Budget 25: Boost will mostly be eaten by inflation, police union says
Photo:
RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Police Association says it's pleasantly surprised by new funding allocated from this year's Budget.
The government is investing $480 million over the next four years to support frontline police as part of the 2025 Budget.
Police Association president Chris Cahill said the devil would be in the details as to where funding will be focused.
"It takes a lot to run a police force, and they sound some big numbers, but most of it will just be absorbed into the increased costs driven by inflation," Cahill said.
"But that's much better than falling behind which is what I thought we probably would deal with."
The government was also investing $60 million of new funding over the next four years for the Prosecutions Uplift Programme, which was a targeted intervention programme that included improvements to prosecutions, in order to support the court system and reach more timely case resolutions, and funding for administrative police costs like payroll and human resources.
Cahill said the programme, which started in Auckland two years ago, was making good gains.
"That's good for victims of crime, getting stuff through the courts quicker, it's making it easier for frontline cops to file prosecution files, and also for offenders to get dealt with, it improves justice," he said.
In a statement on Thursday, Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the Prosecutions Uplift Programme had the added benefit of freeing-up frontline staff from "administrative overhead".
"The programme started in July 2023 in Auckland, and its success there means it will now be rolled out nationally," he said.
"We're supporting Police to crack down on crime and ensure there are real consequences for offenders."
Chris Cahill said there were other areas of the police force where funding needed to be considered, including the vehicles and equipment used by frontline staff.
"Clearly, IT continues to need to be upgraded, so it's good to see some investment in that, and we'll just have to see where all the frontline stuff goes, but just the cost of fuel, general inflation matters, will soak up a significant portion of that [$480] million over four years," he said.
"We've also got what I call our backbone, our police employees, our non-sworn staff that need to receive pay rises as well, so those types of things will have to be factored in to where this money's spent.
"It's a big organisation and it does take a lot to run, but given how tight the government is at the moment, I think we have to be grateful for what's been received."
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