New applicants to police more than double in a year

[author:bill_hickman]

• The number of people applying to become police officers has more than doubled in a year
• The Royal New Zealand Police College will increase the capacity to cope with the influx
• Police estimate 115 officers have headed to Australia in the last year and a half
• Staff say the force is on track to meet the government's commitment to 500 new officers on the beat

Police say the numbers of people signing up to the force is an encouraging signal they are on track to reach government recruitment targets.

They said the number of people applying to become a police officer had more than doubled on the previous year.

Assistant Commissioner, Leadership, Talent and Development, Jill Rogers said recruit wings at the Royal New Zealand Police College would increase capacity by 25 percent to cope with the influx.

She said changes in application criteria and a recent advertising campaign were combining to keep the force on track to meet the government's commitment of 500 additional officers.

Rogers said July and August had seen the largest number of applications, 2408, since the national recruitment database began recording applications in 2014.

"All together, when including our major spike in applications, by the end of August police received more than 5500 applications in 2024. This is more than double the amount received across the same period in 2023.

"With an average of 526 applications each month in the first six months of 2024, compared with 334 applications each month in the first six months of 2023, we know we are heading in the right direction," Rogers said.

In July officers said the outcome of the more than year-long pay dispute - which saw an independent arbitrator find in favour of the government's offer - would lead to more officers heading across the ditch to higher salaries and better conditions in Australia.

In the last year and a half 115 constabulary staff had resigned from New Zealand Police to move to Australia.

"This is based on us receiving a vetting request from an Australian police jurisdiction for a staff member who then subsequently resigns within the next 12 months," Rogers said.

"Although this is not conclusive, this does indicate that departures to work in Australia only make up a small portion - less than a seventh - of our low attrition."

Rogers said across the board attrition rates remained encouragingly low.

She said the number of officers leaving the force was 4.8 percent compared to an average of 20 percent reported turnover across public sector departments during 2023.

She said recruitment staff were also buoyed by the number of former officers applying to rejoin police.

"So far in 2024, 73 former Constabulary employees have either re-joined as a Constabulary employee or applied to do so. This means a good proportion of officers who have left in recent years have applied to return."

Rogers said the force was committed to putting more officers on the front-line to boost community safety and prevent crime.

"Achieving this growth in recruits will continue to require a massive effort from everyone involved in attracting, selecting, and training the new officers.

"We want to continue to move forward and keep building on this positive momentum."