Newshub political editor Jenna Lynch has reacted to revelations police national headquarters was told about an incident where roadworkers had a gun drawn on them in Hawke's Bay.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins originally played down concerns about crime in the cyclone-hit region, before last week climbing down from that stance.
On AM on Tuesday, Hipkins apologised, saying the "information that I had from the police, at that point, was clearly incorrect".
Superintendent Jeanette Park told AM's Ryan Bridge on Wednesday information about the road worker incident was given to the police headquarters.
Speaking to AM following Supt Park's interview, Lynch said that was a "damning set of facts".
"If I was the Prime Minister and if I was the Police Minister, I'd be calling Andrew Coster, the Police Commissioner, in for a please explain as of 8am this morning.
"Either it hasn't been kicked up the chain to Coster at police national headquarters - that's a failure. Or he hasn't passed it on to the Beehive, and the result of that was the Prime Minister got up here, got on the defensive and started casting aspersions on a bunch of people who are feeling scared, who are feeling vulnerable."
Watch the full interview with Lynch above.
