Collins Judith: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Collins Judith: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:661;Page:9486] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Police) 
: 
 It is really great to be the Minister of Police and to remind members that in the last Budget the police were huge winners getting almost $300 million extra. But there was not a word from the Opposition on that point. I say to the member who just resumed his seat Clayton Cosgrove that one thing our front-line police officers do not like is having their names used in this Chamber and brought into political debate. I ask him to kindly respect the fact that those officers are embarrassed by his using their names and they would rather he did not do that. And quite frankly they also dispute many of the things he says about them. 
One of the points we can note is that the New Zealand Police is the best police force in the world. There was not a word from the Opposition about the fact that a UMR Research poll shows that for the first time 78 percent of people polled thought that the police were fantastic and that they do a good job. That is the highest rating ever; a 7-point increase in 1 year. The Government had something to do with it in terms of funding leadership and direction and backing for the New Zealand police. But the majority of the credit should go to our police officers who everyday put their lives on the line for us. I would like to give them that credit and I want to tell members about some of the very good stories from the New Zealand police during the last financial year. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Tell us! 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I thank Mr Auchinvole; I certainly will. 
For a start we recognise that there is a problem with organised crime. Police have achieved the best results in 10 years for the National Cannabis and Crime Operation. Over 800 searches led to 1175 offenders being identified and over 140000 plants being destroyed and New Zealanders were protected from some $379 million worth of socio-economic harm. 
Three major operations—Operation Viper Operation Vito and Operation Web—smashed serious drug operations. In September 2008 Operation Viper led to more than 70 people being arrested for serious drug-dealing offending. Operation Vito led to 10 arrests in relation to the manufacture and supply of methamphetamine and three clandestine laboratories were dismantled. 
The whole-of-Government approach is the only way to fight organised crime and it was very satisfying to see the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand or OFCANZ carry out its first operation last year. This signalled that New Zealand has become a more hostile environment for organised crime groups. This Government was very pleased to be able to get through the House and put in place legislation such as the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act which empower police to hit crime bosses where it hurts. 
Police have continued to invest in staff and equipment that reflects international best practice. New digital radios in the Wellington region were the culmination of 4 years’ work and the safety of officers has been greatly improved. [ 
Interruption 
] The Opposition may think that is nothing to get excited about but this Government does. Auckland and Canterbury are on track to have digital radio this year. 
The national Taser roll-out is under way thank goodness following the Government’s decision to back the police and give them an extra $10 million in the last Budget. Early data shows that in 90 percent of violent instances the situations are resolved when Tasers are presented without any physical force or even the use of the Taser. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Really? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: Yes—amazingly! This Government is serious about giving the police the right tools to do their job safely. 
In late 2008 police started training staff in world-leading investigative interviewing techniques. More than 3700 staff have now been trained. The electronic crime laboratory has led internationally ground-breaking work on the remote examination of electronic devices. This allows police anywhere in the country to examine seized computers without those computers being forensically compromised. 
We look forward to the effects of the innovative approaches to crime and crime reporting such as the Crimestoppers service which was launched in October last year. Results have already shown that in the first 4 months the service took nearly 2200 calls and police have advised me that around 40 percent of those calls led to the detection of a crime. 
There was also success with road policing in the first part of 2009. Operation Tahi targeted driver behaviour in the South Island on State Highway 1 for 5 months. High levels of cooperation between the various districts led to an estimated 38 fewer fatal-injury crashes. This is a good-news story for New Zealand police but there has not been a word from the Opposition. Unfortunately it is left to the Government to say that we are very pleased about the wonderful work of the New Zealand police.