9. Question No. 9—PoliceHon GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 9—Police9. Hon GINNY ANDERSEN (Labour) to the Minister of Police: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Hon MARK MITCHELL (Minister of Police): Yes.Hon Ginny Andersen: Does he stand by his statement This Government is determined to put public safety back at the heart of the criminal justice system."; if so has the number of victimisations from incidents using a stabbing or cutting weapon in the Auckland City Police District increased by 32 percent since he has taken office?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Absolutely we stand by that statement because we've come off the back of six years of a soft-on-crime Government and we're having to fix and repair the enormous amount of damage that they did. In terms of the Auckland CBD we have increased by over 50 percent the amount of beat patrols and foot patrols now. There are early signs that crime in the Auckland CBD is starting to reduce and we're going to continue to be focused on this work.Hon Ginny Andersen: Are the number of victimisations from incidents involving a stabbing or cutting weapon in the Waitematā Police District up by 25 percent since he took office?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well again I'd say that this Government inherited a situation where we've got massive violent crime that we're now having to get on top of and start to reduce. When it comes to knife crime I have spoken to police and I've asked for advice on that because we've seen in the UK a massive increase in knife crime. We're now seeing in Australia an increased use of knife crime and this is probably going to arrive on our shores too and this Government's going to get ahead of the problem and make sure that we actually deal with it.Hon Ginny Andersen: Does he agree with the Prime Minister that it is for the chief executive or the Commissioner of Police to determine if police communicators who answer 111 calls are front-line or not?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Yes I do agree with the Prime Minister because just about every day he's committed to making sure that we've got a safer country and that we're moving in the right direction. In terms of 111 operators I would define a front-line police officer myself as a sworn police officer and I would say that the 111 operator's job is no less important in terms of public safety. But it is there to support those front-line police officers in their job.Hon Ginny Andersen: Mr Speaker I'm not clear—SPEAKER: Why are you talking?Hon Ginny Andersen: Point of order. Mr Speaker he said he agreed with the Prime Minister that it's for the chief executive or the Commissioner of Police to determine. But then he gave his own reckons that it was actually a sworn officer. So I'm unclear as to what was the answer to my question.SPEAKER: Yeah but I'm not. So next question?Hon Ginny Andersen: Does he stand by his answer to written parliamentary question No. 8217 that in fact police communicators who answer 111 calls are not front-line?Hon MARK MITCHELL: Well again I would say that my determination is I view a front-line police officer as a sworn member of police and I view the incredibly important job that communicators and 111 call takers do as being critically important but they are there to support our sworn front-line police officers."