Quarterly Summary
Key Achievements for the Quarter Summary - September 2009
1 The quarter sees the completion of a further three of the original 48 Police recommendations.
1.1 "Recommendation 16 - New Zealand Police should develop a consistent practice of identifying any independence issues at the outset of an investigation of a complaint involving a police officer or a police associate, to ensure there is a high degree of transparency and consistency. The practice should be supported by an explicit policy on the need for independence in such an investigation. In respect of the handling of conflicts of interest, the policy should, among other things,
- identify types and degrees of association
- define a conflict of interest
- provide guidelines and procedures to assist police officers identify and adequately manage conflicts of interest (including in cases where cost or the need to prompt investigation counts against the appointment of an investigator from another section or district
- ensure that the risk of a conflict of interest involving investigation staff is considered at the outset of any investigation involving a police officer or police associate"
Police employees have a duty to perform their roles in a manner that justifies the highest level of public confidence. Police employees must therefore carry out their duties in accordance with their Oath of Office and/or Solemn Undertaking and the Code of Conduct so as to maintain the public's confidence.
Police employees must at all times ensure that the obligation placed on them to perform their duty without favour or affection is done in a transparent manner. That they act with fairness and impartiality in their dealings with their colleagues and the public, ensuring that at all times when undertaking their duties they avoid any potential or perceived conflict of interest.
Integrity and the public's perception of integrity are the cornerstones of providing unbiased and effective policing. Accordingly it is therefore critical that all Police investigations provide for the independence of the investigation process.
It is important that a conflict of interest is declared immediately in any situation where there is a potential for the independence of the investigation to be brought into question as a result of a perceived or potential conflict of interest. This enables appropriate safeguards to be taken to either ensure that the potential for conflict is eliminated by reassignment or, where this is not possible, to minimise the impact of such a perception on the investigation process.
1.2 "Recommendation 12 New Zealand Police should strengthen its communication and training practices to ensure the technical competencies of officers are updated in line with the new policies and instructions."
A process for collecting national training requirements on an annual basis has been established. The process enables PEC to prioritise and set the training requirements for the coming financial year and is embedded in TSC business as usual.
This ensures technical competencies of officers are kept up to date as policy, instructions, legislation and practices change.
1.3 "Recommendation 45 - All New Zealand Police districts should implement a nationally consistent ethics training programme that all police officers are required to attend. Police officers should also be required to attend regular refresher courses on ethics"
The ethics training package, Contemporary Policing in New Zealand, has been deigned and developed by the TSC. This package included learning objectives around ethics, the new Policing Act 2008 and the Code of Conduct. This package has now been delivered to a total of 9590 staff nationally as at 21 July 2009. The delivery of this package is now clearly established within TSC business as usual. Ethics training has also been endorsed by PEC as cyclic mandated training on a two yearly basis.
