- Hon Poto Williams
Police Minister Poto Williams celebrated today the graduation of Wing 352 at the Royal New Zealand Police College, which marks the 3,000th new police officer since October 2017.
"The 79 recruits graduating from Wing 352 bring the total new officers since we took office to 3,000. The milestone reached today is a testament to our Government's record investment in Police," Poto Williams said.
"Our Government has never been more active in the crackdown on gangs and organised crime. We're addressing this issue through funding the largest police service on record, and are on track to reach a net gain of 1800 police officers on the beat since we took office by June 2023. With this graduating Wing, we are now only 389 officers away from meeting this target.
"To ensure that the Police can continue their essential work and high-impact investigations, such as Operation Tauwhiro, we will keep supporting them through funding and legislation, so that they have the tools to keep our communities safe.
"Even with the challenges of COVID-19, we have seen 1,200 recruits graduate in the past 28 months. The recruits have shown impressive resilience throughout their training, and I congratulate all of them on their achievement.
"I'm also happy to see that diversity amongst frontline Police staff is increasing at record levels. We are seeing more and more women, Māori and Pacific graduates from Police College. Since 2017, nearly four out of every ten graduates from have been women, with Māori, Pacific and Asian recruits making up 37% of all new Police.
"It's important we continue to increase the diversity of our frontline Police so that they better represent the communities in which they serve. The new constables will start work on the frontline in their districts from 11 April," Poto Williams said.
