Latest news with #TushaPenny
Scoop
30-07-2025
- Scoop
Changes To ANZSOC Standard
In an effort to simplify and provide a number of enhancements to the way offence data is presented, New Zealand Police, Statistics New Zealand and the wider Justice sector are implementing the revised Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) 2023. This is the first significant review and revision of ANZSOC since its adoption in New Zealand in 2011. From 31 July 2025 the ANZSOC classification will: See some offences renamed to use language that is easier for our community to understand. More offences will now be visible and included in our published data with details about types of assaults, sexual assaults, and burglary. Statistics will be republished back to July 2014 to allow for comparisons and trend analysis using the updated classification. The updated standard ensures that ANZSOC is still fit for purpose – both for Police's changing operational needs, and to improve transparency and visibility of offence data outside of Police. "The ANZSOC revisions are a positive development. They have been made to provide more detailed groupings of offences, with the aim of improving the transparency and understanding of offence-related data in New Zealand," says Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny The move to the revised ANZSOC standard enables a common independent classification for offences and will refine statistics relating to crime by providing comprehensive break downs of different types of offending and by using simpler descriptions. Assistant Commissioner Penny highlighted one of the key differences is the revision of the category names to use uncomplicated language that is easier for Police staff and our community to understand. Examples of where changes will occur include, Acts Intended to Cause Injury will be now named Assault, while Unlawful Entry with Intent/Burglary/Break and Enter changes to become Burglary. The new classification offers greater granularity, there are more detailed break downs of burglary and assault and more offences are now visible and included in our published data. "Police's currently available suite of statistics will be republished back to July 2014 to allow for uninterrupted comparisons and trend analysis using the updated ANZSOC 2023 standard," says Assistant Commissioner Penny. The revised ANZSOC 2023 standard was formally adopted on 1 July 2025 and will initiate a period of transition to ANZSOC 2023 in statistical data being released across the sector in the coming months. Background information What is ANZSOC? The Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) is a statistical framework that provides a common independent classification system for offences across the Justice Sector in New Zealand and Australia. The classification is shared with the Australian Police services and Justice sector, enabling enhanced comparability of offence and related statistics between agencies and jurisdictions. The ANZSOC classification system will also continue to be used across the Justice Sector agencies in New Zealand, and some other agencies such as Oranga Tamariki. Offence data can be found at is external), and more details about the ANZSOC standard at Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC), 2023(link is external).
RNZ News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
NZ Police not concerned about Australian efforts to recruit officers
New Zealand police say they are confident they are going well in recruiting 500 more officers. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Patrice Allen Australian efforts to recruit Kiwi police officers are ramping up again, but NZ Police say it is nothing new and they are focused on their own recruitment drives. A recruitment officer for Northern Territory Police told Checkpoint they would be coming here on a roadshow this month to talk about the higher salaries and housing allowances on offer. Northern Territory recruitment officer Brett Wilson said they were not trying to steal Kiwi officers, but ensuring the officers knew their options. "We're looking at making sure people know the options, that there's more to Australia than just the East Coast, the Northern Territory is a place out there to also look at an option should they want to come to Australia." First year constables in the Northern Territory earn a salary of $111,000, compared to $83,000 here - the salary quoted on the new cops website in New Zealand. After five years in the force an officer would get $121,000 in Northern Territory, compared to $91,000 here. On top of that there is also a housing allowance of up to $34,000 for officers who hop the ditch. NZ Police assistant commissioner Tusha Penny told Checkpoint that pushes to recruit Kiwi officers were not anything new, and was not only being done by the Northern Territories. "Northern Territories have been looking and actively looking and coming over here for about the past decade to look at potentially recruiting our officers." "This is not just isolated to Northern Territories. We have a number of Australian jurisdictions who come over here and regularly looking at our officers." Penny said although they did not have the exact numbers, it was only a small proportion of NZ police who were going to Australia, adding that many Kiwi officers also returned from over the ditch. "We've got about 140 officers in our rejoin pipeline, who actually want to come back into New Zealand please and a healthy cohort of those from Australia." She said the police force here was continuing to see increasing application rates. "In the last 12 months we've had on average 735 applicants a month to come into New Zealand Police. If we compare that to 12 months previous, it was 440. "We've still got so many good and great New Zealanders who really wanna sign up and put on a police uniform to work in our community." Officers who return from overseas do have to go through a rejoin process. "Their previous experience gets looked at, and where they want to go. So we have staff who are full time really looking at the rejoin policy." Penny said the policy takes into account a number of factors. "We look at the previous experience in New Zealand police, we look at what they've done since they've been away - that's for the internal pipeline and our rejoins coming back." She said while New Zealand police were confident they were going well in recruiting 500 more officers, there was no set time-frame, and they are instead focused on the quality of new officers. "We've been really clear that we're not giving a time frame... when we get the 500, we will get the 500" Penny said she was confident the NZ police force would continue to grow, despite the push for overseas recruitment. "We're all about supporting our Australian cousins, but I need to be really clear that well, you know we are, we are growing our police officers. "We're really proud of our people who in every single town across the country we've just got the most amazing front-line who are stepping up to police in our communities."
Scoop
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Police Applicants Who Failed Physical Test Still Admitted For Training
Article – RNZ Police have begun an audit into whether further breaches of the recruitment process had occurred., Political Reporter Police are investigating after three applicants who failed physical testing were still admitted for training. In a statement, assistant commissioner Tusha Penny said it was a clear breach of recruitment policy. 'Police recently became aware of three instances where applicants were approved to begin training at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) without having met the full requirements for the Physical Appraisal Test (PAT). 'Our process does not allow for exemptions to the PAT, and this is a clear breach of the recruitment policy. Recruitment leaders have been reminded by email that there are no circumstances where discretion can be provided for applicants who do not pass the PAT.' She said police had begun an audit into whether further breaches of the recruitment process had occurred, covering a six-month period. The investigation would check whether the application process for recruits to the police college had deviated from the required standards, and the findings would be reported publicly. Pressure is growing as the November deadline for the government's promise to recruit 500 additional frontline officers nears, but Penny said Commissioner Richard Chambers had been 'very clear publicly and internally that recruitment standards will not be compromised'. 'We have previously acknowledged the target of 500 additional officers by 27 November 2025 is ambitious, but we know this is a great opportunity and we are working hard to achieve the target,' she said. 'Police is looking into these matters and conducting an audit to establish if there have been any further breaches of the recruitment process.' Police bosses in December told ministers it would be 'very very challenging' to meet the two-year target, noting at the time total office numbers had decreased by more than 50. Police confirmed to RNZ that as of 21 April they were still 475 officers short of the target, noting that did not include the 334 recruits still at Police College. 'All recruits should be good to go' Police Association vice president Paul Ormerod said it was pleasing to hear the Commissioner had ordered an audit. 'We wouldn't want to see any softening continuing in being a recruit for college, and any failures of college need to be addressed at college and not put on to districts. All recruits should be good to go when released to district. 'Hopefully this is the case, but we are seeing some fall through the cracks that need extra guidance after they have finished Police College.' He said they particularly did not want to see further softening of other police college requirements, like psychometric testing 'and that stand down period – if they get that psychometric testing wrong, they have a six month stand down – so that's another aspect of recruiting procedures that we'd like ensure is continued'. He said as of last month officer numbers were only up by six compared to the 2023 benchmark, and the government should focus on improving pay and conditions if it wanted to meet its target. 'We'd be naive to think that there isn't some kind of political interference. What I'd like to see personally, instead of so much effort put into new staff, pay officers more, improve the conditions that they already have, and retain the staff that we have. That'll go a long way … if we don't have so many leaving. 'I'm sure the Commissioner has had a number of talks with the minister in regarding how they're going to achieve it, but police and government need to invest in their current staff and retain the valuable knowledge that they have instead of recruiting and training for the Australian police forces.' Ministers respond Associate Minister Casey Costello, who has the delegated responsibility for the target, said decisions on recruitment and training were an operational matter for the organisation. 'How police recruit and train new constables is an operational issue. Ministers have no involvement in this,' she said. 'What the government has done is made a commitment to recruit an extra 500 frontline officers and we have backed police to do this with $225 million in extra funding. 'As ex-police officers, Minister Mitchell and I are well aware of the very high standards of NZ Police and it's very important that those are maintained.' Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Midday Report police had taken 'immediate steps' to remedy the problem, and he backed the Commissioner's support for maintaining training standards. He said the decision-making would have been 'very operational, it'll be out at district levels,' and ruled out there having been any political pressure involved, challenging Labour to come up with evidence of that. 'As a past police officer, I understand and I guard that operational independence strongly, and neither myself or my Associate Minister Casey Costello would ever be involved with instructing police on how to carry out recruitment, what the standards should be, or how they should be going about that. 'That is purely operational for police. We have been very clear as an incoming government and as part of our coalition agreement with New Zealand First that we will fund 500 more police officers, and we've set a target for the police in which to do that. That is as far as we can go as a government.' In an earlier statement, he also said meeting that commitment was an operational matter for police. 'There has been no political interference with police and its recruiting programme. The coalition government set the police a recruitment target and the funding to increase police numbers by 500. The delivery of that is an operational matter for police,' he said. He said he and Costello had been clear 'that standards were not to be dropped'. 'Under the previous Labour government police recruiting standards were relaxed for example by dropping the required swim standard and dropping standards around low-level offending. 'In contrast, Minister Costello and I have unequivocally supported the Police Commissioner's public commitment to the maintenance of standards and expect the police to maintain these standards.' He made that accusation again 'when the police dropped the swimming standard' again. 'Now, I'm not saying that wasn't the right thing to do but I'm highlighting the fact that the dropping of those standards happened under a previous government. 'Under this government not only have we returned the recruit courses from 16 to 20 weeks, we've been very clear that we do not want standards dropped, there will not be any compromise on that.' He pushed back when host Charlotte Cook pointed out the government had allowed applicants on their restricted licence to join the Police College on the understanding they would have their full licence by the time they got there. 'Again, those are operational decisions for the police, and that's why those decisions were taken. It's not for us to interfere or meddle in those,' he said. Minister 'trying to excuse his own behaviour' – Labour Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said the decision to override recruiting policy would typically be made by someone in the police executive and despite the minister's claims of no interference, questions still needed to be answered. 'We need to understand why, then, did police – and who in police – made the decision for the rules to be bent in order to allow recruits through that hadn't qualified properly. It seems highly unlikely that police would do this of their own accord,' she said. 'It not only compromises public safety, but it also compromises the safety of those officers on the front line right now who rely on recruits being able to have all the skills necessary to be a police officer.' She said the lowering of swimming requirements when Labour was in government was as a result of a review by police into what training was needed – an operational decision. 'Changes to standards for police recruits do happen over time, and that's in order to better reflect what is needed of an officer on the frontline, but what has happened here is recruits have entered training having not met the current requirements and police are worried enough to do an audit of that. 'It seems like he's trying to excuse his own behavior … it does seem odd that he's bringing things up from years ago when the pressing issue right now is that police recruits have been able to proceed through training without without completing required physical assessment tests.' The minister should be held responsible for what was a political promise, she said. 'It is completely unfair for New Zealand police to be held accountable for a political promise that they have always said was unattainable by the 27th of November this year. 'The political deal making done by this government is now calling into question the reputation of New Zealand police, and that is not fair on the hard working and excellent police service we have. She said the six-month investigation should be expanded to cover the whole two years police had been recruiting to try to meet the target. 'I think it would be better for the public's confidence for the whole period to be reviewed, six months doesn't cover the entire time that police have been trying to get the 500 extra and as we've seen that political pressure build on the government, there clearly has been something happened for standards to change.' However, Ormerod said the time period would cover all those still at Police College, and 'everyone else should have passed and is out on the street and in district, so I think the timing is fair'.
Scoop
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Police Applicants Who Failed Physical Test Still Admitted For Training
Article – RNZ Police have begun an audit into whether further breaches of the recruitment process had occurred., Political Reporter Police are investigating after three applicants who failed physical testing were still admitted for training. In a statement, assistant commissioner Tusha Penny said it was a clear breach of recruitment policy. 'Police recently became aware of three instances where applicants were approved to begin training at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) without having met the full requirements for the Physical Appraisal Test (PAT). 'Our process does not allow for exemptions to the PAT, and this is a clear breach of the recruitment policy. Recruitment leaders have been reminded by email that there are no circumstances where discretion can be provided for applicants who do not pass the PAT.' She said police had begun an audit into whether further breaches of the recruitment process had occurred, covering a six-month period. The investigation would check whether the application process for recruits to the police college had deviated from the required standards, and the findings would be reported publicly. Pressure is growing as the November deadline for the government's promise to recruit 500 additional frontline officers nears, but Penny said Commissioner Richard Chambers had been 'very clear publicly and internally that recruitment standards will not be compromised'. 'We have previously acknowledged the target of 500 additional officers by 27 November 2025 is ambitious, but we know this is a great opportunity and we are working hard to achieve the target,' she said. 'Police is looking into these matters and conducting an audit to establish if there have been any further breaches of the recruitment process.' Police bosses in December told ministers it would be 'very very challenging' to meet the two-year target, noting at the time total office numbers had decreased by more than 50. Police confirmed to RNZ that as of 21 April they were still 475 officers short of the target, noting that did not include the 334 recruits still at Police College. 'All recruits should be good to go' Police Association vice president Paul Ormerod said it was pleasing to hear the Commissioner had ordered an audit. 'We wouldn't want to see any softening continuing in being a recruit for college, and any failures of college need to be addressed at college and not put on to districts. All recruits should be good to go when released to district. 'Hopefully this is the case, but we are seeing some fall through the cracks that need extra guidance after they have finished Police College.' He said they particularly did not want to see further softening of other police college requirements, like psychometric testing 'and that stand down period – if they get that psychometric testing wrong, they have a six month stand down – so that's another aspect of recruiting procedures that we'd like ensure is continued'. He said as of last month officer numbers were only up by six compared to the 2023 benchmark, and the government should focus on improving pay and conditions if it wanted to meet its target. 'We'd be naive to think that there isn't some kind of political interference. What I'd like to see personally, instead of so much effort put into new staff, pay officers more, improve the conditions that they already have, and retain the staff that we have. That'll go a long way … if we don't have so many leaving. 'I'm sure the Commissioner has had a number of talks with the minister in regarding how they're going to achieve it, but police and government need to invest in their current staff and retain the valuable knowledge that they have instead of recruiting and training for the Australian police forces.' Ministers respond Associate Minister Casey Costello, who has the delegated responsibility for the target, said decisions on recruitment and training were an operational matter for the organisation. 'How police recruit and train new constables is an operational issue. Ministers have no involvement in this,' she said. 'What the government has done is made a commitment to recruit an extra 500 frontline officers and we have backed police to do this with $225 million in extra funding. 'As ex-police officers, Minister Mitchell and I are well aware of the very high standards of NZ Police and it's very important that those are maintained.' Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Midday Report police had taken 'immediate steps' to remedy the problem, and he backed the Commissioner's support for maintaining training standards. He said the decision-making would have been 'very operational, it'll be out at district levels,' and ruled out there having been any political pressure involved, challenging Labour to come up with evidence of that. 'As a past police officer, I understand and I guard that operational independence strongly, and neither myself or my Associate Minister Casey Costello would ever be involved with instructing police on how to carry out recruitment, what the standards should be, or how they should be going about that. 'That is purely operational for police. We have been very clear as an incoming government and as part of our coalition agreement with New Zealand First that we will fund 500 more police officers, and we've set a target for the police in which to do that. That is as far as we can go as a government.' In an earlier statement, he also said meeting that commitment was an operational matter for police. 'There has been no political interference with police and its recruiting programme. The coalition government set the police a recruitment target and the funding to increase police numbers by 500. The delivery of that is an operational matter for police,' he said. He said he and Costello had been clear 'that standards were not to be dropped'. 'Under the previous Labour government police recruiting standards were relaxed for example by dropping the required swim standard and dropping standards around low-level offending. 'In contrast, Minister Costello and I have unequivocally supported the Police Commissioner's public commitment to the maintenance of standards and expect the police to maintain these standards.' He made that accusation again 'when the police dropped the swimming standard' again. 'Now, I'm not saying that wasn't the right thing to do but I'm highlighting the fact that the dropping of those standards happened under a previous government. 'Under this government not only have we returned the recruit courses from 16 to 20 weeks, we've been very clear that we do not want standards dropped, there will not be any compromise on that.' He pushed back when host Charlotte Cook pointed out the government had allowed applicants on their restricted licence to join the Police College on the understanding they would have their full licence by the time they got there. 'Again, those are operational decisions for the police, and that's why those decisions were taken. It's not for us to interfere or meddle in those,' he said. Minister 'trying to excuse his own behaviour' – Labour Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said the decision to override recruiting policy would typically be made by someone in the police executive and despite the minister's claims of no interference, questions still needed to be answered. 'We need to understand why, then, did police – and who in police – made the decision for the rules to be bent in order to allow recruits through that hadn't qualified properly. It seems highly unlikely that police would do this of their own accord,' she said. 'It not only compromises public safety, but it also compromises the safety of those officers on the front line right now who rely on recruits being able to have all the skills necessary to be a police officer.' She said the lowering of swimming requirements when Labour was in government was as a result of a review by police into what training was needed – an operational decision. 'Changes to standards for police recruits do happen over time, and that's in order to better reflect what is needed of an officer on the frontline, but what has happened here is recruits have entered training having not met the current requirements and police are worried enough to do an audit of that. 'It seems like he's trying to excuse his own behavior … it does seem odd that he's bringing things up from years ago when the pressing issue right now is that police recruits have been able to proceed through training without without completing required physical assessment tests.' The minister should be held responsible for what was a political promise, she said. 'It is completely unfair for New Zealand police to be held accountable for a political promise that they have always said was unattainable by the 27th of November this year. 'The political deal making done by this government is now calling into question the reputation of New Zealand police, and that is not fair on the hard working and excellent police service we have. She said the six-month investigation should be expanded to cover the whole two years police had been recruiting to try to meet the target. 'I think it would be better for the public's confidence for the whole period to be reviewed, six months doesn't cover the entire time that police have been trying to get the 500 extra and as we've seen that political pressure build on the government, there clearly has been something happened for standards to change.' However, Ormerod said the time period would cover all those still at Police College, and 'everyone else should have passed and is out on the street and in district, so I think the timing is fair'.
Scoop
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Police Applicants Who Failed Physical Test Still Admitted For Training
Police are investigating after three applicants who failed physical testing were still admitted for training. In a statement, assistant commissioner Tusha Penny said it was a clear breach of recruitment policy. "Police recently became aware of three instances where applicants were approved to begin training at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) without having met the full requirements for the Physical Appraisal Test (PAT). "Our process does not allow for exemptions to the PAT, and this is a clear breach of the recruitment policy. Recruitment leaders have been reminded by email that there are no circumstances where discretion can be provided for applicants who do not pass the PAT." She said police had begun an audit into whether further breaches of the recruitment process had occurred, covering a six-month period. The investigation would check whether the application process for recruits to the police college had deviated from the required standards, and the findings would be reported publicly. Pressure is growing as the November deadline for the government's promise to recruit 500 additional frontline officers nears, but Penny said Commissioner Richard Chambers had been "very clear publicly and internally that recruitment standards will not be compromised". "We have previously acknowledged the target of 500 additional officers by 27 November 2025 is ambitious, but we know this is a great opportunity and we are working hard to achieve the target," she said. "Police is looking into these matters and conducting an audit to establish if there have been any further breaches of the recruitment process." Police bosses in December told ministers it would be "very very challenging" to meet the two-year target, noting at the time total office numbers had decreased by more than 50. Police confirmed to RNZ that as of 21 April they were still 475 officers short of the target, noting that did not include the 334 recruits still at Police College. 'All recruits should be good to go' Police Association vice president Paul Ormerod said it was pleasing to hear the Commissioner had ordered an audit. "We wouldn't want to see any softening continuing in being a recruit for college, and any failures of college need to be addressed at college and not put on to districts. All recruits should be good to go when released to district. "Hopefully this is the case, but we are seeing some fall through the cracks that need extra guidance after they have finished Police College." He said they particularly did not want to see further softening of other police college requirements, like psychometric testing "and that stand down period - if they get that psychometric testing wrong, they have a six month stand down - so that's another aspect of recruiting procedures that we'd like ensure is continued". He said as of last month officer numbers were only up by six compared to the 2023 benchmark, and the government should focus on improving pay and conditions if it wanted to meet its target. "We'd be naive to think that there isn't some kind of political interference. What I'd like to see personally, instead of so much effort put into new staff, pay officers more, improve the conditions that they already have, and retain the staff that we have. That'll go a long way ... if we don't have so many leaving. "I'm sure the Commissioner has had a number of talks with the minister in regarding how they're going to achieve it, but police and government need to invest in their current staff and retain the valuable knowledge that they have instead of recruiting and training for the Australian police forces." Ministers respond Associate Minister Casey Costello, who has the delegated responsibility for the target, said decisions on recruitment and training were an operational matter for the organisation. "How police recruit and train new constables is an operational issue. Ministers have no involvement in this," she said. "What the government has done is made a commitment to recruit an extra 500 frontline officers and we have backed police to do this with $225 million in extra funding. "As ex-police officers, Minister Mitchell and I are well aware of the very high standards of NZ Police and it's very important that those are maintained." Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Midday Report police had taken "immediate steps" to remedy the problem, and he backed the Commissioner's support for maintaining training standards. He said the decision-making would have been "very operational, it'll be out at district levels," and ruled out there having been any political pressure involved, challenging Labour to come up with evidence of that. "As a past police officer, I understand and I guard that operational independence strongly, and neither myself or my Associate Minister Casey Costello would ever be involved with instructing police on how to carry out recruitment, what the standards should be, or how they should be going about that. "That is purely operational for police. We have been very clear as an incoming government and as part of our coalition agreement with New Zealand First that we will fund 500 more police officers, and we've set a target for the police in which to do that. That is as far as we can go as a government." In an earlier statement, he also said meeting that commitment was an operational matter for police. "There has been no political interference with police and its recruiting programme. The coalition government set the police a recruitment target and the funding to increase police numbers by 500. The delivery of that is an operational matter for police," he said. He said he and Costello had been clear "that standards were not to be dropped". "Under the previous Labour government police recruiting standards were relaxed for example by dropping the required swim standard and dropping standards around low-level offending. "In contrast, Minister Costello and I have unequivocally supported the Police Commissioner's public commitment to the maintenance of standards and expect the police to maintain these standards." He made that accusation again "when the police dropped the swimming standard" again. "Now, I'm not saying that wasn't the right thing to do but I'm highlighting the fact that the dropping of those standards happened under a previous government. "Under this government not only have we returned the recruit courses from 16 to 20 weeks, we've been very clear that we do not want standards dropped, there will not be any compromise on that." He pushed back when host Charlotte Cook pointed out the government had allowed applicants on their restricted licence to join the Police College on the understanding they would have their full licence by the time they got there. "Again, those are operational decisions for the police, and that's why those decisions were taken. It's not for us to interfere or meddle in those," he said. Minister 'trying to excuse his own behaviour' - Labour Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said the decision to override recruiting policy would typically be made by someone in the police executive and despite the minister's claims of no interference, questions still needed to be answered. "We need to understand why, then, did police - and who in police - made the decision for the rules to be bent in order to allow recruits through that hadn't qualified properly. It seems highly unlikely that police would do this of their own accord," she said. "It not only compromises public safety, but it also compromises the safety of those officers on the front line right now who rely on recruits being able to have all the skills necessary to be a police officer." She said the lowering of swimming requirements when Labour was in government was as a result of a review by police into what training was needed - an operational decision. "Changes to standards for police recruits do happen over time, and that's in order to better reflect what is needed of an officer on the frontline, but what has happened here is recruits have entered training having not met the current requirements and police are worried enough to do an audit of that. "It seems like he's trying to excuse his own behavior ... it does seem odd that he's bringing things up from years ago when the pressing issue right now is that police recruits have been able to proceed through training without without completing required physical assessment tests." The minister should be held responsible for what was a political promise, she said. "It is completely unfair for New Zealand police to be held accountable for a political promise that they have always said was unattainable by the 27th of November this year. "The political deal making done by this government is now calling into question the reputation of New Zealand police, and that is not fair on the hard working and excellent police service we have. She said the six-month investigation should be expanded to cover the whole two years police had been recruiting to try to meet the target. "I think it would be better for the public's confidence for the whole period to be reviewed, six months doesn't cover the entire time that police have been trying to get the 500 extra and as we've seen that political pressure build on the government, there clearly has been something happened for standards to change." However, Ormerod said the time period would cover all those still at Police College, and "everyone else should have passed and is out on the street and in district, so I think the timing is fair".
