District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill. Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
Police are accusing Federated Farmers of scaremongering over a proposed restructure in rural Canterbury.
But the farming lobby group is furious about a proposal it says will see local police services cut in favour of hubs in Rangiora and Rolleston.
North Canterbury Federated Farmers' president Bex Green told Morning Report on Tuesday she understood the proposal would mean some areas would have reduced policing and others would see the local rural police officers changing to rural liaison officers working office hours, while Arthur's Pass and Culverden would have no local officers at all.
But District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill told Morning Report the restructure, which had been 18 months in the making, only proposed closing the sole-charge station at Arthur's Pass.
Other stations would remain open but with a different model of policing that would reflect current demand, he said.
Hill said the proposal was a "refocusing" rather than a reduction in sworn officers. Some roles would be disestablished, but those officers would be encouraged to apply for other roles.
"What we're proposing is that if their current role is a rural role... we are proposing standing up road policing roles in the area for that very purpose.
"We know for places like Culverden almost two-thirds of their calls for service are actually about policing on the roads.
"Hurunui's a classic example. Seven people died on the roads there last year - that's a horrific number and we want to see some change in it."
A new rural liaison officer role would be created.
Hill said he believed it was a model that would help the police "manage demand effectively into the future".
"Actually, I think it probably reflects what the community's needs are."
Federated Farmers should have come to the police to confirm the details of the proposal, Hill said.
"What's not helpful is they haven't come to us for opinion before they've jumped into the media and shared their views on it.
"We encourage anyone who would like to know more about this to come directly to us instead of drumming up particularly scaremongering in the community."
Federated Farmers is furious about a proposal it says will see local police services cut. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
But Green said Federated Farmers was disappointed to have learnt of the changes through the media, and would have liked to see community consultation.
"We want some answers, we want to know and understand how [the proposal] is going to work."
She said most of the communities in the area would have reduced policing under the proposal.
"The police live in our community, they know the people and understand the community. A lot of what they do here is crime prevention and proactiveness - that is really huge for our community, if we lose that, it is going to be really difficult."
Green said the nearest police stations to Culverden were in Hanmer Springs and Waikari, 30 minutes' drive from Culverden.
"Should one of them be on leave or attending another call, we are left with one police officer."
To bring someone back up from Rangiora would take more than an hour.
"In an emergency, every second counts - if you need help, you need it now, not an hour later."
She said the cuts hurt given the government's promise of more frontline police.
"I think that is probably happening in the cities, but taking away the rural presence… is not the way to go about it."
Public meetings would be held at the Amuri Area School Gym, Culverden and the Leeston Rugby Club Hall at 6pm on Wednesday night.
In a statement, Hill said the district restructure proposal went out to all Canterbury staff for feedback last week, with consultation closing next week.
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