Chinese New Year cultural evening marks new future of diversity at RNZPC

A cultural evening to mark Chinese New Year is being held at the Royal New Zealand Police College this week as part of a new effort to educate recruits around engaging with diverse communities.
 
A new initiative from the RNZPC will see each recruit wing partnered with a specific international community represented by the Multicultural Council of Wellington. This is in an effort to give recruits a solid foundation in understanding the challenges multicultural communities face when working with Police.
 
The first recruit group to take part is current Wing 313, which has been partnered to the Chinese community. The RNZPC is bringing these recruits and Chinese representatives together by hosting a special dinner on Wednesday 28 February to celebrate Chinese New Year.
 
Guests attending the event include Police Commissioner Mike Bush, representatives from the Multicultural Council of Wellington and the Chinese Cultural Centre, Porirua Mayor Mike Tana, and Member of Parliament Chris Bishop, as well as recruits from Wing 313.
 
The Chinese Cultural Centre will be putting on some traditional performances and the RNZPC catering team are coming to the party with a Chinese-themed meal.
 
Dr Stephen Darroch, RNZPC Manager Teaching and Learning, says this event will be the first of its kind and holds real significance for how NZ Police’s future officers will engage with culturally diverse communities.
 
“By linking diverse multicultural communities with NZ Police Recruit wings we hope to foster understanding and learning by recruits about the range of community needs within New Zealand.”
 
“Our recruits will learn the critical importance of community partnerships to policing, understand the challenges of communicating and operating in a multi-cultural environment, and have some specific experience engaging with diverse communities,” says Dr Darroch.
 
“By partnering each wing with a different cultural group, we are ensuring our recruits have experiences which will help them to work effectively in the multicultural community that is New Zealand.”
 
“And this new diversity framework isn’t just helping Police recruits, the communities partnering with the RNZPC are excited about the opportunities it presents. Through this framework, the communities we partner with will learn more about recruit training and policing in general, and that will go a long way in helping to grow trust and confidence in Police among our diverse communities.”
 
Media are invited to attend the event at the Royal New Zealand Police College on Wednesday 28 February at 5:45pm. Please confirm your attendance to Rachel Purdom at Rachel.Purdom@police.govt.nz.
 
The event is expected to run until approximately 8:30pm. Stephen Darroch Rachel Qi, Vice President of Multicultural Council of Wellington will be available for interviews prior to the event starting.
 
ENDS
 
Issued by Police Media Centre.