Report of the New Zealand Police
for the year ended 30 June 2004
Presented to the House of Representatives pursuant to section 34A of the Public Finance Act 1989 Police Oath
Commissioner's overview
Introduction
The 2003/04 financial year has been a busy one for New Zealand Police, with districts making encouraging progress in reducing crime and crashes and improving community safety.
Operational activities
This financial year has seen the recorded crime rate
continue the downward trend of the past decade,
coupled with the best resolution rate for overall
recorded crime in recent history.
Given the complex interplay of pressures and influences that characterise law enforcement, I'm very pleased with these results - principally because they indicate that fewer people have been subjected to the trauma of becoming victims of crime.
However areas of concern remain and we are continuing to direct interventions and additional resources at key crime issues, such as family violence and misuse of alcohol and other drugs (including methamphetamine).
Planning began this financial year for four new Family Safety Teams - a joint initiative with Child, Youth and Family and the Ministry of Justice that we hope will prevent and reduce family violence. We are also looking to strengthen our response to alcohol-related crime and crashes, through both proactive and reactive strategies. Examples include moves to strengthen the collection of 'last drink' data, as part of an ambitious Enhanced Alcohol Intelligence Project, and the development of a best practice training manual for specialist Police liquor licensing officers. More resources are also going into the intelligence, investigation and analysis aspects of clandestine drug-making laboratories, including greater investment in 'upstream' work to prevent the diversion of precursor chemicals that are used to illicitly manufacture methamphetamine.
Other areas of concern and intervention include burglary, vehicle crime, organised crime and violence that occurs outside the domestic setting.
The year was marked by the sad death of Featherston six-year-old Coral-Ellen Burrows in September.
A large Police operation was launched to find the little girl and put her killer before the courts. Stepfather Steven Williams pleaded guilty to her murder in December. The crime profoundly affected not only Coral-Ellen's family, but also the wider community and the Police officers involved in the inquiry.
Once again, DNA evidence provided the critical evidence needed to solve an historic murder. Jarrod Mangels pleaded guilty in February this year to murdering Maureen McKinnel in Arrowtown in 1987. The routine sample obtained from Mangels by an alert constable on an unrelated matter enabled this outcome.
February also saw Police staff in the Hutt Valley, Manawatu and Rangitikei heavily involved in helping communities affected by severe flooding.
A major operation against cannabis growers and suppliers carried out between November and April resulted in 619 people being arrested on a range of charges and an estimated 115,000 plants and 92 kilograms of dry cannabis plant material recovered and destroyed. Seven clandestine laboratories were also detected along with 71 grams of methamphetamine. The range of charges faced by the offenders clearly illustrated that people involved in one line of drugs are also operating in others either as growers and manufacturers or as suppliers and distributors.
In March, two Israeli men - Eli Cara and Urie Kelman - were arrested following an operation that was launched when an Internal Affairs officer became suspicious about a passport application. The two men were charged with attempting to fraudulently obtain a passport and were jailed for six months.
Police played a significant role in maintaining public safety and order during the hikoi to Parliament protesting the Government's foreshore and seabed proposals in May. Police iwi liaison officers accompanied the separate hikoi as they made their way from Whangarei and the East Coast to Wellington.
The trust and confidence the marchers had in these officers meant they were able to tread the line between protecting the right to protest and making sure towns and cities along the route weren't brought to a halt as the hikoi went through. They were also able to dispel the tensions that could have flared when thousands of people gathered at Parliament.
In June, New Zealand and Fijian Police jointly busted what's thought to be one of the Southern Hemisphere's largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. The lab, on the outskirts of Suva, was capable of producing up to 500kg of the illicit drug each week. The product was destined for markets in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the USA.
New Zealand Police had been involved in the year-long operation leading up to the bust and helped with the clean-up afterwards. Our knowledge of this drug was invaluable to the Fijians and demonstrated the hands-on role we are playing in building capability and lending expertise to our South Pacific neighbours. This assistance is of direct benefit to them and also helps protect New Zealand itself.
Internal developments in the operational policing area this year have included the implementation of a revised pursuits policy. The new policy has been designed to maximise the safety of the public and Police staff when drivers refuse to stop when requested and drive off at speed.
It emphasises safety over immediate apprehension of the offender, assessment of the risks during a pursuit, clear lines of authority in the event of a pursuit, supervision by communications centres and revised abandonment procedures.
Pursuits are one of a number of situations where Police are required to make well-judged decisions and I believe the new policy provides a framework for this to take place. Allied to this is the new Professional Police Driver Programme that will be introduced in the new year.
In May, we launched an enhancement to the AFIS fingerprint database that enables computer matches of palm prints left at crime scenes.
Around 280,000 palm prints were transferred onto the electronic database and are now available for matching. The new facility was immediately successful, enabling several historic crimes to be solved.
We expect this facility will increase the total number of AFIS identifications from 7,000 to 10,000 a year. Road policing enforcement continues to concentrate on the three big killers - speed, alcohol and failure to wear restraints.
Although the road toll has been steadily declining over the past 10 years, last year saw a disappointing increase in fatalities. There were 461 road deaths in the calendar year 2003 compared to 404 in 2002.
In April anywhere, anytime speed cameras were introduced. The cameras are now deployed in consultation with community road safety partners to target the areas of highest risk. The numbers of speed camera tickets issued dropped sharply in the following months indicating a pleasing increase in compliance with speed limits.
National security and regional policing
National security and regional policing activities continued to be an important focus for New Zealand Police during the year.
In August, we marked the 25th anniversary of the New Zealand Police liaison post in Bangkok. The office was opened in 1978 as a result of the Mr Asia affair and to deal with heroin coming out of the Golden Triangle of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.
In March, Exercise Lawman 2004 saw New Zealand's counter-terrorist infrastructure mobilised over a 72-hour period with the aim of practising the skills needed to deal with a terrorist crisis in New Zealand.
New Zealand Police took the lead in organising the exercise, which was deemed a great success. Other agencies to take part included the New Zealand Defence Force, the Security Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Customs and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
In June, the Government announced that our counterterrorism capacity will be further boosted during 2004/05 by the formation of dedicated national security teams. Over the next four years, an additional 35 Police staff will be deployed for specific national security duties.
A South and West Pacific Police liaison post in Suva will be established in 2004/05 to complement the work already being done at posts in Washington DC, London, Jakarta, Bangkok, Sydney and Canberra. The Suva post also reflects the increasing involvement of Police in regional commitments in the Solomon Islands, Bougainville and the Pacific Regional Policing Initiative. The Solomon Islands in particular represented a major commitment for us this year, with 35 staff deployed there on rotation as part of RAMSI - the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.
When I visited our contingent in October, I observed that the deployment has been extremely successful and our staff are very well regarded for their professionalism, competence and the valuable work they are doing. We will continue to make a contribution to maintaining law and order and building the capacity of the Royal Solomon Islands Police for some time to come.
New legislation
Two legislative changes introduced during the year provided Police with additional and welcome powers to combat crime.
The Crimes Amendment Act, which came into force in October, brought the most significant changes to property-related crimes since the Crimes Act was enacted in 1961.
Increasingly Police are receiving complaints involving the use of computers to commit property-related crimes, and the amendments enabled a more effective response to these complaints.
A new series of computer-related crimes were created to cover activities like hacking, while important changes were also made to Police interception powers, expanding the coverage and nature of warrants in the fight against organised crime.
Changes introduced under the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Act also in October gave us even greater scope for detecting and resolving crime. The inclusion of burglary and entering with intent as offences for which compulsory samples can be taken enable us to better target recidivist and convicted offenders.
Burglary is a serious crime. It is often a precursor to violent and sexual offending and the extra DNA powers help us to detect and apprehend offenders at an earlier point in their criminal development.
Compulsory testing for databank purposes was also extended to serious offenders convicted prior to the introduction of DNA testing who are still in jail. Many of the country's worst offenders who are currently imprisoned will now have their DNA included in the database. This may help us to resolve some more unsolved crimes.
Organisational developments
At an organisational level, we are also making good progress.
It's pleasing to see that our staffing levels are right up to strength for the first time in several years, including meeting our targets in Auckland thanks to the UK officers who came on board last year and strong local recruiting interest.
While demands for policing service will always be greater than the service available, the considerable pressures on staff in the Auckland Districts are now more manageable.
We began addressing shortfalls in staffing the Communication Centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch caused by increasing call volume. We will increase staffing by a further 18 in the 2004/05 year.
Investment in infrastructure has allowed us to embark on a planned programme of renovation and replacement for our older Police buildings. Work was carried out on 11 projects this year, while planning and design got under way for a further nine projects that will be completed in successive financial years.
In the Information and Technology area two major projects have been undertaken which will be ongoing in the 2004/05 year. The computer infrastructure replacement project has seen the upgrading of aging equipment across the organisation. The programme has completed the development of Windows XP based installations for all computer types and a new model of station server. To date 3,600 new computers have been installed including over 200 station servers. This replacement programme will provide Police users with a more reliable platform and access to modern computing applications that were previously unable to be supported, and that will allow for growth and future needs. There has also been the phased removal of the aging computer functionality from LES (Wanganui) to the National Intelligence Application (NIA) which has included firearms licensing, property, and criminal and traffic histories.
An increased capital roll out programme starting this financial year has seen a doubling of annual capital expenditure on the vehicle fleet and a move toward a replacement regime for standard vehicles of three years / 80,000km.
I was very pleased with this year's wage round negotiations. We've achieved a fair and good settlement for all parties, we have a term that gives us stability for the next three years and certainty has been created around key employment relations issues.
Our focus on crime and crash reduction was sharpened during the year with two new Assistant Commissioner positions being filled. Howard Broad has assumed responsibility for Planning, Development and Deployment while Peter Marshall took up the Crime Reduction and Public Safety portfolio.
Meanwhile, District and Area Commanders have received training in intelligence-led policing and crime and crash reduction. I believe we will reap significant benefits from this investment in capability building in the months and years to come.
The year was however marred by allegations of sexual misconduct.
In February, the Government established a Commission of Inquiry into Police conduct to consider past allegations of sexual offending and the Police response to those allegations. Parallel criminal investigations also got under way in relation to some of the historical allegations.
While I regret that the Commission of Inquiry was necessary, I believe it is appropriate to the circumstances. New Zealand Police values accountability and we are cooperating fully with the Inquiry process in an open and transparent manner.
External review, observations and recommendations about how we can improve our processes and procedures will provide a base for ongoing improvement.
Criminal or unethical behaviour will not be tolerated in the New Zealand Police of today and where this is uncovered, it will be addressed.
The known allegations are against a small number of individuals. The overwhelming majority of Police have and will continue to serve the community with integrity. I would not like the Inquiry to overshadow the good work that staff do every day throughout the country.
Conclusion
I would like to take this opportunity to thank New Zealand Police staff for their professionalism in what has at times been a difficult and demanding environment.
The results in terms of crime and crash reduction are very encouraging and I'm grateful that staff have not allowed themselves to be distracted from providing a quality policing service to the New Zealand community.
Rob Robinson
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
Table of contents
Commissioner's Overview
Outcome Report
Police's 3-5 Year Outcome Priorities
Police Outcome: Reduce Violence
Police Outcome: Reduce Burglary
Police Outcome: Reduce Vehicle Crime
Police Outcome: Reduce Organised Criminal Activity
Police Outcome: Increase National Security
Police Outcome: Enhance Road Safety
Reducing Inequalities
Overview
Key Intervention: Responsiveness to At Risk Families
Key Intervention: Drugs and Alcohol
Key Intervention: Responsiveness to Young People
Key Intervention: Mäori Responsiveness
Key Intervention: Pacific Peoples Responsiveness
EEO and Diversity
Capability
Capability Development
Resource Deployment
Management of Key Risks
Statement of Objectives and Service Performance
Statement of Responsibility
Output Class One - Policy Advice and Ministerial Servicing
Output Class Two - General Crime Prevention Services
Output Class Three - Specific Crime Prevention Service
and Maintenance of Public Order
Output Class Four - Police Primary Response Management
Output Class Five - Investigations
Output Class Six - Case Resolution and Support to Judicial Process
Output Class Seven - Road Safety Programme
Financial Statements
Additional Financial Information
Information Required by Statute
Organisational Information
Statistical Information
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Report of the New Zealand Police for the year ended 30 June 2004
108 page PDF, 4,303KB
