Eastern District welcomes 68 additional officers over four years

Eastern District Commander,  Superintendent Sandra Venables, has welcomed the announcement today by the Commissioner and Minister of Police which will see an increase of 68 sworn officers into the district over the next four years, bringing the total number of sworn officers to 491.
 
The announcement is part of the $388 million investment in Police announced by the Prime Minister in February 2017.
 
“This significant investment will enable staff serving the communities of Tairawhiti and Hawke's Bay to continue the amazing proactive work they are doing on behalf of our communities and our organisation.”
 
“Every day our staff strive to prevent and reduce crime. We also ensure that if a crime does happen, we work hard to hold the offender accountable and prevent the same crime occurring again.”
 
"We are fully committed to making a difference and the boost in numbers improves the ability of our staff to build safe communities.” 
 
Eastern District has new sites to be designated 24/7 with Wairoa being one of the first sites to expand in Year One. Year Two decisions on the location of the Waipukurau/Dannevirke base location are still to be made.
 
“I will now go through a process with my district leadership team to identify the best way of deploying the additional 68 staff. As part of that process we will consider where the new staff are best placed to target and catch offenders, prevent harm and victimisation and provide a more responsive police service to communities.”
 
“We will be working with our staff, our partners, and our communities to identify opportunities to increase efficiency and to deploy in ways which will make the most difference in our communities,” says Superintendent Venables. 
 
More details will be provided in the coming months around some of the work our new and existing staff will be doing.
 
ENDS
 
Issued by Police Media Centre.