Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Andrew Dickens: Cops on the beat is a no-brainer

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Andrew Dickens: Cops on the beat is a no-brainer · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Cops are going to stay on the beat in the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Auckland CBD. The government will boost anti crime measures across
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Central Auckland with one point three million dollars worth of
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Now that Proceeds of Crime Fund caven in two thousand
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and nine. It lets the New Zealand police seize money
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and assets that have been obtained directly or indirectly from crimes,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: and once all the legal matters are addressed, the recover
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: money is placed in the Proceeds of Crime Fund to
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: be spent. And the whole thing was announced by the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Auckland Minister Simmy and Brown, Minister for Everything and Associate
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Justice Minister Nicole McKee, and it has been greeted wholeheartedly by
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: retailers and residents. It'll see the new Federal Streets Station
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: open twenty four to seven. By the way, that station
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: will open in the middle of the year. And of
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: course all of this is a good thing. My question
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: has always been why did we stop doing this in
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  Speaker 1: the first place. The cop on the beat is assigned
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to one in all citizens and criminals that the police
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: are in control of the streets, not the rat bags.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: For me, it's the first thing the police should fund,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: not the last. And that perception that it is not
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: important is just reinforced to me by the new funding
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: coming from the Proceeds of Crime fund and not the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: general budget. And another question I have, who thought that
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: no cops on the beat was a good idea in
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the first place. It's tempting to blame Cuddle's Costa in
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the last government who was soft on crime. But it's
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: been going on far longer than that. It's another example
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: of public service being told to cut budgets and then
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: going and cutting the good stuff instead of the bad.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: And one more thing about the funding. This is not
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: just a problem for Auckland. It's nationwide. It's in all
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: our cities and towns and suburban shopping centers. What about them. Well,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: we're going to wait to see if the budget which
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: is forthcoming will show a changed emphasis. For more from
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: it be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio.