The old police headquarters in central Auckland. Photo: Finn Blackwell / RNZ
Police in Auckland have spent over $3 million on a central station they moved out of five years ago.
Staff left the station on Vincent Street for their current base on College Hill in 2019.
The building was partially occupied before closing, though was now fully unoccupied, police said.
Despite this, police still paid for essential services like rates, electricity and security at the site.
From July 2019 to July 2024, police paid $3,346,080.07 on the building. More than $1,240,000 went towards rates, while $706,953 was spent on energy and nearly $470,000 on cleaning and rubbish.
For the 2022/2023 financial year, police employed First Security guard services at the site, costing $164,573.
Other costs included vehicle running expenses as well as repairs and maintenance, equipment purchases, property maintenance and consultancy.
Police were in the process of relinquishing ownership of the land through Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand, the agency responsible for managing the disposal of Crown-owned land.
Commissioner of Crown Lands Craig Harris told RNZ the Vincent Street headquarters was in the Treaty settlement stage of the disposal process, the land being offered to Māori subject to a right of first refusal under the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014.
The next step would be to sell the land on the open market, and police said they were actively working with real estate agents but had no exact time frame.
The Crown disposal process was expected to conclude in late 2024 or early 2025.
