Casey Costello: Associate Police Minister on the soaring police recruitment numbers

The Government is confident their support of frontline Police is coming to fruition. 

Recruitment numbers have soared in the past year, with almost 1,400 applicants in July – the highest since 2014. 

It's seen around five and a half thousand applicants in the first eight months of the year, more than double across the same period last year. 

Associate Police Minister Casey Costello told Ryan Bridge it's encouraging, but there's still some work to do. 

She says their attrition rate is still low at 4.8%, while other public sectors have rates of up to 54%. 

Costello also assures that the surge in recruits won't compromise the quality of the training, as nothing will change in their approach. 

She says they’ve totally committed to ensuring the same standards are maintained. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A surge in police college applications. We'll see recruitment wings
expand from eighty to one hundred people from next year.
A record thirteen hundred and seventy two applicants were received
in July, followed by the second highest number in August.
But the increased recruitment numbers mean some other police college
courses might need to move to districts or even online.
Casey Costello is the Associate Police Minister. She joins US

(00:21):
Live this morning. Good morning, minister, Good morning Harry. I'm
very well, thank you. I have to start with you've
released advice on the smoking issue, on the heated tobacco
products issue, and you released that last night, so I
had to start with this. Critics say most of this
actually isn't even related to heated dibatto tobacco products, or

(00:43):
some of it even is written by Philip Morris employees.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
So and there's a lot of confusion in this space.
I just really someplace. Heated tobacco products were already in
New Zealand's market. They were already here. What we know
from health was that it was significantly less harmful than smoking.
That we know that Health New Zealand released that and
we know other jurisdictions where heated tobacco had been used,

(01:09):
we'd seen significant smoking reductions. So what we did was
a trial to make a price differential to see is
people who hardcore, long term addictive smokers, which is what
we're dealing with now, had other options. So when I
met with quit smoking providers as well, they confirmed that
they are dealing with people who all the existing products,

(01:29):
including faithing, aren't working and are there other products. So
this is a trial, so one thing amongst the whole
range of things that we're producing.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
So the Ministry of Health told you specifically that heated
tobacco tobacco products are proven to be less harmful than smoking.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yes, and this is the data, and this has been
released to media as well, that there's in terms of
the harm reduction, the number of products that are less harmful,
there's a rain of products that are less harmful, and
heated tobacco, which was already in the market in New Zealand,
was less harmful. So therefore, if you're trying to and

(02:09):
vaping since twenty eighteen, as much as we hate, vaping
has been a significant contributor to our massive reduction is
making but will people because this is just another.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
All heated tobacco products are worse than vaping, right, so.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
The worry they're not as low harm.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
So, but the worries you have people go from vaping
to heated tobacco products.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
No, and this was this was the point. We weren't this.
This is just one option that we were trialing to
see if it could provide some support to the smoking rates.
And you know, it's really frustrating when I you know,
this is such a massive issue. When I met with
heated other e quit smoking providers throughout New Zealand, the

(02:51):
frontline workers delivering services, I'm told that I'm the first
minister to actually meet with the frontline providers. Okay, so
this is this is why we're doing stuff. We're talking
to the people who are delivering the service.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
I have three really quick yes, no questions, and then
I'm done with this and we can move to police.
Do you trust tobacco companies and their advice?

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well, I've never dealt with tobacco companies, so I have
no written some of these I've written some of these reports,
haven't they that? This is where there's been some discussion
that they have funded research.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
But research trust research.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
They fund this. This is why we're talking about. This
is a range of advice, a range of advice that
has been given for a product that is less.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
His lux and or his office been in contact with
you over the last twenty four hours. Not with me, no,
but who who Winston.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
I haven't had any contact with the Prominis's office. I'm
assuming my staff have met with his staff around what
we're doing and while all the media noise, but as
he said, he fully supports what we're doing. We're on
a way to achieving a common target. We're all trying
to get to smoke three twenty twenty five. We've just
got a different approach.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
Speaking of targets, the police. Obviously we need more police
on the beat. This must be encouraging. The number of
applicants to go to Police Training College.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yes, we're over double what we for the same period
last year were overdouble the number of applications. And the
one that's really encouraging, we've had seventy three so far
either rejoin or apply to rejoin the police. And our
attrition rate is still below five percent, which you compare
to other public services which range between eleven and fifty

(04:36):
four percent. Attrition rates police are at four point eight.
So you know, all of stuff we're doing about investing
in frontline policing, supporting them to get back to their
core functions of keeping our community safe is really working.
And it won't great news and.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
It won't compromise the quality of the training.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
No, absolutely not. We have totally committed to ensuring that
we maintain the same standards that we're not not going
to compromise that in any way, shape or form. But
what we have seen is a massive increase in the
number of people interested and that's that's fantastic news.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
All right, minister, thank you very much for your time.
I really appreciate it. Kit's Casey had a great day.
You two the Associate Minister of Police with us also
Associate Health. Just for more from News Talks ed B
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