Forcing police to relocate rough sleepers from spot to spot risks stalling or scrapping other essential crime work, warns the Police Association boss.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has revealed amendments to the Summary Offences Act, giving police broader powers to issue move-on orders to rough sleepers, beggars, and people displaying “disorderly behaviour” in public areas.
The new “move-on” orders would let police tell people aged 14+ to leave a public area for up to 24 hours if they’re rough sleeping, begging (in any form), showing intent to camp out, or acting in disorderly, threatening, or intimidating ways.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the changes prioritise public safety by giving frontline officers more enforcement options to keep people feeling and staying secure.
However, Police Association president Steve Watt noted that with limited resources, it’s unclear how much effort it will take to move people off the streets and into social services.
“Until we just get that detail, it’s really tough to gauge, but there’s no doubt that it will have a drain on policing resources.”
“It means that, potentially, someone won’t have a cop turn up to their burglary, or they’ll be delayed, because they’re having to deal with this issue.”
Watt pointed out that current laws already address disorderly behaviour.
“What we’re talking about here is individuals that have got a multitude of issues, mental health, financial, housing, and you’ve got to ask the question: Are the police the right agency … to deal with this, or should it be some other social agency?”
“Rough sleepers have a lot of property sometimes, shopping carts full of it, so is it an expectation of our members to wheel the cart down with the beggar down the street … just to simply displace the problem?”
According to reports, Mitchell had voiced reluctance for police to lead homelessness responses in central Auckland, expecting other agencies to step up and own social issues.
In an email on November 5, a staffer wrote, “Feel it is important just to flag that Minister Mitchell does not believe that police have a leadership role in this and have in the past ended up picking up the work of other agencies, which stretches their resources in other areas.”
Watt concurred with this view.
“In reality, it’s not a policing problem; it’s an all-of-society problem, and that’s the way we need to start looking at it.”