Borrows Chester: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Borrows Chester: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:640;Page:10422] 
CHESTER BORROWS (National—Whanganui) 
: 
 I turn to the report by Senior Sergeant Iain Saunders the psychologist who is now a senior sergeant within the police and who works at the Police College. He made some conclusions in relation to recruiting within the police and his concerns were these: “There are very real developing concerns with incoming recruit populations. No matter how you tint your view of the recent performance of police recruits in training there is a noticeable growth in the tail of the population and the load being placed on training resources to get them through the course.” He established that there were four deficiencies within the recruiting system as it is at the moment. He says: “Recruit performance and training is”—in bold—“diminishing and has done so markedly since the introduction of the new testing and associated standards. The labour market did not abruptly change at this time nor did the education system or the recruit course measures presented.” 
Then he said: “Data reported to recruit training is limited and commonly erroneous hampering attempts to research recruit performance and training delivery outcomes adequately.” He went on to say: “To review norms periodically is desirable. For it to be as haphazard as it appears is not. This exposes police to risk of staying on thresholds at extremes creeping either up or down depending as to who is put into the sample.” At the end he says: “Criticism of the RTG”—recruit training group—“work in this field is founded on flawed and misrepresented data which has little credibility leading to the suspicion that the executive are misinformed on the actual position with regards to recruit performance and selection.” 
We have to wonder just where the Minister of Police was when that report was delivered to the police’s administration because when she was spoken to in the media about it she said it was an operational matter and had nothing to do with her. In actual fact the Minister of Police in that situation is standing in front of the public and holding the police to account because that is her job. If she does not want to do that job maybe she should look for something else. The fact is that that is her role. She cannot just hold her hands up and say it is an operational matter so it has nothing to do with her. 
I now just want to touch on another point: the whole issue around the issuing and distribution of the stab-proof vests. We know that the police were guaranteeing to their officers that they would have stab-proof vests and as Mr Mark has previously said that that was supposed to be rolled out over 12 months by the end of 2003— 
Ron Mark 
: 2002 actually. 
CHESTER BORROWS 
: It was promised to be rolled out by 2003 over a 12-month period. Whatever happened the stab-proof vests did not show up then. We know that last year they were again supposed to be rolled out. We know that initially they were the wrong colour because someone had decided that stab-proof vests should be fluorescent. The trouble is it is really hard for someone to hide in the bushes and catch baddies if he or she is wearing a fluorescent vest that glows in the dark. Then the police decided that they would make the vests blue—good. Then the vests were in the wrong material which disintegrated in the sun. Then the police decided that maybe the duty belt should hang off the bottom of the stab-proof vests so that the capsicum spray the extendable baton the torches the PR24 clip the radio and all the rest of the equipment could hang off them. It was a really good idea but it was not thought of to start with. Then the measurements for the vests were all done wrongly by members of the New Zealand Police we are told and not by the contractor. 
So now police officers still do not have the vests. The Minister said that most of them would be rolled out by the end of July. However the police administration says that 98 percent of them will be rolled out by the end of the year. 
We have recently found of course that the shirts the police currently wear will not go with the vests because there is a heat problem apparently. That was not thought of to start with either. So now a contract has been let for 35000 new moisture-wicking breathable shirts to wear under the stab-proof vests. That contract has been let out for 35000 shirts initially and then an ongoing 1000 shirts a month after that. We have no idea of what that will cost and answers to questions at the select committee and also to written questions indicate that the police have no idea of what that will cost. 
If we talk to police officers on the street they say to us that they cannot wear a raincoat over the stab-proof vest. They cannot wear jerseys over the vest nor can they wear a duty jacket or a tunic over it. When spoken to about that the Minister and the administration within the police have said that this is a parallel roll-out of equipment. I am sure that anyone’s view of a parallel roll-out of equipment is that it all gets rolled out together. So before one signs a contract with someone to supply stab-proof vests one should actually think about things like colour material design size jackets duty jackets and tunics.