There is no doubt the cancellation and deferral of police specialist training courses is a cost-saving measure, the president of the Police Association Chris Cahill says.
Police Association president Chris Cahill. Photo: RNZ / Jacob West
Police have cancelled 13 specialist training courses and deferred another nine until next year, and another 25 courses have been cancelled in the last 12 months.
Mr Cahill said the cancellations were driven by cost.
"And if training course are deferred that just leads to pressures on other staff so we think they should budget better to ensure the courses that are programmed in go ahead.
"But we understand this year [there has been] some particularly difficult financial pressures."
Mr Cahill said planning needed to improve so that cuts did not have to be made near the end of the financial year.
The Minister of Police Paula Bennett said she had been assured the cancellations and deferrals would have no impact on the ability of police to do their job.
Mrs Bennett said the police have told her they regularly review the training courses they deliver and it was not uncommon for them to be cancelled.
Reasons for cancelling them included the number of people registering for them was too low, or enough staff have already been trained.