7. Question No. 7—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 7—Police7. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement regarding the reported blowout in police response times I am not over the detail of that"; if so why?Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Minister of Police): Yes in the context my statement was made. There are a number of points I would like to confirm to the member in regards to police response times. Response times for emergencies have remained stable with the median response time in urban areas around eight minutes over the past four years. The response times significantly fluctuate during the year and across New Zealand and tend to be higher over the summer period. There have been unprecedented pressures on the police due to multiple COVID outbreaks which have had a significant impact on police resourcing and response times. As a Government we are committed to support police and that's why we have invested significantly in police resourcing.Hon Mark Mitchell: Does she believe it is acceptable that some Kiwis are waiting nearly two hours for police to respond to serious incidents?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: No I do not but what I am supportive of is the fact that despite the fact that police have been significantly impacted by COVID—the temporary COVID spike—they have been working significantly to support the members in this House. They have been working at managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ). The numbers that were reported in the Official Information Act request that the member has been referencing relate to February 2022 when these conditions were at their peak. And despite all the pressures on the police they were still able to deliver an emergency response that was within or around eight minutes which is within the same kind of time over the last four years. So it has not significantly increased. And that is because they have been supported by this Government to deliver because we have put 1400 extra cops on the beat and invested heavily in them by adding $450 million into supporting police.Hon Mark Mitchell: Did crime increase or decrease over the COVID spikes?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: There are two different priority areas that the police respond to: priority 1 which is the emergency response time which I've already said has stayed around eight minutes regardless of the pressure on the police. The second part of their priorities—priority 2—has seen an increase and that has primarily been in the area of family harm. We know that some of the most significant and important calls to the service are in the family harm area and our police respond. And they do that because they have been supported by this Government with an extra 1400 police on the beat and record investment.Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order Mr Speaker. In her response the police Minister referred to COVID spikes as being a reason for an increase in police response times and I asked her a very clear and direct question: "Has crime increased or decreased during the COVID spikes?" She didn't address that at all.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes she did.Hon Mark Mitchell: Is there a link between an increase in gang violence and a reduction in police response times?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Has the member got some research that indicates that? In my view Operation Tauwhiro—taking 1000 gang arrests taking 1500 gang firearms off the streets and taking 52 kilos of gang meth—is just one example of the work that the New Zealand Police do every single day to break the back of the gangs in this country. I find every single time that member stands in this House he criticises the work of the New Zealand Police. And I back the police this Government backs the police and we do it by ensuring they have the investment they need to do the work that they need.Hon Mark Mitchell: What is the targeted time for priority 2 events?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: As soon as possible would be great but the police have experienced—particularly in February 2022 which is where that member is taking his particular information from. That was at a time when police were impacted by COVID. They are our front line. Not only were they impacted by COVID they put themselves in harm's way of COVID all the time. They were off being isolated there were hundreds of cops here protecting us and they were in MIQ. Now that is the time when that member chose to look at response times and it is an absolute credit to the New Zealand Police that they were able to respond to emergencies in the same time frames and that is because we have invested in police and they have the resources to do so. If it had been under National where they froze budgets and they cut—SPEAKER: Order! Order! I think that's been addressed.Hon Mark Mitchell: Point of order Mr Speaker. I am seeking your guidance on this as my primary is very specific and it deals with response times and I asked the Minister a very specific question—"What is the targeted time for priority 2 events?"—which she has spoken to and she did not answer that question.SPEAKER: She did actually address the question. Although she did not give a specific time she did address the question.Hon Mark Mitchell: Is a home invasion a category 1 or a category 2 offence?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: It's a significant category 1 event.Hon Mark Mitchell: Is the Minister sure about that?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: The police respond to category 1 events where there is a threat of harm to that person and I would expect the police to be dealing with that as quickly as possible."