A review of police candidates sparked after an investigation by the Herald has found 128 applicants failed a basic English test and a further 17 candidates failed the police fitness assessment or completed components of it incorrectly.

The Herald revealed in April police launched a wide-ranging investigation of hundreds of police recruit applicants after learning some prospective cops were given exemptions and allowed into police college despite failing key components of testing.

Police reviewed 1022 recruits from 14 wings who started training between January 2024 and April this year.

Police assistant commissioner Tusha Penny. Photo / RNZ

Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny said in a statement the audit revealed discretionary decisions on applicants had become “common practice”, and there were “inconsistencies and confusion” around the process.

“The preliminary findings identified that our policies and practices were not consistently applied, and discretion was used inconsistently and without a national assurance process,” she said.

The Physical Appraisal Test (PAT) comprises four components including a 2.4km run, vertical jump, press ups and a drip strength test.

Eight applicants failed the test but were allowed to start police college anyway, and a further nine passed individual components of the test but did so on different dates which was a breach of policy.

The audit also investigated the psychometric test, which included English and typing.

Of the 1022 recruits, 267 were required to do the test and 128 did not pass.

“Police must be proficient in English. Literacy testing is only required of applicants who do not have level 2 NCEA English or higher or comparable international qualifications,” Penny said.

All applicants passed psychometric testing before beginning at police college but 36 that initially failed were allowed to re-sit without a six-month stand-down period between tests.

Penny said Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has made it clear the situation has fallen short of his expectations.

“He has instructed there is to be no further use of discretion to allow people to enter RNZPC without first meeting all mandatory recruitment standards. There will be no exemptions and no circumstances where discretion is applied,” she said.

Police and Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell at Post Cab at Parliament in Wellington. New Zealand Herald photograph by Marty Melville 06 May 2024 Mark Mitchell

One candidate was identified as progressing to a recruit wing without passing the typing test. That candidate achieved a 23 word a minute standard.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell in part blamed the previous Government for the drop in standards.

“The review highlights an over-use of discretion being applied to admit people that do not meet a variety of standards to the Police College. There is no doubt in my mind that the priorities set by the previous government around recruiting contributed to this.

The review did not identify who in police made the decision to drop standards and allow some substandard recruits to start college.