Attributable to Superintendent Mike Johnson, Tasman District Commander:
Tasman Police, in partnership with Te Piki Ora are pleased to announce the launch of Te Pae Oranga: Iwi Community Panels for the Tasman district starting in Nelson.
This comes off the back of the nationwide launch at Parliament earlier this year of Te Pae Oranga, following successful pilot programmes in Lower Hutt, Gisborne, and Counties Manukau in recent years.
The panels see justice sector agencies and the community working together to reduce reoffending, by offering alternate solutions to address lower-level offending other than going directly into the court system.
The panel will consist of respected community members and be facilitated by the Tasman Maori health services provider, Te Piki Oranga. Community Panels in Tasman District are importantly open to all members of our community.
People facing low-level offences such as shoplifting or disorder which would have a penalty of less than six months in prison could be referred to the panel by a police officer if they fit the criteria and had admitted responsibility for the offence.
The panel would then look at ensuring the offender was accountable for their actions, but importantly that any underlying causes of the behaviours that drove the offending in their lives were addressed to help rehabilitation and prevent future offending.
This could include anything from access to training or education, budgeting advice, or other interventions that will address the underlying causes of the behaviours and help the individuals to integrate further into their communities.
The benefits of this integrated approach is to ensure that the person is able to continue on the path to becoming a productive member of the community by addressing the underlying causes to reach an acceptable outcome.
This has a strong restorative justice approach, and ensures that victims also are an important part of the process.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre.
- Media are invited to the launch tomorrow, Wednesday May 16, at Whakatu Marae, 99 Atawhai Road, Nelson. It commences at 10:30am.
Present will be the Commissioner of Police, Mike Bush; the Hon. Stuart Nash, Minister of Police; Assistant Commissioner Wallace Haumaha, Deputy Chief Executive Maori; District Commander Superintendent Mike Johnson and other local Police representatives, local MPs, and representatives from Te Piki Oranga.
Any media wishing to attend is asked to please advise the Media Centre on media@police.govt.nz