Our 2011 election manifesto - Labour Party

Labour believes that focusing resources on pursuing “petty” crime, and the offenders who
commit it, would help prevent many such offenders graduating to more serious offending.
This will require a rethink of how we deploy Police resources.
For example, in the case of a burglary where the offender has fled, no immediate threat to
personal safety remains. The initial interviewing of victims, fingerprinting of the premises
and preliminary investigative tasks could well be undertaken by non-sworn Police staff, with
further action such as investigation and arrest to be then taken by a constable.
This would provide a more rapid response for the victim of the crime, as well as removing
some of the administrative burden from our sworn Police so that they can better focus on
crime prevention and resolution.
Police do not at present produce measures of average waiting time for Police response in
non-urgent cases (such as those where the perpetrator has already fled the scene of the
crime). Such information is needed to measure the extent and the kind of additional Police
support that would be necessary to ensure rapid response in every instance.
Labour will review the current protocols for „scene of crime officers‟, with a view to
increasing the use of non-sworn Police staff to conduct on-site preliminary
administrative tasks where there is no immediate threat to personal safety.
The Single Non-Emergency Number project, now known as the Crime Reporting Line, has
been deployed to three Police Districts – Auckland City; Counties Manukau; and Bay of
Plenty Districts. At the moment the Police response procedure is a scaled response, and
depends on the information provided by the caller. The Police have set criteria in deciding
the level of priority to be accorded to the call, ranging from immediate response; timely
response; managed response; through to incidents where no Police response is required.
Labour will investigate whether lower-level crimes are being responded to in a way
that meets the standard of response that the public expects from the Police.
Providing decent administrative support
Administrative tasks, like paper-work for low level offences, take constables off the streets
for far too long. The back office / front office divide promoted by National leads to fewer
Police on the beat. Instead, officers „two finger type‟ their way through the legal requirements
of offender processing and other administrative tasks that could be better dealt with by
specialist clerical staff and then signed off by constables. Support like this should be
provided to constables in a targeted fashion. In doing so, we will ensure that frontline
resources are directed where they are needed most – protecting the public.
Labour will examine the role of sworn Police to make sure that their talent and skills
are used effectively in order to protect the public.
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