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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

The 90 recruits of Wing 386, alongside their patron Dame Noeline Taurua, were welcomed to the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) last week.

“The constabulary recruiting team has worked incredibly hard to deliver 90 recruits onto Wing 386 and we are really happy to have increased our wing capacity sooner than initially planned,” 500 Programme Director, Superintendent Kelly Ryan says.

“Other groups within Police providing specialist services to some of our recruiting processes such as Emergency Communication Centre, Vetting and Safer People have provided additional support to make this possible.”

Last year Police announced it would increase the potential capacity of recruit wings at the RNZPC from 80 to 100 from April 2025. The change was in response to a major surge in applications and will help ensure quality applicants move through the pipeline and into training faster.

Since the announcement, changes have been made to the RNZPC to facilitate the larger wings.

“Enabling even 10 more recruits to join a wing is a significant jump and required a lot of planning and additional support for training. We look forward to welcoming even more recruits in our wings of up to 100 in the months ahead,” Superintendent Ryan says.

“The median time between application and starting at RNZPC has already reduced by more than 90 days over the last year.

“We’re focused on making sure our process is fit-for-purpose, so applicants flow through each step quickly and our standards continue to be robust.”

The increased capacity at the RNZPC, and a training facility to come in Auckland soon, will support Police’s work to deliver on the Government’s commitment of 500 additional officers.

“Achieving this growth in recruits requires a huge effort from across the entire organisation for attracting, selecting, and training the new officers,” Superintendent Ryan says.

“Research is very clear, the most effective way to recruit police officers is through our own staff identifying, encouraging, and supporting people they know would be great to apply.

“It’s critical that everyone leans in on this, so we get the very best people into our organisation.”

Districts have also demonstrated strong support by putting in place at least one full time constabulary member to actively engage and take ownership of their district’s recruiting.

“Whether you’re taking your first steps into the workforce or considering a career change, the best time to apply is right now.

“The earlier you apply, the sooner you’ll be ready to start your training into a one of the most rewarding careers there is,” Superintendent Ryan says.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre

Source: Tairawhiti District Health

New Zealand Police is not moving to routine arming of its frontline staff.

You will be aware that the issue of routine carriage of firearms has been subject to a range of media commentary over the weekend.

The safety of our staff and the public will always be paramount but I do not believe routine arming is the right path for our organisation.

The current debate follows a decision by Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price last Thursday for level one responders in Canterbury to carry firearms during the search for a high-risk offender.

I absolutely supported his decision. Thanks to good work by Canterbury staff, that offender was located yesterday and the firearms order was immediately lifted.

We know that a local order like this happens occasionally. It is a tactical response under our TENR risk assessment and decision-making framework to a specific risk identified to staff and public safety. The order is reviewed on a shift-by-shift basis and is lifted – as in Canterbury – as soon as it is deemed no longer necessary.

Nevertheless this particular decision has prompted speculation that full arming of Police is on the agenda. I would like to be absolutely clear that this speculation is incorrect.

I’m conscious that there is a range of opinions on this, among the general public and within Police. I’ve been in Police for 41 years – most of it on the front line – and I’ve seen changes in the policing environment.

However, routine arming would fundamentally change our relationship with the New Zealand public, and it would have a significant impact on the trust and confidence which we have worked hard to build.

I believe we are in the right place in our current operating environment.

Ours is one of the most well-equipped police services in the world: giving our staff the tools they need to do their jobs is essential to our mission to be the safest country.

This is not just about firearms – we are in the process of rolling out new body armour to all our frontline staff, which is a major investment in our people’s safety. All frontline staff deploy with Tasers, a decision taken in 2015 to give them another option for keeping themselves and members of the public safe.

Meanwhile, frontline staff have greater access to firearms than ever before for the most extreme situations, with Glock pistols and Bushmaster rifles secured in their vehicles.

We are implementing a programme to give us a better understanding of the policing environment around firearms in the community. The more data we have on firearms and other risks, the more we can do to enable our people to carry out their duties safely. We are continuously enhancing firearms training for frontline staff.

We police with the consent of the public, and that is something that as a Police service we should cherish and preserve.

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

Ten years of methamphetamine production uncovered, our recrutiment campaign wins prestigious awards and Te Pae Oranga continues to expand.

Operation Dynamo – uncovering ten years of methamphetamine production

Congratulations to the National Clandestine Laboratory Response Team and their investigation into the illicit possession and supply of the precursor material, hypophosphorous acid.

Hypophosphorous acid has no known household use and is an extremely dangerous product.

It is believed the alleged offending dates back 10 years. The potential harm is immense and the street value of the methamphetamine which could be produced runs into millions of dollars.

This is a complex case covering a long time period and investigation is still ongoing. To date a total of $1.725million of assets including property, land, vehicles and a boat have also been restrained.

A 50-year-old man has been arrested in Hamilton and charged with four counts of supplying material for the manufacture of methamphetamine and four charges of possession of material with intent.

This is a great job by all of our staff involved to track the source of these materials.  I would also like to thank the New Zealand Customs Service for their support.

Recruitment video sweeps international awards

I was pleased to hear that following the launch of our viral World’s Most Entertaining Recruitment video last year, it has won a pair of prominent international awards – at Cannes!

The video won a silver award for use of social media and a bronze for PR activation in the Cannes Lions awards. What’s most impressive is that there were up to 3,000 other entries in each category from all around the world.

The work we do to increase our diversity and on our recruitment campaigns is so important to attracting the right people to Police. Our goal is to reflect the communities we serve so we’re increasing diversity as part of recruitment efforts to hire an extra 1,800 new police. It’s awesome to see our recruitment campaign is attracting so much attention.

Read more here: http://www.police.govt.nz/news/ten-one-magazine/video-scoops-more-awards.

Te Pae Oranga Hawke’s Bay launch

Last week we launched the Hawke’s Bay Te Pae Oranga Iwi/Community Panel. This is the second panel for Eastern District and the 10th panel nationwide.

These panels are proving to be extremely effective in our communities and a great way to engage victims, offenders and the community as a whole to help address low level and recidivist offending.

The holistic approach the panels offer ensures victims are heard and catered for and the causes of the offending are addressed.

You can expect to see more of these launched right across New Zealand in the coming months.

Read more here: http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/hawke%E2%80%99s-bay-te-pae-oranga-iwicommunity-panel-launched. 

 

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

Police disrupt significant organised criminal activity, recruitment is underway in Kapiti and Kosmo is on the mend. 

Operation Gegenees

Congratulations to our National Organised Crime Group, together with NZ Customs, for their work on Operation Gegenees.

This successful operation saw five individuals arrested, who were heavily embedded in organised crime, including a senior associate of the Comanchero Gang. It also led to the seizure of 13.5kg of methamphetamine.

This operation demonstrates Police’s ongoing commitment to disrupting organised criminal activity and hold those who commit, and enable, this behaviour to account.

Kapiti recruitment underway

We aspire to be the world’s safest country and have the trust and confidence of all. To achieve this, our commitment to service must be central to everything we do. So this year we’re setting ourselves up to transform the way we provide our service to the public.

Recruitment is now underway for the new Police non-emergency communications and digital centre in Kapiti, north of Wellington.

We are aiming to have 50 new staff prior to Christmas, building to 120 by the end of 2019. These new roles have been established as part of wider work to improve the way NZ Police provides its service to the public.

This centre will significantly increase our capacity to meet the increasing demand Police face and is a key step as we prepare for the introduction of one non-emergency number for the whole country, as well as expand our online crime reporting services.

This is all in addition to building our frontline because we know the public still want to engage face-to-face with local police in their community.

Kosmo is on the mend

I’m pleased to hear that Kosmo is on the mend after being injured while preforming his duties earlier this month.

The dog team is an integral part of NZ Police’s operational response and when a dog is wounded in the course of duty, we feel this as keenly as if it was one of our human colleagues.

We’re all looking forward to having Kosmo back at work when he’s fit and ready.

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

Family Harm continues to remain a significant issue for far too many New Zealanders. 

Family Harm is a term Police use to capture a broader, more holistic view of the issues occurring within families and their ensuing detrimental effects. It acknowledges the harm caused by the environment and destructive behaviours which often have long-term damaging consequences for families. It also acknowledges that violence is just one subset of the harm experienced by some families.

Our mission to be the Safest Country includes doing things differently to improve our response to family harm so we can help and support people when they need it.

I’m very pleased to announce that our new approach to Family Harm went live in the early hours of yesterday.

We’ve made these changes because we want to deliver a better service to people experiencing family harm. We believe these changes will make a real and tangible difference for victims and will also help partner agencies and NGOs who involved in providing family harm services.

When staff now attend a Family Harm investigation they’ll do so with “eyes wide open”.  This is about all about understanding the wider dynamics of family harm – the patterns of harm and the adverse circumstances in which they occur.  This new approach will help us make the best decisions when responding to family harm and ensure we get better outcomes for the people involved.

To support the new approach our staff have been given new training, technology and a range of tools to ensure they can carry out high quality family harm investigations each and every time we get a call for service.

Equally, the approach will provide better quality information to partner agencies and NGOs who are involved in providing family harm services for victims and perpetrators.

I encourage anyone who fears for their own, or someone else’s safety to dial 111. Do not ignore family violence, you could save a life.

Ngā mihi

Mike Bush, MNZM

Commissioner

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

Our latest work on targeting serious and organised criminals, a new way of training our recruits and the inaugural Police Conference with our Australian colleagues.

Targeting serious and organised criminals

Last week our staff made significant inroads into serious and organised crime in our country, with the successful termination of a large synthetic cannabis and money laundering operation.

The operation was led by our new Organised Crime and Asset Recovery Taskforce based in Tauranga and involved approximately 80 staff, working together across Wellington, Auckland, Waikato as well as the Bay of Plenty.

Several people are now facing a significant number of charges relating to manufacturing, possessing and selling psychoactive substances and money laundering.

We also restrained a number of assets under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act which include a residential property in Tauranga and multiple motor vehicles including a Hummer.

Congratulations to Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Pritchard and his team, who coordinated the operation and every staff member involved.

New way of training our recruits

On Monday I met and officially welcomed our newest 20 recruits to the NZ Police family – Section Five of Wing 314. It was fantastic to meet the recruits who were supported at the welcome by their Wing Patron, Sir Noel Robinson.

You will have seen reports that we are trialling a non-residential recruit wing in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) in an effort to attract more people from the region which has been identified as being one of our target recruit areas. The training is identical to that delivered at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Wellington and these recruits have had to meet the same entry criteria as all Police recruits nationally.

This pilot is the result of direct feedback from potential recruits who said that moving to Wellington was a barrier, particularly those with young children, family and community commitments.

We want to ensure we have the very best recruits available, and the Tāmaki Makaurau pilot is one way of helping us to achieve this.

We’ve received positive feedback from our community about the pilot and we look forward to watching the recruits on their journey.

I want to wish Section Five of Wing 314 every success as they begin their training.

Police Conference 2018

Today and tomorrow I’m in Melbourne, alongside approximately 150 delegates from New Zealand Police and the Australian state and federal Police Services attending the inaugural Police Conference 2018.

Hosted by Australia and New Zealand Police Commissioners and delivered by the Australia New Zealand Police Advisory Board, the Conference has a future focus and will look at factors shaping the policing environment and police workforce – trust and confidence, youth, capability and emerging technology.

The Conference aims to position police and the police workforce to meet the challenges which will benefit all of our communities. Many policing organisations around the world are under constant pressure to react to ‘today’s crisis.’ Together with my Australian colleagues we will be looking to explore the issues that affect, influence and impact policing now as well as in the future so we can continue to ensure the safety and security of all our communities.

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

New Zealand Police is embarking on a programme of work to transform our service to the public.

We aspire to be the world’s safest country and we have a goal of achieving 90 percent trust, confidence and citizen satisfaction by 2021. Our current level of trust and confidence sits at 78 percent, high by some standards, but we have work to do to get to 90 percent.

We know one of the biggest drivers of trust and confidence is when people get good quality service from us. While we are skilled at policing and responding to emergency situations, we are too often left wanting in regards to the level of service we aspire to in non-emergency situations. We know when people try to contact us for support or advice – at local stations, by telephone or online – they suffer an outdated and frustrating experience.

All New Zealanders deserve to be served by a modern 21st century police service. A Police that is first class; that can engage and interact with the public in whatever way that best suits them, whether it’s an emergency or not. If we want our communities to trust us, we must put the public at the heart of our service, and make it easier for people to engage with us for help, advice, and support.  Our commitment to service must be central to everything we do.

We want to be much better at this part of our job. So this year we’re setting ourselves up to transform the way we provide our service to the public.

We’re using more technology to create faster, anytime, anywhere policing services.

We’re creating more options for the public to get in touch with us, such as online reporting, one non-emergency number for the whole country and diversifying and growing our public presence in communities, including increasing the number of mobile police bases.

We’re streamlining processes behind the scenes to ensure the public receive the service they expect – the service they deserve.

We also know that it’s our people that are critical in making every contact count so we’ll increase our overall resources in this area, provide consistent training and change the way we work.

Once we’re done, no matter where they are, who they are, or how they contact us, the public will receive the same excellent standard of service.

New Zealand Police is already world-leading in its use of technology. Over the past five years we have introduced new ways of working, and new mobile technology and communication systems for our frontline staff. We wanted our officers to spend less time filling out paperwork and more time working with people. This internal transformation freed up the equivalent of 354 frontline officers in time savings.

We know we can be successful in transforming our business in this way, and we’ve seen the benefits. We are now going to apply the same focus and energy to transforming our service delivery.

I want to be clear that this is all about increasing the choices available to the public about how, where and when they contact us. We know that across the country people still want to engage face-to-face with local police in their community, so making sure that we are even more visible around the country will also be a vital part of the way we deliver a better policing service to everyone. As part of that over the next four years, as announced in 2017, an extra 880 new police officers will be coming to work in communities across New Zealand.

However, we know that people also want us to be accessible through other channels and we have not kept up with public expectations in our provision of digital services. We have set an aspiration to be world-class in terms of digital access. Beginning later this month we’re seeking your feedback through workshops, and an online survey to gather information about how you want to interact and engage with us. We need help from the public so we can understand how they want digital access to work. We’ll use this information, to ensure our systems are customer-focused and intuitive.

We’re interested in what you, the public, think. Send us your ideas or feedback on how we can make it easier for people to get help, advice and support from NZ Police to haveyoursay@police.govt.nz.

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

New Zealand Police’s selection criteria is robust and the standard of recruits today is among the best we have ever had. I want to be sure that when they leave the police college, recruits feel they are capable and equipped to do the job to a high standard and to keep themselves and others safe. I do not pretend we always get this right, which is why we continually look at the quality of our training and work to improve that. Our methods change all the time and we listen to feedback on training standards. If they are found to be wanting then we act.

There is no doubt that when a recruit has completed their time at The Royal New Zealand Police College they still have a lot to learn. I have no doubt there are times at the beginning where they might falter due to lack of experience – when they are put on section they have been in uniform for just 16 weeks. I well remember as a young constable finding myself on the beat alone for the first time. I was 18 years old and it was a truly daunting experience. We rely on our senior staff to guide new staff and continue training and supporting them for the two years that they are probationary constables. This is the time where they learn that policing can be more art than science and that experience is what truly teaches them the job.

I say this to all New Zealanders, including current and former police staff: back your next generation of police officers, as I do.

Source: Tairawhiti District Health

Highlights of Police working towards achieving our goals of 10,000 few victims of serious crime, reducing reoffending by Maori by 25% by 2025 and achieving 90% of high or very trust and confidence in Police by New Zealanders.

Operation Notus

Thanks to everyone involved in Operation Notus which was terminated yesterday.

This operation involved significant work from Bay of Plenty and Tāmaki Makaurau districts, the National Organised Crime Group and Financial Intelligence Unit.

Police’s Asset Recovery Unit has been assisting the investigation team and so have so far restrained over $2 million worth of assets, including residential properties, vehicles, boats, and a jet-ski.

Over the course of the investigation it is estimated that methamphetamine with the retail value of at least $2.1-2.6 million was allegedly sold to the community by these dealers.

This amount of meth equates to approximately $5.4 million in social harm.

As part of the termination we’ve uncovered a number of cases of family harm and child neglect connected to the houses where drug supply is taking place. Sadly, this is not surprising. Our staff are seeing family harm cases overrepresented in houses where organised crime and drug supply are factors.

We’ve also identified a number of end users who will be contacted with ways they can treat their drug addictions, hopefully resulting in an eventual reduced demand for methamphetamine.

Operation Jess – more drugs and firearms off our streets

Earlier this month we concluded the annual cannabis and related-crime operation with impressive results, preventing $418,903,408 in social harm to our communities.

While cannabis is a key part of the operation, other related criminal activity, including burglary, theft and firearms offending was also an important focus for our staff.

This year, 205 people have been arrested as a direct result of this operation. We recovered 85 firearms and referred 12 cases for asset recovery action. A significant amount of cash was seized and stolen property was also recovered.

Great work from everyone involved in this operation.

It’s a significant amount of work every year for districts and continues to be an important and successful component of our commitment to reducing the supply of cannabis and other drugs.

I also appreciate the assistance from our colleagues in the Defence Force who provide the use of their NH90 and crew.

Showing trust and confidence counts at all times

Last week was it was heartening to read about a job where Constables Alistair Ellesmere and John Keoghan from Waikato District finished the plumbing work at the home of a woman whose husband had died suddenly from a suspected medical event.

I want to commend Constables Ellesmere and Keoghan for their empathy and actions. They stayed with this woman until her support network could arrive, and while waiting finished the plumbing job her husband had started – something she may have found difficult to organise in light of what had happened.

I am continually impressed by how staff manage to find ways to make a difference when people need it most. I know this gesture would have been appreciated by the family. Keep up the good work.

Aiming to meet our goal to reduce reoffending by Maori by 2025

Last night Police Minister Stuart Nash hosted Police and our justice sector partners at Parliament’s Grand Hall alongside Iwi leaders to celebrate the ongoing success of Iwi/Justice Panels and to launch “Te Pae Oranga” a concept that imbues the vision and principles of Iwi Panels.

Iwi/Community Panels sees justice sector agencies and community working together to reduce reoffending. They are a reflection and extension of the strong commitment Police has to its relationship with Māori.

The overall aim, shared by Police and by Iwi, is to reduce the number of Māori entering the criminal justice system and, to redirect them to achieving their full potential.

Iwi/Community Panels were introduced in Christchurch in 2010. They were rolled out in Gisborne, Hutt Valley and Counties Manukau in 2013/14, and Auckland City, Waikato and Bay of Plenty in 2017/18.

There are additional panels are currently in the development phase and will be located in Northland, Waitematä, Bay of Plenty, Eastern, and Tasman districts and are expected to be operating by 30 June 2018.

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Source: Tairawhiti District Health

Please attribute to Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Hunkin:

Police investigating the disappearance of missing mother Leonie Emery in 2018 are encouraging people to watch Monday night’s Cold Case episode on TV One.

Leonie who was just 25 years old when she disappeared without a trace seven years ago, leaving behind her four children and devastated whānau.

Leonie was a free spirit who moved around regularly so her family were used to regular periods of no contact. She was reported missing to Police in 2019 but it’s believed she had not been seen or heard from for around a year prior to that.

Investigators have undertaken extensive enquiries to understand Leonie’s last movements and what might have happened to her. Police have examined several possible scenarios but believe it is most likely that Leonie has been the victim of foul play.

Leonie had been spending time in the Waikato but was last seen at a family member’s address in Papakura sometime in late January, early February 2018. Where did she go when she left and who was she with? These are some of the questions we need the public’s help with.

The Cold Case episode will outline key elements of this investigation and we hope it will prompt someone to come forward with information which will help us get the answers Leonie’s whānau desperately want.

We know there are people out there with key information Police need. Please tune in on Monday at 8:30pm to watch the episode.

We urge anyone with information, no matter how small you might think it is to contact Police.

If you can help, call 0800 COLD CASE (0800 2653 2273).

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre