7. Question No. 7—PoliceGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 7—Police7. GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour—Hutt South) to the Minister of Police: What recent briefing has he received on the Police portfolio?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Police): Over the last week I've had several conversations with the Commissioner of Police and received my first formal briefings in my new role as Minister of Police. These briefings have highlighted the challenges in the work undertaken daily by our police to protect our communities. I'm looking forward to the challenges in the new portfolio and in the coming weeks I intend to get out and about and meet as many of our front-line staff as I can and hear from our local communities.Ginny Andersen: What will be his first priority as Minister of Police and how does he propose to tackle the challenges facing police in New Zealand today?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: My first job as Minister of Police will be making sure that police have everything they need in order to do their job effectively. That includes making sure that we have the right laws in place for effective policing that police have what they need to do their job well and that the public can have confidence in the police and feel safe. My view is that the best way to be effective is to tackle crime at both ends which is to have an equal focus on ensuring that there are strong public safety measures in place whilst doing everything that we can to provide meaningful crime prevention. I'm interested in what works not empty slogans. As the Minister I see that there is significant opportunity for us to better connect the police with our education providers to help deal with some of the underlying drivers of criminal activity amongst our young people most notably disengagement with education training and employment.Ginny Andersen: What actions is the Government taking to address gang-related crime?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I do want to acknowledge there has been an escalation in gang-related tensions. That's one of the reasons why the Government has boosted police funding by $562 million and doubled the number of people working on organised crime. What keeps communities safe is more police on the beat with better training and more tactical options available. That's why we've committed to a police-to-population ratio. So rather than seeing the number of police relative to the size of the population decline as we were seeing before we became the Government we want to make sure that we are seeing at least the number of police relative to the ratio of the population on the beat and that's why we've invested $185 million in front-line safety. Over the next few weeks I'll be talking to police and justice officials alongside my colleague the new Minister of Justice the excellent Kiritapu Allan to identify other potential future changes to the legislative settings that might help police tackle organised and gang-related crime.Ginny Andersen: How does he intend on ensuring the long-standing convention of operational independence is maintained between the Minister of Police and the New Zealand Police Service?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Like previous Ministers I intend to closely observe the long-held position of having a clear line between operational matters of police and the role as politicians. Section 16 of the Policing Act is one that members should make themselves familiar with. It explicitly states that the Commissioner of Police is not responsible to and must act independently of any Minister of the Crown regarding the enforcement of the law and the investigation and prosecution of offences. While I intend to work closely with the Commissioner of Police and ensure that he's constantly aware of my expectations of police I will not be looking at telling police how to do their jobs. Come on Mark!