Police are so far facing an uphill battle in their attempt to recruit more women and ethnic minority groups, Official Information Act figures show.

The force has set itself a target of mirroring the percentage of minority groups in the overall New Zealand population by 2021. The diversity targets sit under the wider target to recruit 1800 new cops over the next three years.

However, latest data shows their recruitment efforts have a way to go, with Māori making up only 10.7 per cent of recent recruits, against 14.9 per cent of the general population, while women made up only 35.7 per cent of the latest group.

"Māori attraction numbers have been close to their proportion of the population but not at the level we would like. Police is focusing on increasing this number going forward," police deputy chief executive of people, Kaye Ryan said.

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Of the 345 new recruits in the latest intake 10.1 per cent were Asian, taking the total percentage of Asians in the police force to 4.9 per cent.

Census data from 2013 showed Asian people accounted for 11.8 per cent of the population and that they were the second-fastest-growing ethnic group in New Zealand.

"Current Asian numbers in the police workforce are significantly below their representation in the community, hence we are targeting recruiting more people from these communities," Ryan said.

The proportion of Pacific Island recruits, 6.6 per cent, almost mirrors the Pacific Islander population in New Zealand which was 7.4 per cent in 2013.

This means that with the new recruits, the police force is now made up of 6.4 per cent Pacific Island people.

Women accounted for 35.7 per cent of the new recruits, indicating there is still work to be done if police are to hit their target of women accounting for 50 per cent of all recruits by 2021.

The police recruitment budget was given a cash injection in the 2017/18 financial year, increasing to $1.25 million, up from $870,000 in the 2016/17 financial year.

In a bid to attract more applicants, police released a clip they called the "world's most entertaining police recruitment video".

Police confirmed to Stuff that the video cost about $350,000 to make - $2000 per second of footage.

Extra recruitment staff were added to handle the influx of new applicants after the release of the video, police said at the time.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush said the video was targeted at 18- to 24-year-olds, women, Māori, Pacific Islanders, and people from all other ethnicities and backgrounds "to better reflect the communities we serve".

A further $10,000 of the recruitment budget was paid to paint rainbow stripes on a police car, in the hope it might attract more LGBT+ recruits to the force.

In the recent recruitment drive, 12 gender-diverse individuals applied to join the police but none were successful.

The 'gender-diverse' option was implemented as a recruit application form option in January 2016.

Police were unable to readily supply data on this, stating it would have to be sought under the Official Information Act.

Transgender academic and activist Lexie Matheson said she was unsure how many sworn officers who identify as transgender or gender-diverse were currently employed.

However, she said she felt police were making considerable progress toward diversifying their workforce.

"It remains to be seen whether the pathways to promotion are as readily available for gay and transgender cops who transition both prior to training or on the job, but it's still early days," Matheson said.

Matheson was hugely impressed with the NZ Police' contribution to the 2018 Auckland Pride Parade.

"Gone were the files of booted and uniformed officers tromping down Ponsonby Road, this year the old formality was replaced by a family-friendly, seemingly random, bunch of horse riders, dog handlers and smiling, informally presented 'people like us."

New Zealand's first Mexican police officer

Jorge Alberto Martinez Padilla always wanted to be a police officer - and it was in Auckland that that dream became a reality.

"Sadly in my country of origin, the police is not the same as here," he said.

CHRIS SKELTON New Zealand's first Mexican police officer, Jorge Alberto Martinez Padilla.

"You're not always with the good guys if you're with the police, so I kept the dream in a drawer."

However when he first travelled to New Zealand in 2015, he had a number of positive interactions with the police and was impressed by their approachability and integrity.

"I went to open the drawer where I put my dream and started thinking about it again," he said.

Martinez Padilla began searching for a new country to call home after a slew of incidents in Mexico City, which made him feel increasingly unsafe and unprotected.

He became "enchanted" with New Zealand and began the process of becoming a citizen.

"Immediately after I got my residency my goal was to join the police."

CHRIS SKELTON Martinez Padilla said he is particularly invested in family harm.

The training was the biggest challenge he had faced in his life until now, he said.

"The amount of information, the amount of things you have to learn is enormous.

"I thought the only challenge would be physical or getting to the standards of physicality, but when I faced the real process in college where you sit for hours doing exams and learning all this information, I was amazed," he said.

Martinez Padilla's fluent Spanish and ability to translate has proven invaluable since he started with the police. He said he was called to translate in Auckland at least once a day and enjoyed helping put tourists at ease.

An area of policing he was particularly focussed on was family harm.

"I have dealt with two cases of family harm by now and I believe when you open your eyes, you open your ears, you use everything they teach you here, plus your own personal experience and you approach these people - you have the chance to give them confidence, to show them they're not alone," he said.

"You can see there is a bigger chance to make a change in their lives forever and if you make one change that big in someone else's life just once in your life, that is amazing."

Martinez Padilla is one of two new recruits who identify as Middle Eastern/ Latin American/ African.

He is stationed at Auckland City Police.