(File photo) Photo: RNZ / Luka Forman
An extra 21 new beat police will hit the streets of Auckland's central city today, bringing the total devoted to the CBD beat to 51.
According to an official briefing to the Police Minister Mark Mitchell in May, provided to RNZ under the Official Information Act, 250 foot patrols had been conducted every week for the previous three months.
Police had been focused on "uplifting" their beat presence in the CBD for the last 12 months, according to the briefing.
"Beat patrols are an effective mechanism to combat offending in the Auckland CBD and provide community reassurance through visibility," it reads.
At a public law and order meeting last month, Mitchell told the audience there had been a 60 percent increase in beat patrols since National came to power.
He was, however, unable to say how many foot patrols there had been under the previous coalition government.
The government last month announced the extra 21 police officers would be redeployed to the CBD from other parts of Auckland.
The foot patrols would be working from Wednesday to Sunday during peak periods, weekdays, and overnight, the briefing paper stated.
It noted that 21 new officers were being redeployed ahead of 500 new officers graduating from the Police College, many of whom would be joining community beats.
"Police has committed to utilising part of the government's investment in 500 additional constabulary staff to introduce community beat teams in locations experiencing high public place crime harm," it reads.
"Beat teams will specifically provide officers walking the beat in crime hot spots and locations where proactive community engagement drives levels of positive contact, such as main streets, shopping malls, and transport hubs."
