New Police Commissioner Richard Chambers (middle) fronted MPs at Select Committee this afternoon with deputy commissioners Tania Kura (left) and Chris de Wattignar (right). Photo: RNZ / Anneke Smith
Police bosses say it will be "very, very challenging" to increase officer numbers by 500 before November next year and expect it to take an extra seven months to meet that commitment.
National and New Zealand First agreed to a two-year deadline in their coalition deal, but one year on, officer numbers have gone backwards by more than 50.
Appearing before select committee on Thursday afternoon, police leadership told MPs the coalition's timeframe was "ambitious" and a mid-2026 deadline would be "more accurate".
Commissioner Richard Chambers - who assumed the role last month - told MPs the police would do their best to boost numbers but would not lower its standards to meet the goal.
"We're going to work very, very hard... I'm focused on rolling out 500 new police officers that are the best police officers this country can have.
"We're not going to compromise that quality of police officer. So if it takes us a little bit of extra time to produce the best men and women of our organisation for the front line, then we'll take that."
In response to questions from Labour police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen, Chambers said more than 300 recruits were due to graduate by April next year at which point each wing size would grow from 70 to 100.
"The pipeline... in terms of people very keen to join New Zealand policing is looking very healthy."
Deputy commissioner Chris de Wattignar reiterated the government's November 2025 deadline was a "very ambitious" target: "We've always accepted that from the outset; [it's] very, very challenging".
He said police had received Budget funding for the target only this July and so they were working on a two-year timeframe from that point, meaning they would hit the goal by the end of June 2026.
"That's probably a more accurate picture of the target with our projections at the moment.
"We'll try harder before then, we'll do everything that we can. The team are doing some extraordinary work, working within those standards to try and get more people through, to try and keep them on the boil while they're waiting to get to college."
Speaking to RNZ last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described the target as "stretching" but insisted the coalition would deliver: "We'll get it done... judge me by the results when we get there".
In January, Police Minister Mark Mitchell was forced to backtrack after telling Parliament the promise would take three years to achieve, rather than two, given challenges filling recruit wings.
Mitchell quickly reverted to the two-year timeframe following backroom discussions between National and NZ First. NZ First leader Winston Peters, at the time, called it a "mistake in communication".
Following Thursday's select committee hearing, Labour's Ginny Andersen issued a fresh statement declaring the coalition's commitment to be "down the gurgler".
"Mitchell famously flip flopped on this number, confusing the public with messy sums, but the truth of his hollow promise has been revealed," she said.
Asked for a response, Mitchell declined to comment, referring all questions to Associate Police Minister Casey Costello.
In a statement, Costello, a NZ First MP, said the police had given her no indication the target was "unachievable".
"I understand that it's an ambitious goal, but police are reporting a significant increase in applications, there's a major recruitment campaign underway and they are preparing to increase the size of recruitment wings next year."
Costello later told RNZ that both the police and the coalition "absolutely" remained committed to the November 2025 target.
"They're not pushing out the target to June 2026," she said. "They have given us worst-case scenarios, but everything we've said, all the way along, is that it is achievable."
Asked whether she would stake her job on meeting the goal, Costello said that was "a very odd question".
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