The government needs to increase funding if police are to reverse the increasing number of burglaries, the Labour Party says.
Official figures show an 11 percent increase in burglary related crimes for the year to February.
Labour's police spokesperson Stuart Nash said police were under-resourced and needed more funding in the next budget.
"The tools needed to solve crime are actually there, we just need the people on the ground using them.
"I haven't met a police officer who isn't passionate about this, but if they're not resourced then they simply can't do the job required to get the bad guys off the street and make our community safe."
Mr Nash said last year more than 90 percent of burglaries weren't resolved.
A survey of about 5000 Police Association members last month found 86 percent thought front-line officers were under-resourced.
But Police Minister Judith Collins said the force's budget increased by $41 million last year and there hadn't been a decrease in resourcing.
Ms Collins said solving burglaries was a priority for the police, and they had recently launched Operation Resolve to help do so.
She said it would not be appropriate to say whether the police would get more money in this year's budget.