New Zealand Police Association
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Photo courtesy of the NZ Herald
Volume 36, Number 10, November 2003
• Police divers have been doing a fantastic job recently in arduous circumstances (see page 159)
■ Arming and integration survey results…page 160
■ Prisoner escort duties going to security firms…page 163
■ Taking the ‘P’–rofit from organised crime…page 166
■ Cook Islands Police Association doing the hard yards…page 172
■ Name Protection Bill born out of Waitara tradegy…page 175
157
November 2003
Police News
■
The Voice of Police
Industrial news
Government Super Fund Subsidy .................................................. 159
Sworn leave accrual ....................................................................... 159
New Sick Leave Bank regime ......................................................... 162
165
LEST WE FORGET
Competence Service Increment due soon ...................................... 162
Prisoner escort duties changing? ................................................... 163
Legal assistance - what it is and how it works ................................ 164
■
Features
Public and police agree on arming ................................................ 160
UMR survey results on integration and its effects ........................... 160
Steve Fitzgerald defends road safety initiatives ............................... 161
172
COOKING UP AN ASSOCIATION
Large crowd at Remembrance Day service .................................... 165
■
Special feature
68th Annual Conference .................................................... 166 to 176
■
Columns
From the President ........................................................................ 159
On the Hill .................................................................................... 177
Letters to the Editor ................................................................ 182-183
174
40 YEARS HARD LABOUR
View from the Bottom ................................................................... 183
■
Sport/Entertainment
It’s Bob’s Life ................................................................................. 173
Sports awards ......................................................................... 180-181
Be in for the Rugby Sevens ballot .................................................. 181
Useful Information & Contacts
180
SPORT’S THE WINNER
NZ Police Association
Police News is the
newsletter of the New
Zealand Police
Association and
incorporates the New
Zealand Police Journal
first published in 1937.
Editor Steve Plowman
November 2003, Vol. 36, No.10
ISSN 1175-9445
Deadline for next issue November 17, 2003.
Published by the New Zealand Police
Association P.O. Box 12344, Willbank House,
57 Willis Street, Wgtn.
Phone: (04) 496 6800, Facsmile: (04) 471 1309
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.policeassn.org.nz
Printed by City Print Communications, Wgtn.
Opinions expressed are not necessarily
those of the Association.
COPYRIGHT: NZPA Police News must not be
reproduced in part or as a whole without the
formal consent of the copyright holder - New
Zealand Police Association.
158
Association and Police Welfare Fund:
Police Network
44446
Freephone
0800 500 122
Police Health Plan/Staffpac Insurance
Quotes & Information 0800 500 122
or fax
(04) 496 6819
Staffpac Claims
0800 110 088
All enquiries
(04) 496 6800
Website
www.policeassn.org.nz
Police Home Loans
0800 800 808
Police Credit Union
0800 429 000
or (04) 472 9645
Credit Union
www.policecu.org.nz
GSF Information
0800 654 731
PSS Information
0800 777 243
NOTICE: Please note the change in some contact numbers.
Vice Presidents
Geoff Smith
Richard Middleton
(027) 268 9417
(027) 268 9411
Field Officers
Northland and Auckland Districts:
Waikato, BOP and Eastern Districts:
Central and Wellington Districts:
Tasman, Canterbury and Southern Districts:
Stewart Mills
Eric Newman
JJ Taylor
Dave McKirdy
(027) 268 9407
(027) 268 9408
(027) 268 9409
(027) 268 9410
Whangaparoa
Papatoetoe
Tauranga
Napier
Office of Com
Sumner
North Dunedin
(027) 268 9419
(027) 268 9413
(027) 268 9414
(027) 268 9415
(027) 268 9416
(027) 268 9412
(027) 268 9418
Regional Directors
Region One
Region Two
Region Three
Region Four
Region Five
Region Six
Region Seven
Steve Hawkins
Mark Leys
Mel Ridley
Logan Alderson
Stuart Mills
Craig Prior
Dave Steel
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
No changes to GSF
By Association Advocate, Greg
Fleming
Every year the Government Actuary
reviews the employer’s contribution rate to
the Government Superannuation Fund
(GSF).
This review occurs because the benefits
paid to members are Governmentguaranteed so provision is made by the
Government to adjust the employer’s rate
in response to the assessed long-term
funding needs of the various GSF
schemes.
Members are again reassured that these
reviews have no effect whatsoever on the
benefits paid or due to be paid to them.
Changes in the GSF employer’s
contribution rate do not have any impact
on the assessed ratio for superannuation
within our Total Remuneration
environment.
Since 1992 the employer’s contribution
rate for the Police GSF scheme has gone
from 15.2% to 16.1%. The general GSF
rate has dropped from 9.2% to 6.1%.
Front page photo:
A fantastic job in
the most difficult
conditions
Wellington Police dive squad
members have been kept busy
recently with some grim work,
involving 10 days of searching for
the body of slain Featherston
schoolgirl, Coral Burrows and the
very difficult recovery of the bodies
of two pilots involved in a fatal plane
crash into the sea off the Kapiti
Coast.
Both operations saw the divers
working in the worst of conditions,
following stormy weather, which had
swollen rivers and creeks in the
Burrows enquiry and had cut
visibility to less than a metre in the
search for the plane and the eventual
recovery of the bodies of pilot Barry
Cowley and his co-pilot Phil Miller.
Their dedication to the respective
tasks saw them working long hours
in the most arduous of conditions.
Through their efforts and the efforts
of others involved in both searches
the bodies of the victims were able
to be returned to their loved ones.
From the President
“Unfortunately, police officers who find
their aspirations are thwarted by
changes to selection criteria, do not
have the same professional mobility as
laterally entering individuals.”
The puff of white smoke has emerged from
the OoC and with the same mysterious
processes, as the next Pope will be selected,
the latest round of senior appointments has
been made.
Mysterious because commanders of one
statistically well-performing district and
another whose stats were affected by serious
staff shortages last year, have not been
reappointed. But they do seem to have got
jobs that equally mysteriously appeared from
nowhere and which one could assume
would have attracted more than a passing
interest from other qualified individuals. But
having been denied the opportunity to apply
for the new terrorist liaison position created
last year, aspiring applicants will not be
surprised.
Mysterious because one of the new district
appointees was shoulder tapped just days
before his appointment, indicating no
obvious successor was hovering in the wings.
(Surely nothing to do with the incumbent’s
poor relationship with the local MP).
Mysterious because a District Commander,
whose district appears to have performed
equally poorly, has been promoted within
striking distance of the top job. It may well be
there is more logic applied to these and other
changes beyond faces fitting and
membership of A and B teams.
But one would have thought an
administration, which places such store on
organisational integrity that the troops are
banned from accepting special offers from fast
food franchises and accessing trust funding
for their sports teams, would be avoiding
judicial and public service-type
mysteriousness in its appointments.
No-one would like to see a return to the
‘dead man’s shoes’ seniority appointment
system, but students of history will know the
British Public Service introduced that system
to eliminate nepotism from their public
service appointment system.
We congratulate the appointees and reappointees and certainly hopes the increase in
the number of management positions heralds
a corresponding increase in the number of
frontline positions. We especially welcome
the two crime related positions in Auckland
and OoC respectively.
For the vast majority of police, these changes
will make little difference. However, in an
organisation which has traditionally valued
the fact all officers start at the bottom and
promote through the system, it is important
that those aspiring to reach senior
management understand what criteria is
important for their ambitions to be realised.
For example, Detective Inspectors who have
proved their investigative abilities will be
keen to know if that criterion will count
when the next overseas liaison appointments are announced.
Unfortunately, police officers who find their
aspirations are thwarted by changes to
selection criteria, do not have the same
professional mobility as laterally entering
individuals. New Zealand, while having
numerous government departments, has
only one Police Department.
When new appointments are shaped
around new fads like community policing,
Policing 2000 and Incis, it is especially risky
as when that philosophy becomes
redundant, we are left with an unbalanced
management team.
An ex-cop is an ex-cop for life. Crims,
politicians, indeed anyone who achieves
fame or notoriety post-Police, is often so
labelled.
That is why Police cannot be considered
just another government department and
the uniqueness of the ‘job’ ignored when
human resource considerations are
applied.
The excellent work and capacity we are
building in the volume crime reduction
area may be sidelined if government
policy should lurch into another area such
as methamphetamine or computer crimes
without new funding. Police will be
forced to go there by the tagged funding,
forcing the disamantling of strategies built
around volume crime reduction. That is
why flexibility and depth is required in
people being brought through to top
management positions.
Could the dissatisfaction generated by
these decisions be the cause of the
cancellation of PEC (Police Executive
Committee), even though an Australian
visitor was due to speak?
159
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
Public and police agree on maintaining
status quo regarding mandatory arming
A recent survey conducted by UMR Research on behalf of the
Police Association has indicated that the large majority of New
Zealand police officers do not favour being armed.
The telephone survey of 500 officers has a margin of error of +/4.5%.
A similar survey, carried out amongst 750 members of the
public, indicated that police and public thinking are almost
identical.
The respective surveys indicated:
• 64% of police officers opposed carrying guns at all times.
• 31% of police officers were in favour of carrying arms at all
times.
• 5% were unsure.
• 67% of the public oppose the police being armed at all times.
• 31% were in favour of police being armed at all times.
• 2% were unsure.
Uniqueness
Of the 64% of police officers who oppose mandatory arming,
most gave reasons related to losing something, which set us
apart from other countries.
Of those wanting to be armed the majority cited either selfdefence or an increase in the level of violent crime as their
main reasons. Younger, frontline constables made up the
majority of those in favour of arming.
However, some 6% of respondents said they would quit the
Police Force if arming became mandatory.
Police are against the mandatory wearing of body armour
while on operational duties - with an overwhelming 68% against
and 29% in favour with 3% unsure.
What these surveys say
To be effective and credible, the Police Association must be
well-informed about how members and the public feel about
policing issues, hence the survey results on this page.
Two points emerge as a result:
One, if police are not going to be armed, then they must be
provided with the maximum protection and best less-thanlethal options available. Covert body armour must be available
for those who require it. Investment must be made in
furnishing those who carry the mantle of our continued
unarmed status, the frontliners, with training and equipment
to minimise the increased risk of not having available to them
the same protection as virtually every other police officer in the
world; a firearm.
Secondly, the Government has to recognise the value of
maintaining New Zealand’s safe image. That will require
courageous legislation, such as meaningful asset seizure
legislation, which takes the profit out of crime, especially drug
dealing.
It will also require the same commitment to general duties
policing as the Minister of Transport, Paul Swain, is showing
towards road policing.
The road policing survey indicates that it remains extremely
important that government take into account that two
different ministries are driving Police strategies and in the
interest of maintaining a safe New Zealand, that those
strategies be aligned and co-ordinated.
For the same reason that the decision as to whether or not to
arm New Zealand police needs to be taken in context of what
it means for New Zealand, all other decisions affecting police
should be put under the same strategic microscope.
Most police officers feel integration has
impacted negatively on their public image
A UMR Research survey on police
officers’ attitudes to road policing,
indicates that most believe the NZ
Police operate under a traffic quota
system. They also feel that the impact
of merging police and traffic
enforcement duties has had a negative
impact on the standing of the NZ
Police with the general public. Police
officers who held this view felt that the
integration of traffic enforcement and
police duties would have a long-term
negative impact.
The survey was conducted in June. It
involved 500 randomly selected
officers and has a margin of error of
+/- 4.5%.
Here are the respective questions
put by UMR and their reported
findings:
160
Do you believe that NZ Police
operate a traffic ticket quota
system?
71% Yes
28%
1% unsure
Now, thinking about the effect of
police officers undertaking traffic
enforcement duties; in your view
does the integration of traffic
enforcement and police duties
have a positive impact, a negative
impact or make no difference to
the standing of the New Zealand
police with the general public?
74% negative impact
16% make no difference
9% positive impact
1% unsure
Do you think this will be a short or
long-term negative impact?
(This was asked of respondents who
think that the integration of traffic
enforcement and police duties have a
negative impact).
82% long-term
16%
2% unsure
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
National Traffic Safety Manager
defends road policing initiatives
By Police News Editor, Steve Plowman
$255,500. He said that New Zealand’s
• “We know what works”.
Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald,
ACC Corporation had estimated that
National Traffic Safety Manager, told
• “We are the enforcement experts”.
the annual care of a tetraplegic was
attendees at the Police Association’s
• “We are giving value for money.”
$450,000.
68th Annual Conference recently that
road policing initiatives were “about
Road policing was
saving lives, not
part of a general
revenue gathering.”
deterrence regime in
“It’s about saving lives not revenue gathering”
that it was “highly
Superintendent
visible, ongoing and
Fitzgerald said that
strictly enforced
there were a number
across the whole
of myths surrounding
population.”
road policing and one
of the main ones was
that “warnings work”.
Resources thinly
spread
He said the
perception that road
policing was just
another form of
revenue collecting
was a misconception.
He said that Police
needed to “galvanise
public opinion”.
“We know from the
Crime Victims Survey
that the number one
• Steve Fitzgerald speaks about road policing.
public concern is
around the drunk
driver,” he told delegates, but in terms
Changing behaviours
of road policing initiatives research
“So it’s about changing behaviours out
showed that by focussing on three
there,” he said. He believed that if
things - alcohol, speed and restraints Police attacked the behaviours then
the road toll would come down.
research showed that lives could be
Loss of public support
saved and hundreds of injuries
prevented.
He said that while there was a feeling
amongst many police officers that
Some of the statistics Superintendent
Police were losing public support (as a
Fitzgerald quoted included:
result of the traffic quota issue) and he
• Men are overly represented in road
believed that “visible policing” and a
statistics.
“zero-tolerance approach in policing as
well as traffic, would mean less deaths
• Motorcyclists are 14 times more
and less hospitalisations and that’s the
likely to be killed on the road than
business we’re in.”
other motorists.
Road policing represented 23% of all
police business and now funded 1650
frontline positions and 450 new nonsworn staff, according to
Superintendent Fitzgerald.
He said the savings in trauma-related
costs alone were enormous. He quoted
figures from an American trauma
savings survey, which said that the cost
of a life in road safety terms was $2.46
million and an injury cost taxpayers
• One in 14 vehicles exceeds the road
limit by 10 kph or more.
• Of the annual road toll, 70 drivers
were not wearing a seatbelt.
• Annually, police officers apprehend
just under 25,000 drivers who are
over the breath-alcohol limit.
Superintendent Fitzgerald said that an
evidenced-based approach to road
policing meant:
Several delegates
raised issues with
Superintendent
Fitzgerald regarding
road policing
initiatives taking
resources from other
sections (dog handlers
writing tickets and
then being unavailable
for callouts as a result
was one example
given) while one
delegate said that “there was
antagonism from the public due to the
element of discretion not being
applied” and that “prevention seems to
have gone by the board”. Southland
delegate Tracey MacLennan queried
why police in some parts of the North
Island were operating under a 10kph
regime while in the far south it was as
low as 5kph over the limit before an
infringement notice was issued.
Superintendent Fitzgerald said that
road policing was a core business for
the Police and that in actual fact,
strictly speaking, anyone doing 1kph
over the limit was infringing, so there
was some discretion being used
regardless of whether the infringement
notice was being issued at the 5 or
10kph limit.
“We spend over $200 million of the
Police budget annually on road
policing, so it’s a very important part of
our job and ultimately it comes back to
it being about us being out there
helping to save lives and that shouldn’t
be lost sight of,” he said.
161
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
Sick Leave Bank - a new regime
will be instituted this month
By Association Industrial Officer, Amanda Craig
As a result of this year’s pay round, a new sick leave bank
regime will be in place later this year.
In 1981 NZ Police established a sick leave bank for sworn
members. At the time it was considered to be very
innovative as members could apply for sick leave from the
bank when they had exhausted their sick leave, rather than
losing pay. All members donating a day’s annual leave to
the bank created the “leave” in the bank.
Over the years the sick leave bank was not administered as
well as it was originally intended and a culture had
developed where members thought there was unlimited
sick leave. This was never the intention of the scheme.
Sick leave from the bank was never an automatic right.
Annual leave draw down
Another donation of annual leave is needed from members
to get the bank up and running. This was part of the pay
round agreement. Each member will be contributing one
day’s annual leave to the sick leave bank to create a pool of
leave. The Police Department will be doing this in
November.
The Association was represented on a working party to
discuss sick leave bank issues and agreed on new criteria.
When making decisions on individual cases the following
factors will be taken into account:
• The seriousness of the illness - the more serious the
greater the likelihood of support.
• The probability of a return to work - the more probable
this is the more likely support will be forthcoming.
• The rehabilitation plan.
• Pattern of previous sick leave.
• Number of applications to the bank.
New criteria
There are some other general
criteria affecting how the bank
will work. These are:
• All sick leave must have been used.
• Five days leave can be granted in emergency situations.
During that time an application has to be made for any
further leave.
• No more than 30 days can be approved at one time though members can reapply.
• Those leaving or intending to leave Police cannot use
the bank - unless there are exceptional circumstances.
• Members who return to work will keep all annual,
shiftworkers’ and sick leave accrued while using the
bank.
• Those who leave Police within six months of using the
bank will donate some of their annual leave to the bank.
• Members can apply in order to care for a member of
their household.
• A right of review if an application is declined.
Approval committee
A sick leave bank approval committee has been formed and
Peter Hayes, the Manager Welfare Services, will represent
the Police service organisations.
“Members who are seriously ill and are required to take
extended sick leave in genuine circumstances have nothing
to fear”, said Peter Hayes. “The changes to the Sick Leave
Bank will ensure that the generous contribution made by all
members of a day’s leave will only be used by those who
really need it.
CSI (Competence Service Increment)
due on 1 December
By Association Advocate, Greg Fleming
All sworn and non-sworn members who are not at the top
of their pay bands, will receive the 1 December, 2003
competency/service increment, which will be known as a
CSI. This CSI will be paid to everyone due to the short lead
in period.
The next round of CSIs will occur on a member’s
anniversary of appointment to Police and will be paid
accordingly between 1 July, 2004 and 30 June, 2005. It is
expected that all but 100 or so eligible members will receive
their CSI.
The required competency standards will not be taxing.
162
Annual objectives and KRAs (Key Result
Areas) will not form part of the criteria
for determining eligibility for a CSI.
Members will, however, need to be
current with PCT (Physical Competency
Test), SSTT (Staff Safety Tactical
Training), first aid and custodial suicide
certifications, have an exemption or be
in the process of gaining their certification via remedial
programmes on their anniversary date for the CSI to be
paid.
Performance Appraisals will continue with an annual
review date of 1 July each year.
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
Prisoner escort duties likely to
be carried out by security firms
The contracting out of the escort of
remand and sentenced prisoners to
and from prisons could soon occur
on a nationwide basis. Currently,
Chubb NZ Ltd has a contract with
Department of Corrections to deliver
these services in the Northland and
Auckland Police Districts.
The Police Association was formally
advised recently that the Government
has essentially decided to contractout escorting of remand and
sentenced prisoners, rather than
have this performed by police officers.
This decision would extend
nationally a trial that has so far been
undertaken in Auckland and
Northland Police Districts. Tenders
for the work were called in late
September and Cabinet has authorised
Corrections and Police to commence
the tender process, aiming for a July
2004 start date.
Custodial responsibilities
Police will still retain custodial
responsibilities within court environs,
as well as overnight escorts from
police cells. Police and Corrections
estimate that the work, which is
subject to tender, will account for
about a quarter of the time spent by
staff engaged in prisoner escort and
custodial duties.
The Police Department has
commenced consultation with the
Police Association. Feedback received
to date indicates that many areas
would welcome the opportunity to
hand over these responsibilities to
contractors.
The Association’s main concerns will
be to ensure that affected staff are
properly consulted and that the
savings identified are real and
achievable. To this end, the
Association has asked that, in the
interests of minimum fairness,
affected staff are personally notified
if this proposal will impact upon
them (we have notified those
affected members we are aware of,
but we do not have knowledge of all
affected members individually,
whereas the Police Department does).
The proposal is still subject to final
approval by Cabinet.
ARE YOU AWARE?
...that as Police Association members you are in fact the
Police Association. The activities and direction of the
Association is determined by the wider membership.
“politically neutral”, which means we do not favour or
subscribe to any political party - we simply represent the
best interest of members.
Your subscriptions are used to employ professional staff,
pay for the secondment of the elected President,
undertake research, advocacy and provide legal assistance
to and for the benefit of members.
Membership of the Police Association also entitles
members to access the Welfare arm of the Association the Police Welfare Fund. The Welfare Fund’s health plan
holiday homes, insurance packages and mortgage
facilities are the envy of many.
The Police Association is completely separate and
independent from the NZ Police. The Association is
As Welfare Fund members you actually own a part share.
• No, the American outlaw motorcycle gang, the Bandidos, have not successfully infiltrated the Police Association, as this photo may
suggest. Police Association staff were out en masse to support the Annual Canteen Appeal (to raise funds for teens with cancer) by
purchasing and donning Canteen bandanas for the day recently.
163
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
Legal assistance - what is it
and how does it work?
By Police Association CEO, Chris Pentecost
Over the last financial year the Association provided legal
assistance to 99 members, at a cost of $500,456, for the defence
of matters arising out of their role and functions in Police.
These matters, ranged from driving offences right through to the
defence of Constable A against a private prosecution for murder.
A quick glance at the Association accounts for the past few
years show last year’s costs are not abnormal.
So what is ‘legal assistance’ and how does it work?
Available to all members
Legal assistance is available to all Association
members. It involves a contribution to the costs of
legal counsel (where approved by the Board of the
Association) to support and represent members of
the Association who are facing investigation or
charges “where the matter giving rise to the
charge or charges arose out of the member’s
employment with Police” (Rule 104(a)) or “in
any other case involving exceptional
circumstances where the matter involves a principle of general
interest to members” (Rule 104(b)).
Legal assistance is not available for general industrial matters
such as the pursuit of a personal grievance. The national office
industrial team or Field Officers deal with these.
Three steps
There are up to three steps involved in the legal assistance
process. The first is known as ‘delegated authority’. Directors,
Field Officers and other selected individuals have been given
“delegated authority”. This allows a member in serious and
immediate need of assistance to have one of these delegated
individuals engage a lawyer to assist the member for an initial
consultation or attendance at an interview. The Association pays
the costs incurred with this initial support provided under a
field delegation. There is no requirement for a legal assistance
application to be completed for this support. However, if the
matter is not disposed of by these initial stages and further
assistance is required, then the procedures in Rule 104 (c) (d)
and (e) apply, and an application for legal assistance form
must be completed.
Legal Assistance, Board approval and
quantum
Where a matter is either not urgent or has not been disposed of
through field delegation, the member must complete an
application for legal assistance form. These are available from
local Association representatives or Field Officers. The member
completes the application, which is submitted to the local
Association committee for consideration. This application,
along with the local committee recommendation, is then
submitted to the Board of the Association.
At this stage, legal assistance is a two-step process - eligibility
and quantum - usually separated by a period of time.
The Board will first consider the eligibility of an application for
assistance and will grant, or may decline, “reasonable legal
164
assistance”. At this stage we
communicate with the member, and
their legal counsel, as the matter
proceeds.
Once the matter is concluded, the Board will then consider the
issue of quantum “having regard to the merits of the case and in
particular the conduct of the member” (Rule 104(d)),
determining what proportion of the costs incurred will be funded
by the Association.
While in well over 80 percent of applications full
quantum of costs incurred is granted, there are
occasions when less is awarded. Quantum may
revolve around an issue in circumstances, such as
where the conduct of the member has had an
overriding influence on the outcome, where the
conduct of the defence has been unduly prolonged
(such as ongoing and unnecessary judicial reviews
or challenges); or the counsel used by the member
is not considered necessary or appropriate, such as
using a QC to defend a minor driving charge.
Generally, where less than full quantum may be awarded, this has
already been signalled to the member prior to the Board
determination.
It is important that members note and understand that approval of
eligibility is not a promise to pay full quantum. It is also important
to note that liability for payment of all accounts remains with the
member until the Board determines the matter of quantum.
Selection of legal counsel
Except for the provision of a solicitor through the field delegation,
the Association will not engage a solicitor on your behalf. While
the choice of a lawyer is ultimately up to the member, we do
prefer members to use lawyers who are experienced in dealing
with matters relating to Police members. To that end we retain a
network of lawyers who have the specialist expertise in
representing members of Police. We are happy to refer members
to these lawyers.
The nature of policing means members of Police, both sworn and
non-sworn, more readily face misconduct and neglect of duty
allegations than other employees. Police hold special powers,
many jobs involve confrontational encounters with members of
the public. Policing demands high standards of conduct, and the
behaviour of members of Police, both on and off-duty, is a matter
of considerable public interest.
Members are always vulnerable to accusations of the use of excess
force in effecting arrests and dealing with violent confrontations.
Such allegations are extremely easy to make and hard to refute.
While convictions in such cases are rare, nevertheless legal bills
can quickly reach in excess of $30,000. Police Association
membership is as essential as any other form of protection for
members to avoid potentially ruinous legal bills sustained in
defending such charges.
If you think you might need legal assistance contact an
Association representative immediately. Making this contact early
assists us to ensure you have the most effective support and
representation available.
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
• The recruit wings (top) and part of the large crowd which attended the service.
Large crowd in attendance for Remembrance Day
The annual Police
Remembrance Day was held at
the Royal New Zealand Police
College, Porirua, in late
September.
facing new threats to public
safety. “Even in New Zealand
we have not been untouched
by terrorism, and our
neighbours in the South
Pacific have also suffered its
effects. It seems that in today’s
climate the job of policing is
becoming ever more
challenging and dangerous.”
The service commemorates the
lives of police officers who
have died on duty in New
Zealand, Australia and the
South Pacific and all those
members of Police, serving
and retired, sworn and nonsworn, who have died in the
previous year. Several hundred
people attended the service,
which was presided over by
the Reverend Peter Cullinane,
President of the NZ Catholic
Bishops’ Conference.
Among those present was Mrs
Janet Lawrie and her granddaughter Kendra Herrick. Mrs
Lawrie is the grand-daughter
of Constable Neil McLeod, the
first New Zealand police
officer ever killed on duty.
Henry Funcke, a gum-digger,
who had been removed from a
passenger steamer after his
rifle was confiscated, shot
Constable McLeod dead at
Mangawhare Wharf near
Dargaville in 1890.
Funcke was found not guilty
of murder on the grounds of
insanity.
Padre David Dell, Chaplain to
the RNZ Police College,
delivered a tribute and
Superintendent Stuart Wildon
read out the names of police
officers slain on duty while Mr
Lawrie Philpott of the
Wellington Retired Police
Club, read the names of the
retired and other staff, who
had died over the last year.
New Zealand sworn and
non-sworn members who
died while in service were:
•
Rev Father John Martin
Collins (Christchurch).
•
Constable Justinian
Nicholas (Justin) Gallate
(Christchurch).
•
Senior Sergeant John
David Hamlin
(Waitakere).
•
Thomas William (Tom)
Lewis (Auckland).
• Commissioner Rob Robinson prepares to lay the wreath.
Superintendent Alistair (Olly) Beckett is at right.
• Josephine Kiri Matenga (Wellington).
Facing new threats
• Leonora Hanako Woodmore (RNZPC).
Superintendent Alistair (Olly Beckett) told the audience that
police services across the world have found themselves
The laying of the commemorative wreath by Commissioner
Rob Robinson followed the service.
165
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
The New Zealand Police Association’s 68th Annual Conference was held from October 8-11.
In the series of articles, which appear over the next 11 pages, Police News Editor, Steve
Plowman (pictured) reports on the Conference and its issues - big and small. Along the way
Steve has an in-depth look at the address of keynote speaker and organised crime expert,
Superintendent Fred Gere reports on the thoughts of MPs Deborah Coddington and Dr Paul
Hutchinson, who spoke on their respective Private Members’ Bills; takes in the respective
speeches of Association President, Greg O’Connor, the Commissioner of Police, Rob
Robinson; Minister of Police, George Hawkins and National Traffic Safety Manager, Steve
Fitzgerald; covers a couple of policing surveys; has a look at the work of delegates (how their
resolutions fared) and welcomes John Gower as our newest life member.
Organised crime expert delivers simple message:
Take the ‘P’-rofit out of organized
crime by seizing ALL gang assets
By Police News Editor, Steve Plowman
Superintendent Fred Gere, a world-renowned gang and
organised crime expert from the West Australian Police
Service, delivered a powerful message to delegates,
police staff, the media, politicians and other guests in his
keynote address to the Annual Conference.
The message was simple. If New Zealand wants to stop
the scourge of P and other hard drugs from decimating
its communities then it has to take the profit out of crime
for organised crime gangs. Passing and then enforcing
tougher legislation regarding the seizure of ALL gang
assets would achieve this.
Superintendent Gere said that the problem of gang
distribution of hard drugs would only recede through “a
collaborative approach in tackling gangs.”
It was a message that found an appreciative audience.
The Police Association is hopeful it is a message that
politicians will carry back to Parliament with the will to
strengthening the hand of law-enforcement agencies in
the fight against organised crime by taking a leaf out of
Western Australia’s legislative book. There, Police and
the Courts have been given extensive powers of seizure
and real results are being seen in the fight against hard
drugs.
Crime on wheels
Throughout an hour-long speech
entitled “The global impact of
organised crime on wheels”,
Superintendent Gere held his
audience spellbound as he took them
on a wide-ranging journey from
Independence Day, 1946 and a small
town called Hollister (USA) - the
recognised birthplace of OMCGs
(Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs) through to the present day where
they control organised crime to an
extent not seen since the heyday of
the Italian mafia.
Along the way, Superintendent Gere
defined the evolution of gangs - from
street gangs/groups/syndicates
(usually ethnic-based with a
hierarchical structure) through
166
OMCGs (structured and well-entrenched) to youth gangs
(disorganised, usually at school or neighbourhood-based
and usually below 18 years of age), roamed through how
Hollywood gave the gangs cult status and credibility with
films such as “The Wild One”, “Hell’s Angels on Wheels”,
“Easy Rider” and “Electric Glyde” and set the scene for a
gripping commentary on just how sophisticated the
‘bikie’ gangs have become worldwide.
Gang structure
Through a history of gang structure (Presidents, VicePresidents, Sergeant-At Arms etc), gang colours and
patches and tattoos, Fred Gere’s delivery was polished
and backed up by elements of humour, finely balanced
with stark facts and at times graphic images.
He said the public had been hoodwinked by the gangs’
portrayal of themselves. “The majority of the community
believes that they are simply beer drinking, dope
smoking, rowdy, weekend bikers who simply like having
a good time and hang around together because they ride
bikes. They see them as oversized tattoo-toting
individuals who usually dress in leather.”
Superintendent Gere said that gangs build a strong bond
with locals living near their clubhouses and use these
contacts as the gang’s “eyes and ears”
to keep tabs on when police carry out
surveillance or visit the premises
when the clubhouse is unoccupied. In
return the gang deals with all offences
within the area and any legitimate
business is pushed on to these
contacts.
The four biggest international gangs
are the Hell’s Angels, Outlaws, Pagans
and Bandidos and Superintendent
Gere said they are here to stay. The
largest of these is the Hell’s Angels,
which established a chapter in New
Zealand in 1961, making it the oldest
chapter in the world outside the USA.
• Fred Gere addresses the conference.
The Bandidos, formed in Houston,
Texas, in 1966, rank second in
numbers to the Hell’s Angels but are
the fastest-growing gang in the world.
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
Then comes the Outlaws, who are a
rapidly expanding globally and have an
express hatred for the Hell’s Angels with
a number of members wearing the
tattooed slogan AHAMD (All Hell’s
Angels Must Die) on their left arm.
Code of secrecy
Like the mafia, gang culture thrives on
secrecy and extreme loyalty from the
membership. “They live and die by the
club rules and there is no room for
error,” he said. “Their rules,
constitutions and bylaws are simple but
effective and it is very rare for a gang
member to ‘roll over’ on the club or
other members.”
operate. Theirs is a culture of arrogance,
greed and misconcepted thinking
which fuels the need for more power
and control.
Outlaw motorcycle gangs in the USA
control 75% of the methamphetamine
market and their tentacles spread far
NZ affiliations
and wide. In 1999, in Orange County a
While most New Zealanders would be
raid resulted in the President of the
aware that the Hell’s Angels are longHell’s Angel’s Orange County chapter
established here - they might be
being arrested along with an Assistant
“The two major issues they look
surprised to learn that the gang also has
District Attorney. Both were arrested for
towards achieving today are to defeat
strong affiliations to the Headhunters,
their alleged involvement in a multilaw enforcement and make money as
Magog, Filthy Few and Mothers.
million dollar drug empire stretching
quickly as possible,” he added.
Superintendent Gere said this is an
from cocaine imports from South
increasing trend - gangs prepared to
America to manufacturing and
Chauvinistic
work together with a common zeal for
distributing of methamphetamine
one thing - money, and lots of it.
Superintendent Gere said the gangs, as
throughout the USA. In Australia gangs
a male-dominated brotherhood, are
control some 75% of the meth trade,
He said the Bandidos had established
with one in five
several chapters in
clandestine
Australia and built
“The growing trend is to ensure that the product is
laboratories
strong associations
specifically
with New Zealand’s
both attractive and marketed to the needs of the
linked to
Highway 61 gang,
end user. We have for generations stereotyped
OMCGs, and
whose National
ourselves and more importantly our children to
several others
President, Kevin
suspected of
Weavers was slain
take pills for headaches, toothaches, stomach
being carried
recently at the gang’s
disorders and a multitude of other reasons. In
out on behalf of
Auckland base.
these gangs.
other
words
a
simple
tablet
will
take
away
your
He said that most
gangs evolve over
five stages:
pain and worries.” - (Superintendent Fred Gere)
Stage 1 - Social
runs and
misbehaviour.
Stage 2 - Involvement with drugs,
alcohol and women.
Stage 3 - Power base and drug
distribution commences. Selective
membership and money-laundering
begins.
Stage 4 - Minimised extrovert activity,
avoidance of adverse publicity, covert
violence, sophistication in moneylaundering, selective recruitment for
needed skills, a public image campaign,
insular criminal activity, new chapters,
expansion and development of
professional contact with other
organised crime groups.
Stage 5 - Operations go underground,
club operations are insular (need-toknow basis), members operate on an
insular basis using associates, increase
in the use of professional moneylaundering techniques (businesses and
companies set up), propaganda and
political lobbying increases, increased
evidence of wealth and expenditure on
the clubhouses, increase in corporate
style and infrastructure.
“highly-chauvinistic”. “Women are seen
as objects. Women are to make money
from, usually working in massage
parlours, topless bars, cocktail lounges
and as strippers. After drugs,
prostitution is usually the OMCGs most
lucrative source of income.
Gangs have become sophisticated in
their ability to gather valuable
information, according to
Superintendent Gere, who has worked
for many years in covert surveillance
operations. “The gangs will use women
in this process too. They will arrange to
have women who are known to them
work in government offices that have
access to birth certificates, drivers’
licenses, police records and banks. They
usually try and get employment as
Police record clerks, telephone
operators, welfare officers and within
the prison or Corrections
environments,” he said.
Violence
Gere said that historically gangs had
been linked to violence, much of it
related to inter-gang rivalry and the
illicit environment in which they
In New Zealand
it is estimated
that 95% of
detected
clandestine laboratories are linked to
gangs.
The new era
Gere said the speed market would
continue to flourish due to what he
termed “a lack of Government response
globally with regards to pre-cursors”.
“The new kid on the block for OMCG’s
is MDMA. Commonly known as
Ecstasy this illicit drug is taking the
world by storm due to local Southeast
Asian and European manufacturing
bases being established,” he said.
He quoted the following examples for
last year with regard to seizures of
Ecstacy.
• Canada saw the importation of
Ecstasy flourish to such an extent
that it is now only second to
cocaine with 1,768,740 tablets
seized at a street value of $61.8
million.
• Australia saw 445 kilograms
through 447 seizures of Ecstasy.
• New Zealand saw 256,973 tablets
seized compared to 13,000 in
1999, an18-fold increase. (Editor’s
167
November 2003
Police News
and more importantly our
children to take pills for
headaches, toothaches,
stomach disorders and a
multitude of other reasons. In
other words a simple tablet will
take away your pain and
worries,” Gere said.
note - Customs reports
over 530,000 tablets have
been seized up until July
of this year).
Most law enforcement agencies
estimate they are intercepting
only 15% of what is actually
being imported and as such, an
estimation of the Ecstasy
market in NZ would be about
1.5M tablets annually getting to
the street at $50 per tablet,
therefore representing about
$75 million in income for
suppliers.
Superintendent Gere said that
the reality is that ATS
(amphetamine-type substances) • Fred Gere answers media questions.
tablets are now being
Future trends
manufactured locally and the “fake”
Gere predicts New Zealand is in for an
Ecstasy contains methylamphetamine
escalation in violence due to turf wars
and ketamine due to MDMA preand violence related to drug
cursors being difficult to obtain.
distribution territories because of what
“Importations into New Zealand and
he called “an alarming rate of the birth
Australia during 2002-3 have been in
of street gangs and the expansion of
both powder and liquid form, which
OMCGs”.
indicates that the final stage Ecstasy
laboratories must exist,” he said.
Legitimate businesses
OMCGs are now becoming entrenched
into the road transport industry, which
gives them a legitimate method to
conduct their illegitimate business
without a third party being involved.
“New Zealand Hell’s Angels have one of
the largest legitimate business in the
Pacific, which resurfaces tarmacs at
local and interstate airfields,” he said.
Other gang businesses range from
nightclubs, boutiques, tattoo parlours,
massage parlours, automobile wreckers,
limousine services, panel beaters and
car repair centres to motorcycle repair
shops.
Collaboration
The worrying global trend is the move
from bitter rivalry to co-operation and
collaborative partnerships being formed
between OMCG and the street gangs.
“In Canada, the Bandidos have set up
their own street gang called the “Killer
Beez”, who are usually juveniles, and
carry out drug dealing and other tasks.
This is now the selection environment
for prospective members to move into
the Bandidos at a later time in their life,”
Gere said.
Similar trends have also occurred in
Europe and are now being identified in
Australia and New Zealand.
168
The Voice of Police
“Now we are seeing
unscrupulous drug
manufacturers and degenerate
drug dealers selling a majority
of their drugs in tablet form
with attractive logos such as
Calvin Klein, Mitsubishi and
Bart Simpson and the list goes
on and on,” Gere warned.
Gere said the approach from
governments and law
enforcement authorities needs to be
tailored to fit each individual country.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario,” he
said.
The basic issues that must be addressed
as a matter of importance are:
Education:
Drive-by shootings will increase,
bombings of premises and individuals
will commence, club-sanctioned hits
will eventuate and innocent people,
who happen to be at the wrong place at
the wrong time, will be injured or
killed.
• Must start at an early age - College/
Secondary School is already too late.
“Drug markets simply follow supply
and demand,” he said. “Where there is a
market there will always be a facilitator,
manufacturer, importer, upper echelon
dealer, street dealer and user,” he said,
adding that, “in some cases the gangs
will actually manipulate the illicit drug
environment to suit their commodity.
The heroin market in Australia has had
a remarkable downturn in the past five
years; however, at the same time the
meth and Ecstasy market had
skyrocketed.
• Educational projects.
With gangs being so reliant on this
supply-and-demand market,
Superintendent Gere said children
visiting ‘tinny’ houses are more than
likely to be offered a smorgasbord
selection of licit and illicit drugs such as
ATS (amphetamine type substances)
disguised as Ecstasy, cannabis laced
with ATS, Ice, LSD and the popular
dexamphetamines.
• Family morals and upbringing is
paramount - parents need to be
accountable and responsible.
• Media.
Harm minimization:
• This is usually the area undertaken
by welfare agencies and includes
awareness of what is on the street,
what damage it can do and how it
should be avoided.
• Look at alternative legitimate drugs
through a controlled environment.
Supply Reduction:
• The appropriate tools need to be
given to law enforcement agencies
if they are going to combat the
growth of the hard drug
environment.
• Legislation needs to be continually
reviewed and re-aligned to ensure
maximum impact.
• Funding sources need to be
identified and exploited.
Marketing
Confiscation of assets
The growing trend is to ensure that the
product is both attractive and marketed
to the needs of the end user. “We have,
for generations, stereotyped ourselves
Superintendent Gere said that
confiscation of assets is one area that
needs to be exploited. “This needs to be
done swiftly and effectively,” he said.
“Children roam the street and break
New Zealand Police Association
into houses and steal from their parents
so that they can visit their drug dealer,
who purchased the meth from a street
gang member, who was selling it for an
OMCG member, who obtained it from
the club, who manufactured it using a
cook specifically bought over from
Australia and used product purchased
from chemist shops, that were shopped
by using street gangs to purchase
individual packets, who in turn
supplied it to the OMCGs in exchange
for the finished product,” he said.
“Difficult to believe? This is, in fact, the
very scenario being played out in New
Zealand communities every day,”
Superintendent Gere added.
“The only true way to impact on these
social outcasts, who are making money
from the misery of others, is to take
away their finances, and I mean ALL
their finances.”
In Western Australia a person who is
convicted of drug dealing (28 grams of
ATS) loses all their assets, irrespective of
whether they were inherited, given to
them or bought legitimately. “The
message is simple - deal drugs and you
lose everything!” he said.
West Australian legislation
“Since the inception of asset seizure
laws in 2001, the sleepy state of
Western Australia has seized, frozen or
confiscated $39M. The good thing
about it is that money is being used and
should only be used to impact on this
issue through education, harm
minimization and supply reduction,”
Superintendent Gere said.
The legislation, the Criminal
Confiscation Act 2000 allows for:
• Confiscation of any property
directly or indirectly acquired as a
result of a person’s involvement in
crime, even if the property was
otherwise lawfully acquired.
• A person to be classified as a drug
trafficker if he/she has 250 or more
cannabis plants; 3 kilograms or
more of cannabis; 28 grams or
more of heroin, cocaine or
methamphetamine; has been
charged with a serious drug
offence three or more times in the
previous 10 years.
• The freezing of property assets if
there is a reasonable likelihood of
prosecution.
• Reverse onus - anyone can be
asked to demonstrate where their
wealth came from - any
unexplained wealth will be
confiscated.
• The targeting of individual wealth
inconsistent with a person’s means.
• Fines of up to $100,000 or the
value of the person’s property
(whichever is the greater) or five
November 2003
year’s imprisonment.
• The removal of legal professional
privilege.
• Coercive powers of examination
aimed at facilitators of
concealment (accountants, lawyers
etc).
Superintendent Gere concluded his
address by telling the audience that
there was “no room for individuals or
individualism”. A truly collaborative
approach between the community,
government and Police was the answer
for New Zealand.
“To succeed will bring some pleasure in
being able to leave our country to future
generations as a better place to live and
enjoy. To fail will mean that our
community will continue to look for
answers and alternatives while the drug
barons continue to feed an everincreasing number of users, who see no
future in the environment that we have
created,” he said.
(Editor’s note: In the days that followed
Superintendent Gere’s address, Justice
Minister, Phil Goff, indicated that the
Government would look at toughening
the law pertaining to the confiscation
of assets of convicted criminals but
would not go so far as Western
Australia and allow Police to have
powers of “arbitrary confiscation”.)
Association President calls on Government
to implement WA asset seizure model
Association President, Greg O’Connor in his opening
address to the 68th Annual New Zealand Police Association
Conference in Wellington, said that the conference
represented a perfect forum for officers nationwide to come
together for the betterment of policing.
“In a world in which tasks and careers
are increasingly siloed, the Association
plays an important role in breaking
down the internal communication
barriers, which inevitably result from
such siloing. Thus, the one-person police
officer from the South Island rubs
shoulders with the watchhouse ffficer
from the North, the detective with the
road policing officer,” he said.
It was fitting, therefore, he said, that the
theme of this year’s conference was ‘The
Voice of Police’.
“Another version of that could be, ‘listen
to the cops for once’, ” he said.
Emphasis on crime
“When I look at the themes we have
adopted over the last eight years, they
almost invariably relate to placing more
emphasis on crime fighting. We began
warning of the methamphetamine
epidemic in 1998, and indeed have
dedicated two conferences to trying to
bring Police administration, political, and
public attention to the pending
epidemic, which is now well, and truly
upon us,” Mr O’Connor said.
He said every police officer working on
the frontline, in Intel, investigation and
youth services was aware that “the
methamphetamine epidemic is changing
the whole crime scene”.
Mr O’Connor said “a lack of emphasis on
curtailing the rise of methamphetamine
and gangs” is putting New Zealand’s
future at risk because New Zealand’s
“point of difference” was “our clean
green, but more importantly, safe image”.
The Association, as “the voice of Police”
were now issuing the same warnings
about gangs as it did all those years ago
about methamphetamine; and saying to
the public, the politicians, and most
importantly, the Police administration,
listen to what we are saying now, Mr
O’Connor told the audience.
169
November 2003
Police News
working up through the system, is that
everyone understands who it is we work
for; the next victim,” he said.
Frontline not being heard
“For those of you who have been around
the Police for a while and seen the effects
of the voice of the frontline not being
heard or considered by the policy
makers, the current lack of response will
come as no surprise,” he said.
He said Police needed to be very careful
to avoid a culture, which could open it
up to “accusations of political bias”, he
said.
Carrying a simple message
Recent history gave some good examples
of operational police being ignored:
• When Districts were being rendered
inefficient by blind adherence to the
decentralisation policies of the
late1980s, the warnings of
investigators, in particular, were
ignored.
• Detectives were identified as a threat
to the successful implementation of
the decentralised model, and were
marginalised as dinosaurs even
though their opposition was based
on fears that the Police were
decentralising their investigative
capacity, just at the time gangs were
centralising by way of the formation
of national alliances.
• A classic example was the Kapi-Mana
Community Policing model of the
late 1980s, sponsored and overseen
by the Victoria University
Criminology department.
“But nobody told the Commissioner and
that then became the model for the
whole country. A model, which is now
being dismantled as suburban police
stations in towns and cities around the
country become denuded of
investigators and response police,” Mr
O’Connor said.
“But no-one listened to those
investigators,” he added.
Warnings ignored
Mr O’Connor said that the Police
Association was again the ‘voice of Police’
during the period when Incis and
Policing 2000 were flavour of the month
and 540 jobs were under threat. “Even
our current Minister, then in Opposition
and well aware of the folly of Incis, also
had his warnings ignored,” he said.
The Association President said that
following the merger between the
Ministry of Transport and Police, it
became apparent that most road policing
was being delivered on time sheets only
through most of the 1990s and that the
MOT staff had become extra General
Duties Branch police for the most part.
“We also all know, that now the true
merger has taken place and road policing
is getting the resource it is funded for,
170
The Voice of Police
• Greg O’Connor… time to toughen
legislation.
Districts are struggling to be able to
deliver policing services in the general
duties and investigation area.”
The public, largely unaware of the Police
obligation to deliver outputs in road
policing, are getting very annoyed about
where the policing emphasis lies, Mr
O’Connor said. “This is a message
apparently not getting through to the
top,” he added.
Police reputation
He said the Association fully supported
Commissioner Rob Robinson in his
desire to improve the Police reputation
with Government and the control
agencies, particularly Treasury and the
State Services Commission, following the
excesses of the 1990s. “There was
always going to be some pain for Police
as we paid for those excesses.”
“We have understood that some key
positions at the top were always going to
be filled by non-police, and we
supported the appointment of Lyn
Provost as the first civilian deputy. The
Incis debacle left us with little choice,” he
said.
“Indeed, a visit to PEC recently by Mark
Prebble, from the Prime Minister’s
Department, to tell the Police
administration what a good job they had
done keeping the Police portfolio under
control is evidence that that particular
strategy has succeeded,” he added.
“Police officers swear an oath of
allegiance to uphold the Queen’s peace
and administer the law impartially. One
advantage of being an organisation,
which has traditionally filled influential
positions at the top with people who
have learned to understand policing
from beginning as a recruit at the Police
College, or even as a non-sworn person
working closely with police officers, and
Mr O’Connor said that he came to the
conference with a simple message from
frontline officers around the country:
“Do something now to dismantle the
power, wealth, and sphere of
intimidation of organised criminal gangs
in New Zealand or we will quickly fall
victim to the corruption, crime and other
social consequences of allowing a sinister
power block to consolidate in New
Zealand.”
He said to do so would take “focus,
resources and law change”. This would
necessarily involve good asset seizure
legislation, which put the onus on
criminals to prove they acquired their
assets legitimately.
Judge-only trials against gang members
would eliminate the risk of jury
tampering, another feature of organised
crime already seen in New Zealand, Mr
O’Connor said.
“When a jury comes back in to ask the
judge whether they would get Police
protection if they found a gang accused
guilty, and delivered a not guilty verdict
when they were told they wouldn’t, we
need judge-only trials. That happened in
Auckland last year,” he said.
Good legislation
He said the Government had made inroads with good legislation around “the
boy-racer problem” and with the
reclassification of methamphetamine to a
Class A drug. They were also to be
commended for “some useful
amendments” to the Second Hand
Dealers’ Act and DNA legislation,
counter-terrorism legislation and
“proposals to increase Police electronic
interception capabilities are overdue but
nevertheless welcome”.
Mr O’Connor said New Zealand should
follow the West Australian model for
dealing with gangs through significant
strengthening and extension of current
asset seizure legislation.
“But no amount of legislation will help
without the staff to implement it.”
He said calls, such as that of an
exasperated Bob Harvey, the Mayor of
Waitakere, to set up local Police Forces,
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
“will become commonplace if we do not
bring New Zealand Police to population
ratios at least close to those of Australia
and other industrialised countries”.
New Zealand has 1.8 police officers per
1,000 population; Australia 2.2; England
and Wales 2.4; and the United States 2.8.
Mr O’Connor said that another 500
police officers would “still leave us well
shy of those comparable countries”. He
said New Zealand’s “single agency
jurisdiction” was the envy of Canadian,
American and even Australian police
officers. The duplication of
administration, intelligence gathering,
and investigation, which drastically
reduces Police capability in those
countries, must be avoided here, he said,
adding that he was pleased to see Prime
Minister, Helen Clark, had endorsed the
Police Association position on that.
Police working harder
While police officers were working
harder, which was reflected in “extremely
high crime clearance rates, by world
standards” the grim reality was that
“crime is still rising and there just aren’t
enough of us”.
At the conclusion of his address, Mr
O’Connor acknowledged the work of the
Minister of Police, George Hawkins, for
boosting staff numbers, especially in the
road policing area.
“Minister, you can be proud of your
Highway Patrol and their success in
bringing down the road toll but we
believe only a similar injection of staff
and resource into the
methamphetamine, gang and organised
crime policing area will make an
impact,” he said.
With this Mr O’Connor called on the
Government to listen to the voices of
frontline police, educators, medical
practitioners, social workers, paramedics
and others who see the effects of the this
scourge. “Not only to hear them but to act
upon what they are telling you about the
methamphetamine scourge,” he added.
He called for “an essential public
enquiry” to address the damage being
done to society by drugs and gangs.
“Finally, the Police Association calls on
the current Police administration and the
Government, and indeed future
administrations of both, to listen to the
voice of your frontline police to ensure
that our country becomes, and remains,
a safe environment for New Zealanders
and visitors to our shores. It’s a great
country, and will remain so if we get our
priorities right,” Mr O’Connor said.
Commissioner looks back on operational
successes and forward to “making
New Zealand a safer place”
Commissioner of Police, Rob
Robinson focussed on operational
successes, the recently concluded
pay round, recruiting, resourcing,
methamphetamine, road policing
and “getting back to basics” in his
conference address.
He reserved particular praise for the
investigators whose perseverance
had helped convict Jules Mikus, 15
years after the death of six-year-old
Napier schoolgirl, Teresa Cormack.
He called the level of crime
resolutions by New Zealand police
officers “world class”.
In relation to the pay round the
Commissioner praised both the
Association and the Department for
their “willingness to work together
for the best outcome”. “We have a
term that gives us stability for the
next three years and we can get on
with policing rather than worrying
about our wallets,” he added.
saw things differently “on the
approach needed to get
Government to invest in Police.”
“I see dangers in the kind of ‘boom
and bust’ tactic where we generate
so much agitation that there’s no
option but to throw money at
policing,” he said. He felt that this
approach introduced other internal
problems.
He alluded to the Police Executive
preferring to put up what he called
“well-reasoned cases for investment
that compete with other Justice
sector bids, and ultimately against
equally-deserving sectors like
health, welfare and education.”
Regaining Government
confidence
He said that in recent years Police
had begun to “regain confidence
from those holding the purse
strings” and in his view Police
should be focussing on “ongoing
Police numbers
• Commissioner Rob Robinson addresses conference
investment to tackle crime
The Commissioner said that it was attendees.
associated with population growth,
everything,” he said. “But the cold hard
pleasing to see that police numbers were
diversity and the increasing
fact is that we’re no longer living in the
“right up to strength for the first time in
sophistication of organised groups.”
1970s when the squeakiest industrial
several years”. “Yes, we could always use
The Commissioner said that the debate
wheel was the one that got the oil.”
more cops. In fact, like every other state
on methamphetamine needed to be
agency, we could always use more of
He acknowledged that the Association
“broadened to give it some fresh angles.”
171
November 2003
Police News
He said that he saw the “meth scourge”
as a “real concern”.
from the current level of 56 grams to five
grams. Class C was formerly 28 grams.
In an echoing of the conference’s keynote
speaker, Superintendent Fred Gere,
Commissioner Robinson said it was
necessary to “target the precursors and
the proceeds of crime”. “If we deal with
meth simply as a law enforcement
problem, we will never solve it - it
requires a more comprehensive
partnership between government and
the community.
Hand in hand with these initiatives was “a
strong enforcement response and
attention to organised criminal
enterprises”.
Reclassification progress
He said the reclassification of meth to
class A and suggestions that
pseudoephedrine be classified as a class C
drug were “heartening”. If adopted, the
reclassification of pseudoephedrine would
mean importers would have to be
licensed with the Ministry of Health.
The Commissioner said discussions to
reclassify ephedrine “were expected
within weeks.” Cabinet had also agreed to
lower the presumption for supply of meth
Commissioner Robinson said that the
recently completed Operation Choker (54
arrests - 30 being pill shoppers, two
organised syndicates disrupted and three
clan labs discovered) was “a great result
and a good example of the resources that
are already being directed at this
problem”. He said more resources were
on the way.
The Commissioner said that he “totally
refuted” comments that the Police had not
told the real story about meth and
resources to the Minister of Police and his
colleagues.
Attitudes disappointing
“We are not some civilian two-headed
monster,” he told delegates. “Contrary
to some impressions, we have teams of
The Voice of Police
highly-professional and skilled people
working on new business case
development all the time.”
He said he found “the attitude of some
of us to road policing, disappointing at
times”.
“Road policing is a public safety issue,
and road policing is core Police
business, he said.
In closing his address, Commissioner
Robinson reflected on his attendance at
the respective funerals of Senior
Sergeant John Hamlin and Constable
Justin ‘Ces’ Gallate, recently and what
“being a cop” meant to each of them.
“These two fellows simply remind us
to celebrate each and every day and to
keep things in perspective,”
Commissioner Robinson told
delegates.
He said he would not be tempted into
politics nor would he be deflected
from “our mission to make New
Zealand a safer place.”
Fledgling Cook Islands Police Association
doing the hard yards for its members
One of the special guests at
Conference this year was Detective
Senior Sergeant Bob Williams,
Secretary of the fledgling Cook
Islands Police Association.
which has 110 members, had made
giant leaps since being established in
February, winning an 18% pay rise
In introducing Mr Williams,
Association President, Greg
O’Connor, said that he was “a
modern day Bill Murray”. Bill
Murray was the first President of
the NZ Police Association 68
years ago.
Concessions hard won
These concessions were not easily
established however, with the
Association warning the
government of mass resignations
after it learned that there were
plans afoot for a cut in operations
for Police.
“Bob is where we were way back
then. He has a Commissioner
who fails to recognise the
Association’s mandate from its
members and he is showing great
courage in persevering against all
sorts of odds,” Mr O’Connor said.
DSS Williams paid special tribute
to the work of NZ Police
Association CEO, Chris Pentecost,
who travelled to the Cooks to
help establish CIPA. While there,
he assisted in preparations for the
negotiation of a collective
contract for Cook Islands police
officers and worked on other key
issues.
Early battles
Detective Senior Sergeant
Williams told delegates of some of
the early battles that his
Association had faced. “While the
Minister of Police has been
supportive, the Commissioner has
failed to recognise us as anything
other than a pressure group,” he
said.
Nevertheless the Association,
172
over two years for its members. “We
found out that we were three years
behind other Ministries in terms of
pay and we took a case based on
this disparity,” Mr Williams said.
• Bob Williams, CIPA Secretary, a modern day
‘Bill Murray’
Other key issues that Mr Williams
said CIPA were working on
addressing were long-service pay,
which hadn’t been paid for the
last six years, and a review of
penal rates, which hadn’t been
reviewed in 15 years.
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
Sex Offenders’ Registry Bill
reflects Coddington’s
“community comes first”,
zero-tolerance stance
ACT New Zealand MP, Deborah
Coddington, addressed delegates about
the Sex Offenders’ Registry Bill, her
Private Member’s Bill, which is presently
at Select Committee stage.
Miss Coddington is the Associate Justice
spokesperson for ACT NZ.
The Bill was introduced to Parliament
in March and had its first reading in
July.
The purpose of the Bill is to establish a
registry of persons who have been
convicted of serious sexual offences. It
will include mechanisms to keep the
registry updated, so that police have
reliable information on the whereabouts
of sex offenders at all times. Sex
offenders will be required to register on
a national database.
Community comes first
The former high-profile, award-winning
journalist, who has published two
books listing the names of convicted sex
offenders, said that as a mother of four
she was particularly concerned about
the vulnerability of children to sexual
offenders. “The privacy of offenders is
secondary to the protection of the
public. Community comes first,” she
said.
She said that New Zealand needed to
follow the lead of New South Wales,
France and Canada, all of which were
pursuing similar legislative approaches.
Miss Coddington said that as an
enabling piece of legislation, the Bill
would ensure that people who worked
with children were required to undergo
a satisfactory clearance check to
determine whether they had been
convicted of sexual offences. Miss
Coddington likened the process to
people wanting to borrow money
having to undergo a credit check. “Why
wouldn’t we protect our children in
much the same manner by requiring
those who work with them to undergo
scrutiny too,” she said.
Conviction the qualifier
In answer to a question from KapitiMana delegate, Caren Huxford, to
define the meaning of a “serious sex
offender” Miss Coddington was
forthright with her definition: “To the
victim every offence is a serious
offence...to me there is one line and
that’s conviction,” she said.
Tauranga delegate, Nga Utanga, asked
whether young offenders who had been
convicted of sexual offences would be
recorded on the register. Miss
Coddington said that this would be a
matter for the Select Committee to
consider, as the legislation must not
breach the Human Rights Act.
Miss Coddington said that she wanted a
“lower threshold” as far as the register
went. “I want it to be harsh. Zerotolerance is the answer. I don’t want it
to just target predatory or repeat
offenders.”
• Deborah Coddington
Provisions
The legislation provides for police and
any person authorised by the Minister to
have access to the registry and use the
information for any purpose under the
Act or for law enforcement purposes.
Miss Coddington said that personally
she’d like to see a situation where people
can make bona fide checks on others.
“I’d like to see the situation where a
woman could have a form, which a
prospective partner signed, allowing a
clearance check from the Sex Offender
Register. If the prospective partner said
yes, there wouldn’t be a problem. If the
answer was No, then she’s got her
answer,” Miss Coddington said. She said
that such a system could work by
allowing women access (on a user pays
basis and possibly through their lawyer,
JP or a local police officer) to
information, which helps them protect
their children. Miss Coddington said that
she was hopeful that would be the case
in the future, but that Parliament
probably wouldn’t allow that at present.
Asked about maintenance of the register
and its set-up, the ACT MP said that she
did not see this as a major issue. “I know
that the Police have enough on their
plate without adding a register of sex
offenders to their responsibilities, but if
the Government can find $80 million for
the arts then they should be able to find
money for this,” she said.
IT’S A BOB’S LIFE…By Rohan Stace
173
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
John Gower - the Association’s
newest Life Member
Forty years service to policing and 35
years outstanding service to the Police
Association, culminated in John Gower
being awarded a life membership of the
NZ Police Association at the Annual
Conference dinner.
In awarding the life membership pin to
Mr Gower, Association President, Greg
O’Connor, praised what he called “a
lifetime of service to others” and “an
outstanding contribution to policing as a
whole.”
He told Conference dinner guests to “take
a good look at John Gower, because this
man is what policing is all about.”
Bet started career
John Gower started his career as a police
officer in 1964, largely as the result of a
bet. John had been ‘dared’ by a mate to
join the Police and a bet of two flagons
ensued. Needless to say, John was the
winner.
A pattern maker by trade, John began his
career in Wellington and came up in the
school of hard knocks, as any officer
who served in the Porirua and Cannon’s
Creek areas of the 1960s would attest.
He had a break from policing in the mid60s but his enthusiasm and passion for
police work soon saw him return to the
beat in Ohura, a tough coal mining town
in Taranaki.
Sole charge
• Family celebration… John Gower (top
right) is joined by son Adam, daughter
Donna and wife Mary.
In 1975 he moved to Raglan, a oneperson station and from there, for the
last 10 years of his service until
retirement earlier this year, at Te Rapa in
the Waikato, as a community constable.
His Association involvement, since 1968,
has seen him hold positions as district
secretary, chairman and for the last 18
years he has been a delegate for Hamilton.
He became a Hamilton City Councillor
in 2001 and during his long
and illustrious career John
has held a number of
community posts - for the
Coast Guard, Sea Rescue
Services, as a probation
officer, periodic detention
supervisor and as an
honorary fisheries officer.
• John Gower (middle) is flanked by fellow life
members Jeff Taylor and Stuart Magnall (right)
In his life membership
acceptance speech John
Gower took the opportunity
• President Greg O’Connor presents John
Gower with his life member’s pin.
to pay special tribute to long-serving
Executive PA, Tui Hunter, thanking her
for what he termed her “extremely hard
work, which made my job with the
Association so much easier.”
(Editor’s note: The June, 2003 “Police News”
carried an article on John Gower’s career at
the time of his retirement from Police).
Issues arising...some questions for the Commissioner
Here is a sample of some of the questions delegates raised with
Commissioner Rob Robinson following his address to the
conference.
Craig Prior (Police Association Director,
Region Six): Mr Prior raised the issue of
Comms Centres being short-staffed, saying
that southern dispatchers had seen a 32%
increase in their workload in the last two
years, that some 200 calls had been missed
and that the 111 emergency line had been
overloaded. He wanted to know what the
Commissioner intended to do about these
matters, “given that the busy ChristmasNew Year period is approaching and there
were 6000 calls last year and some 9000
are expected this year.” He said Comms
Centres had never been properly resourced
in terms of staffing and that it had now
become a health and safety issue.
Commissioner Robinson said that research
was being done around the NSW and
174
Victorian Comms models, which involved
the partitioning of general and emergency
calls and said that this may be a “possible
approach” but that “in the great school of
things in the last couple of years - and we
are engaged on it - we have seen higher
priorities for financing and these have been
Auckland-based.”
Scott Thompson (Rotorua delegate): Mr
Thompson said there was a perception that
the “administration is dragging its heels on
safety equipment”. He said issues around
the re-issuing of the side arm (PR 24) baton;
speed cuffs and stab proof vests need to be
addressed.
Commissioner Robinson said that there
were training and certification issues around
the issuing of PR 24s. Discretion needed to
be used with regard to their issue. “We
would prejudice our members if we didn’t
have training and certification,” he
responded, adding that he had not been
briefed in respect of the speed cuffs but that
Police wanted to find the best type of vests
available. He said while some vests were
stab proof and could give limited protection
from small arms, consideration had also to
be given to the fact that in New Zealand
offenders also used higher-velocity guns.
“Rifles are the problem, so access to plates
(for vests) then becomes an issue. Where
rifles may be involved this would then come
down to individual officer discretion,”
Commissioner Robinson said. Whether the
vests were then used overtly or covertly
may also be a “member choice” issue. The
Commissioner said that National Manager
of Operations, Neville Matthews, was in the
process of investigating various safety
equipment options.
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
‘Name Protection Bill’ born out of the
Waitara tragedy says MP Hutchinson
National MP for Port Waikato,
Dr Paul Hutchinson, addressed
conference attendees about the
Police Complaints Authority
(Conditional Name Protection)
Amendment Bill, a Private
Member’s Bill, which he has
instigated.
there might be “a prima
facie issue with Section
14 of the Bill of Rights
Act (the right to freedom
of expression).”
“Important
objective”
The Bill, which has been sent
However, they had gone
to the Justice and Law Reform
on to say that clause 19A
Committee for submissions,
of Dr Hutchinson’s Bill
• Dr Paul Hutchinson
seeks to amend the Police
(which deals with the
Complaints Authority Act 1988.
ability of the Authority to prohibit
publication of the identity of a member of
Delegates voted unanimously to endorse
Police) was “an important and significant
the Bill - with the proviso that some
objective, and as a number of protections
changes are made.
are built into the Bill to protect the right to
Conditional name protection
freedom of expression, this prima facie on
consistency appears justifiable.”
The Bill gives individual police officers
involved in firearms incidents while
The Ministry of Justice and the Attorney
carrying out their duty, conditional name
General expressed the opinion that while
protection until:
they considered the issues in Dr
Hutchinson’s Bill to be “finely balanced”
• The Police Complaints Authority has
they had concluded that the Bill “does not
completed its investigation.
appear to be inconsistent with the Bill of
• The officer involved is charged with a
Rights Act”.
crime related to the investigation; or
“There is almost always a public backlash
• The Authority permits publication; or
when police use deadly force. Threats
• A High Court Judge rules that the
against police who have caused someone’s
public interest is best served by
death or injury are an inevitable
allowing the name of the officer to be
occurrence,” Dr Hutchinson said.
published.
Dr Hutchinson said his Bill was not
The Bill covers only Police Complaints
designed to give police officers an ability to
Authority investigations involving police
hide from the consequences their actions.
use of firearms.
“It is simply a question of society affording
a degree of peace of mind to police officers,
Dr Hutchinson told delegates that his
that they will not be subjected to personal
motivation for instigating the Bill were the
‘trial by media’ and public stigma,
events surrounding the treatment of
especially in advance of any conclusions as
Constable A after the fatal shooting of
to liability.”
Stephen Wallace at Waitara three years ago.
Precedent broken
“During that time we saw a 60-year-old
precedent (of not naming police officers
involved in such incidents) broken by the
media,” Dr Hutchinson said. “As a result
the officer and his family literally had to go
into hiding for months,” he added.
Dr Hutchinson said that his interest in
getting the legislation through Parliament
was due to “a profound respect for the
New Zealand Police and for the fact that at
times they put themselves in extraordinary
danger”.
He said that in March the Ministry of
Justice and the Attorney General had
issued an opinion regarding the Bill and its
consistency with the New Zealand Bill of
Rights Act 1990. That opinion suggested
The National MP said that while he
“acknowledged there is an important civil
right for the media at issue, substantial
harm can occur to police and their families
when they themselves are not able to
defend their position.”
Dr Hutchinson said the Bill had the
support of National, Labour, New Zealand
First and United Future but was opposed
by ACT and the Greens.
(Editor’s note: The Bill is seen as
necessary as a result of the High Court’s
landmark decision on A Plaintiff v Wilson
and Horton, which allowed the
publication of Constable A’s name. The
High Court ruled that: “There can be no
right of privacy in respect of an action by
a public officer in the course of his public
duties in a public street.”)
Minister offers
congratulations
on increased
crime resolution
Minister of Police, George Hawkins,
touched on a number of subjects during
his address to delegates at the 68th
Annual NZ Police Association
Conference and took the opportunity to
congratulate police officers nationwide
on “the best crime resolution rate in the
last 20 years.”
“Police are to be congratulated for
moving from the days when Police
resolved less than 30% of crime, to a
situation over the past four years, which
has seen the resolution rate maintained
at over 40%, and the latest results, the
best for 20 years with a resolution rate of
43.7%,” the Minister said.
Mr Hawkins highlighted aspects of
Police superannuation, capital
expenditure to put more police vehicles
on the road, legislative changes over the
last three years and those proposed for
the future, major capital projects, road
policing and Police pay rounds.
National’s legacy
The Minister started his address by
alluding to the Labour Government’s
inheritance of what he called “a difficult
time for Police” from the previous
National Government.
“Police finances were in deep trouble,”
Mr Hawkins said, adding that the
incoming Government had to “bail out
the Police” to the tune of $17 million.
He said that this was because INCIS was
still “stumbling on and had to be
abandoned before it bled Police dry.”
The Martin Review, which
recommended that staff numbers be cut
by 540, was still “alive” and had to be
“stopped in its tracks.” By comparison,
he said that the Labour administration
had increased police numbers by 10%
over the last four years.
GSF/PSS changeover
The Minister of Police made reference to
the Police GSF transfer issue, which
has been the subject of significant
interest in recent years.
Mr Hawkins said that he intended
taking a paper to Cabinet before
Christmas to provide an option for the
2200 members of the Police GSF
CONTINUED ON PAGE 176
175
November 2003
Police News
Scheme to voluntarily transfer their
superannuation into the PSS.
Capital expenditure
on motor vehicles
The Minister said that addressing the
issue of new vehicle expenditure had
been a priority over the last two years.
Previously IT capital expenditure had
in some instances received “major
funding at the expense of other areas”,
he said.
Mr Hawkins told delegates Police had
committed over $16 million for
vehicle replacement over the last two
years. He said he intended to table a
Cabinet paper requesting a further $29
million be spent on the replacement of
police vehicles during this financial
year.
He said this would see a much greater
percentage of the owned fleet replaced
over a three-year timeframe. “This has
clear economic advantages,” he told
Conference, adding that such a
programme “provides the optimum
balance between capital and running
costs, sale proceeds and other benefits.”
Legislative changes
Mr Hawkins acknowledged there had
been a number of legislative changes
over the last three years, which “had a
direct impact on policing methods.”
He referred specifically to the Crimes
Amendment Act, which now had 55
sections. Formerly it had 97. “In the
growing area of computer-related
crimes, the Act recognises the need for
specific investigative
techniques for
gathering and
presenting evidence.”
He also referred to
expanded interception
powers being a feature
of the Act and the
expansion of offences
to include things such
as “theft of trade
secrets” and
“obtaining by
deception” as criminal
offences rather than
civil law matters, as
they were previously.
Other changes
included the 2002
Victims Rights Act,
which allowed for an
expansion of the
categories of victims
who could apply to be
176
placed on the Victim Notification
Register, enhancement of the amount
of information that must be given to
victims, and restrictions on lawyers
and offenders retaining victim impact
statements.
‘Boy racer’ legislation
The Land Transport (Unauthorised
Street and Drag Racing) Amendment
Act also came in for mention. Mr
Hawkins said police had warmly
welcomed the Act. Some 3000 “socalled boy racer vehicles” had been
removed from the streets, as a result of
police having the backing of such
legislative change.
Mr Hawkins referred to the upcoming
Second Hand Dealers and
Pawnbrokers’ Bill, which he said
“would make it harder for criminals to
dispose of stolen goods through
second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers.”
The Criminal Investigations (Bodily
Samples) Bill also came in for mention.
“This Bill is back from the Select
Committee and is expected to be
enacted this year,” Mr Hawkins told
delegates. The Bill, as reported in the
August issue of Police News, intends to
significantly extend the scope of
current DNA laws.
Mr Hawkins said that the Counter
Terrorism Bill had been reported back
to the House and is also expected to be
enacted this year, while the Local
Government Act 2003 repealed
provisions in the Local Government Act
1974 covering liquor bans and replaced
them with a new bylaw regime.
The Voice of Police
Major capital projects
Mr Hawkins said the Government had
injected $60 million to upgrade and
rebuild police stations over a five-year
period. In the last three years of its
administration the National
Government had spent only $725,000
on capital works, according to Mr
Hawkins.
On the Government’s agenda for the
next two years was the provision of
five new, relocatable one-person
stations and other “minor projects”, on
which spending would be “around
$1.68 million”, Mr Hawkins said.
Road policing
Road policing had been “one of the
success stories of recent New Zealand
policing.” He said it was disappointing
to find that some politicians continued
to claim that the initiative was “all
about revenue earning.” “It is not. It’s
about saving lives,” Mr Hawkins
emphasised.
He said that road policing “represents
a considerable investment in keeping
our roads safe” and that over the last
two years nearly $200 million had
been spent in this area.
Last year
Mr Hawkins said there was a lot to be
proud of in the last year. Three
Auckland policing districts reached
their target staffing numbers,
experienced staff from the United
Kingdom helped bolster resources, a
pilot recruitment programme was
adopted at the Manukau
Institute of Technology,
an additional $6.6
million (over four years)
went to fund two Police
teams trained in
clandestine lab cleanups and the
Government released a
Methamphetamine
Action Plan, which
included a 19-point
strategy to counter the
drug.
• Bob Williams (left) Secretary of the Cook Islands Police Association and
Ian Ball (Police Federation of Australia) listen to Mr Hawkins speech.
The Minister finished
his address to
Conference by paying
tribute to Police
Commissioner, Rob
Robinson, who he said
was “an unfailingly
great advocate for his
troops.”
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
Members pitch in to help out with
submissions on Bills
By Police Association Researcher, Karen Spence
Below is a summary of the various bills before Parliament, which
the NZ Police Association has made or is in the process of making
submissions on. Our thanks to those members who were kind
enough to give or their time and energy in helping.
Police Complaints Authority
(Conditional Name Protection)
Amendment Bill (Private Member’s
Bill - Dr Paul Hutchison) September
2003
The Bill proposes to amend the Police
Complaints Authority Act 1988 to give
conditional name suppression to police
officers involved in firearms incidents
while carrying out their duty, until the
Police Complaints Authority have
completed their investigation. The
Association has consulted members and is
currently collating the responses received.
Submissions were due to go before the
Select Committee in late September.
Sex Offenders’ Registry Bill (Private
Member’s Bill - Deborah Coddington)
September 2003
The purpose of this Bill is to establish a
registry of persons who have been
convicted of serious sexual offences. It
will include mechanisms to keep the
registry up to date so that the Police have
reliable information on the whereabouts
of sex offenders at all times. The
Association is consulting with members
and currently collating the responses
received. Submissions were due to go
before the Select Committee in late
September.
Second Hand Dealers and
Pawnbrokers’ Bill (Government Bill)
August 2003
The reforms envisaged by this Bill are
aimed at making it harder for criminals to
dispose of stolen goods through secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers, and to
make it easier for the Police to recover
stolen goods and solve property crimes. It
also provides for the licensing of secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers and sets
out record-keeping requirements. The
Association supported this Bill but
submitted a number of proposals for
amendments in relation to the keeping of
records and the type of item that was
covered by the Bill, to make it more
difficult for a second-hand dealer to take
charge of and sell, a stolen item. The Bill
is still at the Select Committee stage.
Courts and Criminal Matters Bill
(Government Bill) August 2003
The aim of this Bill was to improve the
effectiveness of the Department for Courts
fines and civil enforcement activities. This
Bill was not well thought out. There had
been little consideration about who would
be responsible for resourcing and
enforcing the additional requirements
with the onus clearly (but without stating)
falling on police who work out of the
main airports. A number of queries
around this, stating the requirement for
clarification were submitted. The Bill is
still at the Select Committee stage.
Prostitution Reform Bill (Private
Member’s Bill - Tim Barnett) April
2003
The aim of this Bill was to decriminalise
prostitution, safeguard the human rights
of sex workers and protect them from
exploitation, promote the welfare and
occupational health and safety of sex
workers and protect children from
exploitation in relation to prostitution.
We supported the concept of this Bill but
the content and wording of it fell far short
of achieving its stated objectives. The
Association raised a number of concerns,
especially in relation to gang control
within the industry and of the need to set
up a licensing and registration system. A
number of our proposals were instituted
and although our ultimate view was that
the Bill should undergo a complete rewrite it was voted through the House on a
very narrow margin and received royal
assent on 27 June 2003.
Independent Police Complaints
Authority Amendment Bill
(Government Bill) April 2003
The Bill changes the name of the Police
Complaints Authority to the Independent
Police Complaints Authority and increases
the membership to three persons. The
major decision arising out of a review of
the Police Complaints Authority in 2000
was that the Authority should have its
own investigative capacity, independent of
the Police. We supported the concept of
this Bill but raised a number of issues
regarding how the enhanced Authority
could realistically carry out an
investigation without police involvement.
We consulted with Sir John Jeffries and he
attended the Select Committee hearing in
support of our submission. The Bill is still
at the Select Committee stage.
Telecommunications (Interception
Capability) Bill (Government Bill)
April 2003
This Bill set out to ensure that law
enforcement and national security
capability are not seriously eroded by
changes in technology. The Bill does not
change or extend in any way the existing
powers of the New Zealand Police or
other intelligence and security services.
The Bill is still at the Select Committee
stage. The Association supported this Bill
on the grounds that it would increase
public safety by reducing the influence of
organised crime in the community. The
Bill is still at the Select Committee stage.
Criminal Investigations (Bodily
Samples) Amendment Bill
(Government Bill) November 2002
The purpose of this Bill was to strike an
appropriate balance between extending
the use of DNA as a valuable investigative
tool in the fight against crime and the
recognition and protection of
fundamental personal rights. We
submitted a detailed submission for this
Bill describing the simplicity of taking a
DNA sample without the need for
medical staff and proposing an extension
to the list of crimes for which a DNA
sample is taken. Although some of our
proposals had been instituted at the
second reading, it fell disappointingly
short of what was required. This Bill is
still before the House.
177
November 2003
Police News
the mouth, removal of lumps from the
cheek or tongue, surgery to either the
upper or lower jawbone etc. It does not
include work done on teeth (i.e. fillings,
implants, crowns), except for unknown
reasons it does include the removal of
impacted or unerupted wisdom teeth.
Police Health Plan Ltd in conjunction
with our Medical Adviser, Doctor Eric
Thornton, will publish articles on
medical issues that affect our
members.
Dentistry or
oral surgery?
By Police Association Medical
Advisor, Dr Eric Thornton
Virtually all health insurance companies
have difficulty in deciding whether a
client is having dentistry or oral surgery.
Police Health Plan is no exception, so
the following information is to help
members and/or non- members to
understand the differences.
Oral surgery
For insurance purposes, oral surgery
means surgery on the mouth, and is
performed by an oral surgeon.
An oral surgeon is a dentist who has
undergone extra training so that he/she
can perform oral surgery - in much the
same way as a doctor may become a
surgeon.
This type of surgery includes cancers in
Discussions with several oral surgeons
indicate that often wisdom teeth are
removed when they are perfectly
healthy and not bothering the client.
The reason given is that they may cause
trouble in the future.
So effectively an oral surgeon or a
dentist may elect to remove wisdom
teeth.
Dentistry
Dentistry involves the treatment of
teeth, and can be performed by a
dentist or an oral surgeon. It includes
fillings, root canal work, crowns and
general extractions. Some procedures
are complex and your dentist may
send you to an oral surgeon for more
advanced treatment. Even if you see
an oral surgeon for the treatment of
teeth it still comes under the heading
of “dentistry.”
The health insurers have recognised
that dentistry is usually less complex
than oral surgery and a small dental
benefit covering only dentistry,
sufficient to cover the initial
consultation and X-Ray, is provided
with the comprehensive policy.
There are a small number of
conditions, which do not fit into either
dentistry or oral surgery (e.g. tooth
abscesses). In order to treat the
The Voice of Police
abscess, the oral surgeon has to work
on both the tooth and the jawbone.
This is generally accepted as oral
surgery.
There are two other health professionals
who work on conditions in the mouth:-
1) Periodontist - works on gum
problems to prevent them
affecting the teeth.
2) Orthodontist - works on
problems connected with bite
and the shape of teeth in the
jaw.
Health insurance does not cover either
of these treatments.
Sedation or general
anaesthetic?
When more major work is needed in
the mouth, the dentist or oral surgeon
may offer the choice of intravenous
sedation or general anaesthetic.
Intravenous sedation is a simple
injection, which puts you to sleep
whilst the dentist does his work. You
wake feeling quite alert.
General anaesthetic is usually given in
a hospital setting and requires the
services of an anaesthetist. It is used for
more difficult operations. Recovery is
much slower and may need one night
in hospital.
The easy way to remember this is that
“oral” means mouth, and “dental”
means teeth.
I often wonder whether Seaworld
employs a dentist or an oral surgeon to
look after their shark’s teeth?
HOLIDAY HOME AVAILABILITY
November
Paihia
Stanmore Bay
Whangamata
Mt Maunganui
Ohope
Rotorua
Taupo
Turangi
Napier
Paraparaumu
Wellington
Nelson
Hanmer Springs
Christchurch
Tekapo
Wanaka
Cromwell
Queenstown
Te Anau
Dunedin
178
– for bookings see: www.policeassn.org.nz
December
January
16-17, 23, 25, 30
9-14, 16-21, 23-26, 28, 30
13, 16-18, 20, 24, 30
20, 23
9-13, 17-20, 24, 29-30
9-13, 16, 19-20, 23-24, 26, 30
11, 17-18, 23
9-13, 16-20, 23, 25-27, 30
9-12, 24
26-27
9, 23, 27
16-17, 19-20, 24-28, 30
11, 17, 19
9-10, 16, 26-27
10, 13, 16-22, 25, 28, 30
9-10, 18-20, 22-23, 27
8-9, 12, 16-17, 27
27
9-11, 13, 16-20
9, 11-12
8
1-4, 8-11, 14-16, 24-26
3-4, 11, 20
3-4, 7-11, 14-17, 20-21, 23-26
1-4, 8, 17-19
1, 4, 8-11, 14-18, 21-24
1-4, 8, 10-11, 14-15, 18, 23
1-4, 7-11, 13-18, 20-26
1-4, 8, 14, 17-19
2
2-4, 7-9, 14-16, 26
1-5
10, 26
No Dates Available
2
11-12, 24-26
No Dates Available
No Dates Available
2-3, 9, 12-17
26
No Dates Available
No Dates Available
No Dates Available
24-31
27-29
26-27
No Dates Available
23-31
26-27, 30
28-29
3-9, 21-23, 26-31
No Dates Available
27-28
12, 24, 27-28
No Dates Available
24-29
24-26
No Dates Available
24-29, 31
No Dates Available
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
POLICE
FINANCIAL
PLANNING
Keen On Wine
By Ricky Collins
And now for something completely different
When you have a look at the wine lists at many restaurants,
or through the wine shelves at a number of the major supermarkets in
New Zealand the wine varieties on offer can be quite limited. You will
never have much trouble in finding a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or
Riesling in the white section; nor will you have much trouble in finding a
Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Shiraz in the reds. However,
there are literally thousands of other wine varieties made throughout the
world. While you may struggle to find many of them in New Zealand, if
you look around some of the specialist wine stores, or even supermarkets
that have a specialist wine buyer, there are a number of different options
that you can try for something a little different.
Do you need
financial
advice?
Would you like to know how
to maximise your Police
retirement benefits, how to
invest your money, or even
how to pay off your
mortgage faster?
Whatever your financial
goals are, a Police Financial
Planning adviser can assess
your situation and design a
financial strategy to reach
those goals.
Key features:
• Professional financial advice
provided by leading
investment firm, Spicers
Portfolio Management Ltd
• Free initial consultation
• Comprehensive financial
review
• Specialist advice on Police
retirement benefits
• A tailored financial plan can
be designed
• Special rates for Police
Welfare Fund members
For more information, call the
Police Financial Planning
Enquiry Line on
0800 ON BEAT
(0800 662 328)
Eligibility for the Police Financial Planning Service is at the
discretion of the Police Welfare Fund
Our friends across the water have a love affair with the grape variety
Semillon. While we in New Zealand don’t produce many single varietal
Semillons, many of our winemakers do actually slip a fair amount of it
into our world-renowned Sauvignon Blanc to take the acidic edge off the
wine and give it some longevity.
There are a number of styles of Semillon. In the Hunter Valley, Semillon
is fermented in steel tanks and is a wonderful wine when left to age for
five or more years. Alternatively, In the Barossa Valley they oak-age this
variety, and it is a great food wine, but best drunk young. Two of my
favourites are the Grant Burge Zerk Semillon from the Barossa Valley,
and the McWilliams Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon from the
Hunter Valley; both very good wines but very different in style.
Another white variety starting to make a mark here and in Australia is
Viognier. This variety originates from the Rhone Valley region of France,
and when well made is a dry wine with spicy peach flavours, and some
weight on the palate. The Yalumba South Australia Viognier at around
$16 is a very drinkable wine and a genuinely good buy.
In the Rutherglen region in the North East of Victoria they specialise in
fortified wines. However, some of there table wines are superb. A grape
variety that does very well there is Durif. This fleshy wine with spicy
flavours is made in a full-bodied style in this region. Not many make
their way here, but the Morris Durif at around $22 does, and
consistently picks up medals at wine shows here as well as in Australia.
When Italian wines are mentioned, most people immediately think of
Chianti. However, the Italians produce a huge variety of reds and
whites. I’ve recently been buying a lot of Italian wines produced from
the Negroamaro variety. These wines from the Southern part of the
country are also fleshy, with spicy plum flavours, and are a great food
match. The Promessa Negroamaro at around $20 should be available
in specialist wine stores and is worth a try.
Finally, Malbec is a red variety often used as a blend in New Zealand and
Australia, primarily to add depth of colour to our Cabernet or Merlot.
However, in Chile they specialise in making good quality single varietal
Malbec. The Montes Reserve Oak Aged Malbec at around $20 is a big
wine with full-on sweet fruit flavours and a lovely soft and smooth
mouthfeel. So, next time you’re about to buy a wine, maybe take a
chance on something a little different.
Are You On Email
If you would like to keep in touch by email, please tell us your
email address via:
[email protected]
Enhancing the wellbeing of our members and their families
Please include you name and membership number
179
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
POLICE COUNCIL OF SPORT
SPORTS NEWS
To contact the Police Council of Sport, call Linda Duncan at the RNZPC. Ph: (04) 238 3139
Graeme Reisima wins NZ Police
Referee/Umpire of the Year award
By Linda Duncan, National Manager, Police Council of Sport
Masterton’s Graeme Reisima has won
the Police Council of Sport’s Dr Bill
Treadwell Cup for dedication and
outstanding ability as a provincial
and national ‘B’ level rugby referee.
Graeme finds time to referee ad hoc
matches involving Police teams.
“Graeme is the epitome of a local
country policeman being involved
in his community,” said Inspector
John Johnston. “Top referees, like
top players, seem to come from the
metropolitan areas and Graeme has
done well to achieve what he has
from his Masterton base”. Graeme’s
interest in the community also
extends to being Chairman of the
Board of Trustees for his children’s
primary school.
Some of the highlights, which
earned Graeme recognition as our
top referee for the year included:
Hurricanes Region Development
Squad referee; Horowhenua-Kapiti v
Wanganui; Taranaki v Wellington;
East Coast v Poverty Bay; Wairarapa
Bush club finals; and numerous other
representative matches at ‘B’ level.
Competitor too
Graeme is the Chairman of the
Wairarapa Bush Rugby Referees’
Association and he competes in
local cross-country, track and road
series events; and is involved as a
sporting contact between Masterton
Police and local colleges, either as a
referee or as a competitor.
William Drake named NZ Police
Sports Administrator of the Year
By Linda Duncan, National Manager, Police Council of Sport
The Management Committee of the
Police Council of Sport was
unanimous in awarding William Drake
(Greymouth), the Gordon Hogg
Memorial Rosebowl for his dedication
and commitment to the
administration of rugby league in
2002.
William’s sporting c.v. is impressive.
He has shown an unrelenting
commitment in the organisation and
administration of sport, including
athletics and motor sport and has also
achieved recognition at a tertiary level
through as a sports administrator.
Significant contribution
• William Drake, with the trophies he
received as 2002 Sports Administrator of
the Year (Rugby League).
William has made a significant
contribution to rugby league. This has
included: West Coast Rugby League
Board member; Manager West Coast
rep team; Assistant selector; West
Coast Coaching and Development
Liaison Officer; Manager South Island
Country team; Talent scout for the NZ
Warriors; Manager NZ under-16s
team in their two test matches against
Australia.
• Graeme Reisima received the Referee of
the Year award (Rugby Union).
Graeme’s achievements reflect great
credit, not only on himself as a
distinguished sportsperson and role
model within the community, but
also on the New Zealand Police
service generally.
The awards William has received over
recent years include: West Coast
Police Sportsperson in 1998 and 2000
and West Coast Rugby League Sports
Administrator in 1998. He was also
nominated for the Police Referee of
the Year in 2001.
It is the commitment to their local
communities by sportsmen like
William Drake that reflects so
positively on the police’s public
image.
Have you moved
recently?
If you have or perhaps you’re
about to, please let us know so we
can update your records. You can
do this by:
• writing to us at PO Box 12-344;
• calling on freephone
0800 500 122;
• faxing us on (04) 496 6819;
• or emailing us at:
[email protected].
You need to let us know your
membership number, new address
and serving members - your new
station.
Visit www.policeassn.org.nz for updated contact details for the
Police Council of Sport management committee, District Sports Officers and the latest schedule of events.
180
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
NZ Police Council of Sport
2003/04 Calendar of Events
For more information regarding any of these events, or
other Police national sporting events, contact Linda
Duncan, NZ Police Council of Sport (04) 238 3139;
email [email protected]
NOVEMBER
15
SI TOUCH - South Island Touch Tournament.
Contact: Tony Maw, Rangiora.
17-21
POLICE CLAY TARGET SHOOTING CHAMPS
Contact: Paul Burns (03) 577-1242
18 - 20
N I BOWLS - North Island Police Bowls, Wanganui.
Contact: Brian Walls, Wanganui.
March 2004
23
Triathlon - Paihia.
Contact: Pete Masters.
IRB Rugby Sevens
Wellington holiday home ballot
• Inspector John Johnston, Chairperson for the Police Council of
Sport, signs the Memorandum of Understanding with
Association President, Greg O’Connor to extend the NZ Police
Association’s sponsorship of Police sport for a further 24 months.
For the nights of Friday, 6th and Saturday 7th, February 2004.
To enter the ballot please call 0800-500-122 or Email us at:
[email protected] with your membership
number or QID to register your interest.
Entries from the ballot close on Friday, 21 November 2003.
Winners will be notified by 28 November, 2003
Affordable Debt Consolidation Loans
If you are paying high interest rates for credit card debt why not talk to
your Credit Union and find out how you can consolidate this debt into one
affordable loan.
If you use your GSF or PSS superannuation to secure your loan the current
interest rate is only 9.5%pa.
All Credit Union loans have a revolving credit facility, which means you,
can top up your loan at any time up to your credit limit.
Call our lending consultants
now on 0800 285 6267
Police and Families
Credit Union
For You, Your Family,
Your Future
Auckland members call
Tony on 025 268 9429
Don’t try this at
your bank
A bank robber in Pennsylvania
was sentenced to 24 years in
prison recently after he and an
accomplice decided that rather
than wear mask while doing a
bank heist that they would
‘disguise’ themselves by rubbing
citric acid on their faces.
Evidently the hapless pair had
been led to believe that this
would somehow blur their
images on the security cameras.
Memorial Wall
A headache of a day
Our sympathies to all our members’ families for
those who have passed away in recent months...
We remember… Who passed away…
In Pikesville, Kentucky Jesse
James Taylor recently had what
could only be termed a very bad
day. He came out on the wrong
side of an argument with his 16year-old stepson and drove
himself to the local hospital to
have his injuries attended to.
Medical staff were amazed to
find Taylor with part of a
butcher’s knife in his back and a
meat cleaver stuck in his head.
After successful surgery, he was
released within 24 hours.
MORTON Margaret
10-Jul-03
Retired spouse
Timaru
COLLINS John Martin
10-Sep-03
Police Chaplain
Christchurch
STUTELY Joyce
12 Sep-03
Retired Spouse
Wanganui
HOLLINSHEAD William Edward
17-Sep-03
Retired member
Motueka
GUDOPP Sophie Caley
18-Sep-03
Daughter of serving member Auckland
WISNEWSKI Deborah Louise
23-Sep-03
Spouse of serving member
Motueka
POTTER Leigh Adele
27-Sep-03
Spouse of serving member
Napier
EGGLETON Kathleen
27-Sep-03
Retired spouse
Hamilton
McPHEE John Alan
10-Oct-03
Retired member
Christchurch
MITCHELL Owen
12-Oct-03
Retired member
Auckland
181
November 2003
Police News
The Voice of Police
Letters to the Editor Write It Here! Letters to the Editor are welcome.
Signed letters are preferred, but in all cases the writer’s name and address must be supplied. Names will be
published unless there is a good reason for anonymity. The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or
decline letters without explanation. Write to: [email protected] or post it to the Editor at
PO Box 12344, Wellington. Letters under 350 words are preferred.
Great to see ‘real’ police
officers still out there
Through your columns in Police News I
would like to congratulate Detective
Inspector Rod Drew and his team, who
were involved in the recent Coral Burrows
enquiry, firstly, for the dedication and
professionalism they displayed during the
enquiry and secondly for giving retired
members like myself a new belief that
there are in fact still real police officers in
today’s Police Department.
We have become accustomed to seeing so
many police officers on TV, in recent
times, expounding their views on the
great merits of speed cameras, wearing
safety belts and ensuring one’s vehicle is
warranted and registered or, like the
Taihape sergeant presenting his strategic
plan to the nation on how many speeding
motorists he is able to catch during an
eight hour shift, that some of us had
begun to believe that catching real
criminals was now of no major
importance in the Police any more.
Rod Drew presented himself during the
TV news items as the traditional
‘policeman’ of old: imposing, cleanshaven, educated, well-spoken, dedicated
and proficient in the job of catching
criminals.
Rod, you and your team are a credit to the
New Zealand Police and I thank you on
behalf, I am sure, of many retired
traditional police officers for re-igniting
the pride we once had of being a member
of the New Zealand Police.
Ron Burgess
(Tauranga)
Putting a few myths to rest
In reply to Michael Cartwright’s and James
Pickering’s letters, I would like to say that
I am one of the experienced UK officers
they so boldly speak of.
Last year, NZ Police recruited me, along
with many others, as they needed
experienced officers in the Auckland area.
The force offered us our salary packages
to entice us to travel to the other side of
the world in order to fill vacancies that
had been vacant for sometime. We have
been recruited for our experience and
expertise in many fields.
The experience we bring ranges from
three to 22 years service. I have had the
pleasure of getting to know these UK
officers whilst on the course and have
182
been overwhelmed by the level of
experience, professionalism and general
character that they have shown. This will
only aid in the success of NZ Police in
years to come.
Now let’s clear up a few myths. We have
NEVER been given any expenses for
relocation or flights. Welfare has been
near on non-existent and with the
shortened college course, this gave us
little time to even consider finding homes
for our families so some have had to opt
for any accommodation that was offered,
be it in private rented houses or Police
houses. I thought that considering we had
come over 12,000 miles to work for NZ
Police it was a small option offered to us
on welfare grounds.
Some of us didn’t bring loads of money
with us as some rumours suggest, and we
don’t own lavish houses. The salaries we
are getting are not over and above other
officers, they are in fact below what other
officers with the same service is currently
paid.
I understand that some overseas and Kiwi
officers may feel aggrieved with the
advancement we have been given in our
salaries but remember it was NZ Police
that recruited us and offered us the salary
packages. We have never asked for any
type of preferential treatment, nor do we
expect it.
The Association supported the
recruitment drive in response to retention
problems that the members were
complaining about. As far as I can see,
there are officers on all types of different
salaries with the same service lengths
within the force and that is the force’s
mistake.
Mr Pickering, we are also members of the
Association and no one is funding our
accommodation. If you did some research
you may find that there are some forces in
the UK that offer the same conditions for
service for overseas officers.
I am happy with the way most of our
fellow officers have dealt with our arrival
- most have welcomed the extra officers. I
don’t care how much the officer next to
me is being paid as long as we work as a
team. You will always get one or two who
bleat on about what they’re not getting
but fortunately they seem to be in the
minority.
Nick Richards
(Papakura)
NZ versus UK Police or
mate against mate?
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who is
getting fed up of this “them and us”
attitude.
I am the wife of one of the UK cops and I
was also a Sergeant in the UK. All of the
officers have their own reasons for coming
here, whether it is for their children or
because they needed a change. Whatever
the reason, they have been selected from
the UK because of their experience to do a
demanding job professionally.
We all know that the job of police is not
appreciated by all, nor is it paid as well as it
deserves. Day after day, officers meet
conflict on the street. They do not need it
from their colleagues too.
While some officers are appreciative of the
experience brought over from the UK,
(letters from Pete Mitchell and Mark
Stevenson were read with pleasure) there are
others who are not. The latter, the smallminded people, need to look at themselves
and ask if they are really capable of carrying
out Police work. Police officers need to be
open to changing circumstances and be
ready to learn from their own and their
colleagues’ experiences. If they are unable to
accept that things change and that they
must change with them, then they are
obviously in the wrong profession.
I would also like to add, for Mr Pickering’s
attention, that the promise of pay reflecting
officers’ service has not been honoured and
they are receiving less than their NZ
colleagues with the same service.
From what I have picked up since I have
been here, the NZ way of policing is not
that dissimilar to the UK. Policing is more
or less the same the world over. NZ has
some better laws than the UK and some
better procedures. It also has some that
could be seriously improved. What is
needed here, instead of the bitching and
moaning, is a working party, ready to
improve the service by collaboration.
I understand from my husband that
Manakau HR Departement are in the
process of doing just this. By making
compromises and coming together as one,
the public will get a better standard of
policing and the officers will have a better
standard of working life.
Come on guys - work together!
Susan Inness
(Papakura)
November 2003
New Zealand Police Association
Taking a lesson from
the recruits
It is rare these days to see a noncommissioned officer wearing a forage cap
in media coverage at critical incidents. TV
coverage of the fatal police pursuit near
Blenheim recently is a case in point.
After recently returning to GDB after a
lengthy stint in CIB, I for one was pretty lax
at wearing my cap in the field. All that
changed after attending a course at RNZPC
a couple of months ago.
No longer do we have the tree-hugging
university atmosphere that invaded the
place in the late 90s. What I observed was
a fine body of young men and women
wearing full uniform with pride and paying
respect to senior members by performing
simple gestures such as opening doors.
Because the security industry has modeled
its uniforms on ours, there are only two
items that set us apart from security guards
- forage caps and reflectorised jackets. We
are pretty good at wearing the latter. My
challenge to every NCO is to follow the
example of our current crop of recruits and
insist that all staff wear caps out in the field
and perhaps then we will command the
respect from the public we deserve.
Dave Pizzini
(Counties-Manukau)
Operational medals due
to ex-members
I write seeking your assistance to locate
three ex-members (or their families) of
the New Zealand Police, all of whom
served with the United Nations
contingents in Cyprus.
Each of these members or their next of
kin is entitled to the New Zealand
Operational Service Medal in respect of
that service.
They are: Rex Cutler - known as Dick
This column is written by a frontline police officer. It does not
represent the views or policies of the Police Association.
View From The Bottom
By Constable Iam Keen
A great start
What a great couple of months. Me boys managed to keep
the log of wood from being swept away by that lot from the
Capital and my southern cousins then dish it up to the
yellow and blacks in some shocking conditions at the cake
tin. They’re the sort of results that you want to pin up for
all and sundry to see, unlike a few areas here in the deep
south that are publicly displaying, inside the station, whose
dishing out the tickets to Joe and Josephine public. It’s a bit
of a brain drain if you ask me. And you lot in the north can
have the codger that thought it was a good idea!
Now I’m looking forward to sitting down and watching the
‘Men in Black’ take it to the rest of the world and I’m sure
we’ll all be screaming, yelling and cursing for ‘em. Actually,
I understand that one of our District Commanders is
already getting some practice in by yelling and cursing at
her staff in such a way that they think they’re in a less
desirable area of the ‘public bar’. Probably best to leave that
sort of behaviour in the stadium yelling for the red and
blacks - and it ain’t exactly ladylike.
Public support
Well our staff has been saying it, the media reporting it and
now the stats support it. We have a ‘P’ problem. I see the
‘Westy’ king north of the Bombays wants to put a few
dollars toward the problem and help our team in blue out
to fight the battle in the capital of ‘P’. Good on ya mate,
thanks for the support and showing that not everyone in
authority has their ears painted on.
and last heard of in Rarotonga; Gary
Gibbs - believed to be deceased; Steve
Walsh - last heard of serving with the
United Nations.
Any information would be gratefully
received and will only be used to ensure
the award goes to the properly entitled
recipient.
I can be contacted on 021 476 793, by
email at [email protected] or by
mail at P O Box 1909, Wellington.
John D Wills
(Wellington)
In Reply:
To Derek Chapman, S J Shadbolt,
Matt Morris, Mike Bishara, Neil
Hammond, Kerry Watson, and Keith
Parsons. Thank you for your
comments but as indicated in the
August issue this topic has been well
debated and correspondence is now
closed.
increased to an unacceptable level. Not so
long ago, them-in-charge saw fit to spend
quarter of a mill on a perceived drug rape
problem that had no backing from stats
and was only a darling of the newspaper
rather than “just the facts maam”.
You might need to spend some money on
this ‘speed’ issue team and lead the way in the war
on drugs, as the problem with the ‘ostrich mentality’ is that
it leaves your rear end exposed.
Fountain of knowledge
Bully is we are still having some hiccups at our own school
with the ‘odd’ student going haywire with pepper spray or
taking firearms back to the barracks. Thank goodness we
weed all these problems out and take firm action...or so I
thought. The exams are just as tough with excellent systems
in place on the off chance you fail one. I hear you get given
the model answer, a few days to study and back to sit
exactly the same test you failed! What a fab idea and it
would explain a few of those running around with
lobotomies if this system also applies for promotional
exams. Me dogs that look after the herd might even pass a
few exams if that’s the way we’re going these days.
Funny old PC world at the moment, next thing you know
is they’ll outlaw you disciplining your own children. Nah,
it’ll never happen.
ABs all the way
Come on Reuben and the boys, we’ll all be wearing black
this month and hoping you go all the way. You imports in
the north might find us a bit feisty this month but I’m glad
to say it’s because most of us are kinda passionate about the
ABs. No apologies.
Down here we’ve been renamed from ‘Pill City’ to ‘P’ city
and it’s another dirty plague sent from the far north, with
too few staff to deal with an issue that stats show has
183
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