New police base stark contrast to regions' toxic mould and leaks

Friday, 29 November 2024

The announcement of a new police base in Auckland has landed with a dull thud among those in the policing backblocks who continue to grapple with “atrocious” working conditions.

From toxic black mould, to leaks and chronic overcrowding, regional police stations have been crying out for capital expenditure for years.

But on Monday this week newly appointed Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told gathered media that a new 24/7 police base would be operating in Auckland’s CBD by the middle of next year.

Flanked by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Chambers said the expansion of police’s property portfolio would “go a long way to address crime in central Auckland”.

While police already occupy two of the four floors of the Federal St building, from January a lease agreement to take over the additional two floors will come into effect, he said.

However, a Police Association delegate told The Post other stations around the country continue to be in “dire straits”, prompting questions about whether the new base was politically motivated.

The Post understands that Greymouth police station has developed a toxic black mould problem so bad that staff have resorted to wearing masks in the building.

Those not willing to risk it have abandoned ship altogether, with some working from portacoms set up in the carpark and others working from elsewhere in Greymouth.

Staff in Wairarapa have also begun to report sickness as a result of toxic mould.

Further south in Rolleston chronic overcrowding has meant that some officers have lockers inside the disabled toilet cubicle, The Post has been told.

Hope for a new station has waned, prompting the Selwyn District Council to propose that it build a new all-in-one base for all emergency services operating in the area.

Wellington’s Upper Hutt police station, on the other hand, is “leaking like a seive”, with pots, pans and buckets placed around the base in the hopes the station avoids the same fate as in Greymouth and Wairarapa.

Custody suites in Hawke’s Bay and Nelson are also on the list of buildings needing repairs, with so many leaks in the former that plastic tarpaulin has been placed over the entirety of the roof.

“The whole portfolio is in an atrocious state, it’s a total mess. It’s almost become a joke as to whose station can be the worst,” a Police Association delegate said.

At the association’s annual conference in October, the most common piece of feedback the union received was that police stations around the motu were becoming unusable, the delegate said.

While Chambers rejected the assertion that the new Auckland base was politically motivated, he acknowledged that the police force had “a significant property portfolio that needs a lot of work”.

“It’s a huge priority for me to focus on our property footprint, because those are the places where staff go to do their job,” he told The Post.

Chambers said police would have to “balance the work we do in our property portfolio with the investment that we make in our visibility and communities”.

He would look to address the long-standing issues with police property as soon as he could, while “appreciating we have an envelope of money that we’re going to have to make hard decisions on”.

“I’m very alert to the fact that our properties around the country need a lot of work and one of my focal points for the next six months will be looking at what we can do.”