"As a former police officer I have dealt with my share of crime. And I say that Law and Order is NOT first a police issue - it is first a family issue."

- Richard Lewis: Family Party Conference May 08

Government has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law and maintain peace and order in our communities. This is achieved through a credible (well-respected), competent and well-resourced Police force. Moreover, a core focus of Family Party policy towards Law & Order is in strengthening families to address the root issues of crime. 

Our thinking on Law & Order: A healthy respect for self, people and property begins firstly in the home. Stable, safe and healthy home environments where boundaries are set and reinforced provide the best defence for future offending. Fatherless children are more likely to enter into criminal and anti-social behaviour than children raised in stable two-parent families. Therefore, the Family Party believes:

• Families play the most important role in achieving meaningful and lasting social change in the area of crime
• Strengthening families is the long term solution to reducing crime trends, which includes supporting parents to create and maintain boundaries in the home
• The Police must be adequately staffed and resourced to deter, investigate and fight crime
• The Justice System must deliver meaningful consequences for criminal behaviour in a timely fashion

Police numbers:

The NZ Police currently has a ratio of one sworn police officer for every 510 people. Excluding recruits in training, the ratio is 1:525.

In comparison:

• England and Wales have a police-to-population ratio of 1:372
• Australia overall, has a police-to-population ratio of 1:415

Despite recent staff increases, New Zealand continues to be significantly under-policed relative to population and geography. We must bring New Zealand’s police-to-population ratio in line with similar jurisdictions.

The Family Party supports the Police Association recommendation as an initial target, to match Queensland’s ratio of 1:424 by 2015. That would require an additional 1,700 more sworn police. (Australian Police recruiting trends will go beyond that by 2015.)

Frontline focus:

The frontline continues to be chronically understaffed in many areas, which is placing significant strain and stress on frontline officers and their families.

The Family Party believes the focus of staffing and resources should be at the frontlines, which is the General Duties Branch and Emergency Response Staff.

General Law & Order Policies: The Family Party will:

• Increase police numbers so they are adequate and internationally comparable (as above)
• Make it a first priority to boost primary response frontline staff
• Investigate and support initiatives that attract quality recruits
• Retain existing experienced officers to ensure knowledge and experience is properly transferred. This will involve looking at added benefits for serving officers and their families
• Explore ways to attract former experienced officers back into the force (to recover invaluable skills and experience)
• Equip police with modern crime fighting tools to effectively do their job, i.e. tasers
• Support greater funding towards combating organised crime and the P epidemic
• Review the benefits and feasibility of returning to separate police and traffic departments so police focus solely on deterring, investigating and apprehending criminals  

 Also see Gang and Prostitution Policies