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Speaker 1: Cops are going to stay on the beat in the

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Speaker 1: Auckland CBD. The government will boost anti crime measures across

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Speaker 1: Central Auckland with one point three million dollars worth of

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Speaker 1: funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund.

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Speaker 1: Now that Proceeds of Crime Fund caven in two thousand

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Speaker 1: and nine. It lets the New Zealand police seize money

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Speaker 1: and assets that have been obtained directly or indirectly from crimes,

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Speaker 1: and once all the legal matters are addressed, the recover

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Speaker 1: money is placed in the Proceeds of Crime Fund to

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Speaker 1: be spent. And the whole thing was announced by the

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Speaker 1: Auckland Minister Simmy and Brown, Minister for Everything and Associate

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Speaker 1: Justice Minister Nicole McKee, and it has been greeted wholeheartedly by

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Speaker 1: retailers and residents. It'll see the new Federal Streets Station

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Speaker 1: open twenty four to seven. By the way, that station

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Speaker 1: will open in the middle of the year. And of

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Speaker 1: course all of this is a good thing. My question

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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

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Speaker 1: to one in all citizens and criminals that the police

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Speaker 1: are in control of the streets, not the rat bags.

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Speaker 1: For me, it's the first thing the police should fund,

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Speaker 1: not the last. And that perception that it is not

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Speaker 1: important is just reinforced to me by the new funding

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Speaker 1: coming from the Proceeds of Crime fund and not the

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Speaker 1: general budget. And another question I have, who thought that

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Speaker 1: no cops on the beat was a good idea in

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Speaker 1: the first place. It's tempting to blame Cuddle's Costa in

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Speaker 1: the last government who was soft on crime. But it's

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Speaker 1: been going on far longer than that. It's another example

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Speaker 1: of public service being told to cut budgets and then

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Speaker 1: going and cutting the good stuff instead of the bad.

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Speaker 1: And one more thing about the funding. This is not

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Speaker 1: just a problem for Auckland. It's nationwide. It's in all

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Speaker 1: our cities and towns and suburban shopping centers. What about them. Well,

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Speaker 1: we're going to wait to see if the budget which

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Speaker 1: is forthcoming will show a changed emphasis. For more from

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Speaker 1: early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks

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Speaker 1: it be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast

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Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio.