Cops back on the beat: Police set up new Community Beat Teams
Sunday, 23 June 2024
Police will start new community beat patrols in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Oranga Tamariki is set to pilot a new military-style boot camp in Palmerston North.
The Government says it will be able to hire an extra 500 police officers.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says 90 extra constables will make up a new Community Beat unit, with teams in the three biggest cities.
Coster confirmed the new unit on Sunday, beside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and other ministers who outlined the next steps of their plan to combat crime.
Children’s Minister Karen Chhour also detailed how the youth offender bootcamps would start, saying a pilot would begin soon in Palmerston North.
The enhanced focus on beat policing would begin in Auckland CBD. Coster said 21 additional police officers would be redeployed to beat policing in Auckland city from the start of July.
He said there were already about 30 officers working the beat in Auckland city, so the total police force patrolling areas such as Queen and Karangahape Rd would exceed 50 by the end of July.
“Our intent is to move to a 24/7 beat model in the CBD, working on a rostered basis with five teams, each led by a sergeant, to increase police visibility around the clock,” he said.
Coster said there would be 17 officers deployed in Wellington as part of the community beat focus. In Christchurch, there would be an extra 10 officers deployed on the beat.
By the end of the two-year roll-out, Coster said there would be 21 officers deployed in each of Auckland’s three policing districts - making up 63 additional officers on the beat across the region.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said officers would be redeployed to make up these community beat teams, leaving roles would be filled by new recruitment. He said the Government’s commitment to hire an additional 500 police officers would make up the numbers.
He said funding for the community beat teams was coming from new provisions in Budget 2024.
Coster said it would be a gradual process to refill those positions, left vacant by the community beat team redeployments, but he said the Police College would be able to train the officers required to make this happen.
He said the intention was to increase police visibility in urban areas.
“Increased visibility deters crime and encourages a sense of safety through positive engagement with the public and business owners,” he said.
Mitchell said there would eventually be community beat teams in other centres. However, he said there was an urgent need to increase police visibility in Auckland.
“Nobody should have to fear walking down Queen Street, or constantly worry when their business will be the victim of retail crime,” he said.
Last week, Mitchell said he was also talking with police about setting up a permanent police station around Queen St in the Auckland CBD.
Boot camp pilot will begin without law change
Meanwhile, Chhour said the Government would not need to introduce new law to start its military-style boot camps for youth convicts.
The initial pilot would see 10 young offenders be sentenced to a year-long programme, based out of Oranga Tamariki’s youth justice facility in Palmerston North. They would spend three months in a custodial setting, she said, followed by nine months in the community.
“Participants will follow a specially created curriculum and syllabus, with daily activities to support their health, learning and wellbeing. This will include military-style activities,” she said.
When the military-style bootcamps start, only young offenders labelled as “Serious Young Offenders”, in the Youth Court, would be eligible for the programme.
Chhour said that label would be an option for people aged 14 to 17 years old, who were deemed likely to re-offend, and who could be sentenced to 10-plus years in jail