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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