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AAP FactCheck Research: Did the number of police officers decrease when National Party leader Judith Collins was a police minister?
“When Judith was a police minister, the number of police officers decreased during her tenure.”
Jacinda Ardern, Leader of the Labor Party and Prime Minister of New Zealand, September 30, 2020.
Labor Party Leader Jacinda Ardern has attacked National Party leader Judith Collins’ record on public order issues, alleging that Collins presided over a reduction in the number of police officers.
During the Newshub leaders debate on Sept. 30, Collins said the number of gangs had increased under the Ardern government, but Ardern said Collins “had no credibility in the gangs.”
“When Judith was a police minister, the number of police officers decreased during her tenure,” Ardern said.
AAP FactCheck has examined Ardern’s claim that there was a decrease in the number of police officers under Collins.
Collins was Minister of Police in the previous National Government between November 2008 and December 2011 and again from December 2015 to December 2016.
In an emailed statement provided to AAP FactCheck in August, the New Zealand Police outlined the annual police numbers from June 2008 to June 2020.
The figures, which are not routinely published or made available to the public, show the number of police officers as opposed to the total number of New Zealand police employees.
According to the New Zealand Police, as of June 2008 there were 8,211 police officers. Collins became Minister of Police for the first time in November 2008.
Figures from the New Zealand Police show that the number of officers increased to 8,643 in June 2009 and 8,707 in June 2010, before dropping to 8,638 in June 2011.
Collins’ portfolios changed in December 2011, but she returned to the post of Minister of Police in December 2015.
There were 8,923 police officers in June 2015 and it was down to 8,899 in June 2016. Collins’ portfolios changed again in December 2016.
While there were some year-over-year declines in the number of police officers during Collins’ terms as police minister, the number of officers increased overall by 688.
However, when measured as a proportion of New Zealand’s population, the number of police officers decreased.
According to a table of census data showing the past 29 years, there were an estimated 4,259,800 people residing in New Zealand in June 2008. The population increased to 4,302,600 in June 2009; 4,350,700 in June 2010; 4,384,000 in June 2011; 4,585,600 in June 2015; and 4,678,100 in June 2016.
AAP FactCheck calculated the number of police officers as a proportion of the resident population during the years that Collins was minister of police by dividing the population figures by the police numbers for the corresponding year.
This revealed that there was one police officer for every 519 New Zealand residents in June 2008, one for every 498 residents in June 2009, 1/500 in 2010, 1/507 in 2011, 1/514 in 2015, and 1 / 526 in 2016.
New Zealand police data shows that the actual number of police officers increased between 2008 and 2016, during which time Collins served two separate terms as police minister.
When the number of police officers is described as an officer-to-resident ratio, they show improvement during Collins’ first term as police minister (from 1/519 in 2008 to 1/507 in 2011).
However, during Collins’ second career as police minister, population growth in New Zealand greatly outpaced the growth in the number of police officers (1/514 in 2015 to 1/526 in 2016). This is also true when comparing the ratio of police officers to residents for 2008 with the same data for 2016.
This means that the leader of the Labor Party, Jacinda Ardern, is only correct in saying that police figures fell below Collins when those figures are expressed as police officers per capita.
Something False: The statement has a problem or an inaccuracy, but contains a significant element or elements of truth.
* AAP FactCheck is accredited by the Poynter Institute’s International Data Verification Network, which promotes best practices through a strict and transparent Code of Principles. https://aap.com.au/
