Annual Report 2001

Commissioner's overview | Contents | Download full report

Report of the New Zealand Police
for the year ended 30 June 2001

Presented to the House of Representatives Pursuant to Section 39 of the Public Finance Act 1989.


Commissioner's overview

The 2000/01 year has been relatively quiet in terms of major operations and this has enabled Police to focus on core activities. The year saw the introduction or improvement of a range of management processes that was greatly enabled by the appointment of two new deputy commissioners and other senior executive appointments. The highlights of the 2000/01 year have been the continued reduction in recorded crime, improved crime resolution rates and lower road toll.

KEY RESULTS

  • total recorded crime reducing by 8,068 offences. This is the fourth year a decrease in recorded crime has been achieved;
  • recorded violent offences increased slightly, however, within this category, crimes of robbery and sexual attacks again decreased following the trend seen in 1999/00;
  • there has been an increase in investigative activity and prosecutions of more serious drug offending;
  • burglaries have reduced by nearly 10,500 reported offences from the previous year. This combines with a reduction in 1999/00 to a record total decrease of 22% over the two years. Equally impressive has been the lift in resolutions for burglary investigations, which have risen from 11.1% in 1998/99 to 17.2% in 2000/01;
  • the creation and implementation of the new Highway Patrol, now operating with in excess of 164 staff;
  • unlawful taking of vehicles has reduced by 3,828 offences, continuing the trend from the previous year and resulting in a decrease of 29.3% over the last two years. Thefts from vehicles have also shown a cumulative reduction of 16.9% over the last two years. Resolution of unlawful takings of motor vehicle offences have risen to 19%, nearly a 6% increase over the last two years;
  • the road toll reduced to 470 down from 492 in 1999/00 and 513 the previous year. This is the lowest fiscal year road toll since 1964, the achievement is especially significant in that it has occurred in an environment of increasing road usage;
  • complaints against Police recorded for the year were 2,468 with only 150 complaints upheld. This is against a backdrop of more than 1.7 million recorded crime, incident and traffic related contacts with the public; and
  • public satisfaction with police services has increased slightly during the year and remains high at 77%.

POLICE RESOURCES

Comparing the year start and end point total staff numbers remained steady but with a slightly altered mix between sworn and non-sworn numbers. Individual counts of sworn and non-sworn do not reflect the specific nature of the roles being performed by staff and it is timely to reflect on the growing level of service delivery that is produced by non-sworn members of Police. Non-sworn staff participate in operational activity in roles as diverse as camera car operations through to forensic support in criminal investigations. Police adopt a flexible approach to a number of positions, and vacancies are open to both suitably qualified sworn and non-sworn staff. This flexibility enhances the service delivery options.

During the 2001/02 year a vigorous recruitment policy will be adopted so that by 30 June 2002 it is anticipated that the New Zealand Police will be on track towards having the most sworn officers ever.

The largest injection of new resource during the year resulted from the introduction of the highway patrol. Eventually this new unit will comprise 225 staff, the first 164 commencing work in the 2000/01 year. Vacancies generated by the introduction of this unit are being steadily filled. Other areas also saw resource input, these included 27 new youth aid workers (14 of whom are to be based in Auckland city), three additional law enforcement teams of 10 staff each (1 team to each of the Auckland districts), 16 staff into drink drive activities, 5 staff to building strategic traffic capability and 5 staff to the Police Infringement Bureau.

In addition, we have put more resources into supporting frontline staff. Some examples of this include:

  • developing Intelligence Units and delivery of further MAPS-based intelligence analysis applications;
  • expanding the Police Infringement Bureau capacity to handle increased ticket volume from lowering of speed thresholds;
  • significant improvement in call answering standards within the communication centres;
  • extension of the ACC "stop bus" programme through the provision of vehicles and equipment into a further four districts in support of enforcement activities to combat drinking and drugged driving;
  • increased electronic crime forensic capability;
  • implementing the new fingerprint system (AFIS), 50% of all crime print identifications were a direct result of computer detection;
  • migration from OS/2© operating system to Microsoft NT© for information technology infrastructure;
  • implementation of video conferencing across 16 sites nationally;
  • delivery of query tool over the data warehouse to facilitate more timely and interactive reports for decision support; and
  • delivery of electronic mail and bulletin board applications to all police personnel.

MAJOR OPERATIONS

In comparison with the previous years, 2000/01 was relatively quiet in terms of major policing operations. A total of 36 officers were deployed to East Timor as part of the UNTAET operation with an additional 18 officers taking part in the international peace monitoring team to the Solomon Islands. During visits by myself and the Deputy Commissioner (Operations) to the staff deployed in these situations, we were impressed with how they were contributing to, and being accepted by, the local people. They played a key role in rebuilding these communities, often under very difficult circumstances.

  • Special Tactics Group members were deployed to Sydney during the Olympic games to assist New South Wales Police with security.
  • In addition to the overseas activity there was a total of 11 VIP tours to New Zealand for which security protection was provided.

MĀORI RESPONSIVENESS

Last year I raised the importance of building partnerships with Māori and inclusion of a Māori perspective in policy and decision making. Whilst I am pleased that we are starting to make inroads into our responsibilities in this regard, I am aware of the opportunities still to be explored.

A total of 35 Iwi Liaison Officers are now established across all 12 districts. This pivotal role is key to developing district responsiveness strategies but we must guard against over reliance on a few officers holding the torch. Māori responsiveness needs to be a part of all officers' responsibilities as we go about our respective duties. The Commissioner's Māori Focus Forum met three times during the year and provided highly valued input to strategy and decision making. I am pleased to see the growth of similar Māori advisory fora at the district level putting the voice of Māori into local policing initiatives.

PARTNERSHIPS

Following the appointment of the two new Deputy Commissioners, we travelled as a group throughout New Zealand meeting and talking with Police and community leaders. It was particularly pleasing to witness the growth of partnerships between police and community groups. The involvement of communities in setting policing priorities is fundamental to our particular style of policing and I am certain that the continuing growth of these partnerships will lead to even greater improvements being made in crime reduction. In the medium term, there will always be challenges to the gains we have made over the last few years, especially with the advent of "designer" drug abuses and new technology being used in criminal endeavours. It will be important for Police to make the most of our partnership opportunities to meet these challenges.

FUTURE PERFORMANCE

Crime reduction targets have now been introduced for two years. Last year I indicated that early results from that targeting exercise were very encouraging and as a result further stretch targets would be set. In all respects, with the exception of violent offending, these stretch targets have been met and exceeded. What has been encouraging is the way staff have focused on the desired outcomes in exercising their planning and delivery options. I am mindful that for some areas, the effort required to attain target positions will be more difficult than others and this has been reflected at a district level. For this reason a part of the performance assessment process will focus on what is being done to impact on the desired outcome as well as the final result achieved. This coming year I intend to continue building the organisation performance framework with strong emphasis on leadership and results. Within this Annual Report a wide and varied number of performance standards are reported upon. In the final analysis, however, the public have an expectation of crime reduction and improved safety. I believe these annual results give every indication that the New Zealand Police are strongly contributing to this outcome. I look forward to the results from the Ministry of Justice led crime victimisation survey being conducted in the latter part of 2001 as a critical validation of our efforts.

In last years Annual Report I reflected on the need to have a period of stability within the organisation. I believe this has been achieved and not only has it enabled focus to be given to core policing activities with commensurate beneficial results, but it has also provided the opportunity to obtain clarity about how we approach the immediate future. In the year ahead we will be working to develop the next Police strategic plan which will capture the interests of the community and demonstrate how Police can contribute to cementing the gains of these last few years and also how we can progress our vision of developing 'safer communities together'.

Rob Robinson
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

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Table of contents

COMMISSIONER'S INTRODUCTION
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES AND SERVICE PERFORMANCE
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
INFORMATION REQUIRED BY STATUTE
REDUCING INEQUALITIES
ACHIEVEMENT OF KEY PRIORITY AREAS
ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
REPORTS FROM SERVICE CENTRES AND OTHER GROUPS
ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION
STATISTICAL INFORMATION

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