Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the issue around police response times increasing three-fold since 2017 needs to be put in context.
It comes as Ardern defends under-fire Police Minister Poto Williams amid calls for her resignation, after last week admitting to media she wasn't across data showing an increase in officer response times.
Asked about the data during an interview with AM on Monday, Ardern said it fluctuated "wildly".
"What has been conflated here is, for instance, the fact that when you separate out the emergency response times by police… that has changed, over five years by about 39 seconds - despite the incredible demands on them over the last 12 months.
"I think that demonstrates that police have kept pace with the expectations of the public.
"Some of the categories you're referring to are those that are not considered an emergency response - lots of things can impact on those and I've looked at the numbers. They fluctuate wildly over different periods of time," Ardern told host Ryan Bridge.
Ardern was asked whether Williams' response to media about police wait times was good enough.
"That morning she'd received a copy of an Official Information Act request that was very dense in detail and hadn't had a chance to talk to police about what the response times were reflecting, in terms of what was happening in the organisation at any given time," Ardern said.
"I don't think it's unreasonable for a minister to want to talk to an agency before getting into the detail of a question."
Williams, in Parliament on Thursday, cited COVID-19 disruption in defence of slower response times.
The Police Minister later told reporters she'd since taken the time to look at the response time data.
"Now I'm confident that despite all of the impacts that the temporary impacts of COVID have had on the police and the extra pressure they've had in terms of dealing with the protest outside here, that the emergency response times have remained relatively stable," Williams said.
