yes, absolutely,
I mean having a twenty four to seven presence in
the Auckland CBD will make a really positive difference. It's
not a single solution. A lot of the behavior that's
causing people to feel unsafe as anti social behavior falling
short of criminality, and so that's part of the ongoing

(02:54):
discussion being leadless. Some of the other agencies involved.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
The five hundred people talked about recruiting. How is recruiting going.
Is there a queue of people who want to be
coppers or not.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's definitely turned in a positive direction in recent months
with greater expressions of interest coming through as the job
markets got tighter. Takes a while for those to work
their way through the system, but in a sort of
kind of environment wherein we would expect to be successful
in our.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Equipment good stuff. Appreciate your time as always, Andrew Costa,
the Police Commission.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
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