10. Question No. 10—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 10—Police10. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer"; if so why?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN (Minister of Police): I stand by my full statement at the time it was given: "It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer with a Government on track to deliver 1800 extra police." I stand by that statement given the recent announcement the Government has made to empower police to crack down on youth offending as well as gang offending—this includes introducing an aggravating factor that would apply whenever adults aid abet or incite a person under the age of 18 to carry out an offence. It would also make it an aggravating factor when posting offending behaviour online for both adults and also for young people. It includes introducing great accountability for youth offending by bringing youth justice tools and approaches into the Family Court. And finally I'm pleased to see a funding boost of $26 million for the Police Prosecution Service.Hon Mark Mitchell: Is it correct that ram raids have increased by 40 percent in the last year?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: The current level of offending is entirely unacceptable and that is why this Government is taking further action to break the cycle of offending and to hold those repeat offenders to account. The trend is down from a high in August in 2022 but we have got a lot more work to do and we remain committed to doing that.Hon Mark Mitchell: So which is it: the trend is down or ram raids have increased by 40 percent in the last year?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: They remain too high and that's why we're taking further actions to bring them down. I do acknowledge there has been an increase in ram raids which peaked in August of last year. I remain committed to tackling the problem. While we have seen those numbers come down since August I do not believe any ram raid is acceptable.Hon Mark Mitchell: Why have ram raids increased since she became the Minister?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: We have seen as I have said a peak in August of last year but that is exactly why this Government is taking action to fund our front-line police to make sure we have the resources there to prosecute and to make sure that those young repeat offenders are brought to account. That is resourcing our front line unlike that member's previous Government that cut front-line resources.Hon Mark Mitchell: Well why was New Zealand safer under a National Government than it is under a Labour Government?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Did that member say that he feels that all New Zealand—the track record for Labour is that we have delivered 1800 extra police we have put $35 million into retail crime prevention we have enabled Operation Cobalt with 40000 charges brought against gang members we have rolled out the tactical response model right across to keep our cops safer and we have introduced legislation that enables new warrant powers for intra-gang conflict. I put that up against the track record of the previous National Government which closed over 30 police stations which froze the police budget which let police numbers fall and cut victims' funding."