Report of the New Zealand Police
for the year ended 30 June 2005
Presented to the House of Representatives pursuant to section 34A of the Public Finance Act 1989 Police Oath
ISSN 1176-2497
Commissioner’s overview
Introduction
The 2004/05 . nancial year has been a productive but challenging one for New Zealand
Police. Districts continued to make excellent progress in reducing crime and crashes and
improving community safety. However it has also been a year where the reputation
of the Police was scrutinised.
Deaths on duty
Two officers died in tragic circumstances while on duty in 2004/05.
Senior Constable Phillip (Piripi) Wipatene was killed
on duty when his Highway Patrol vehicle collided
Taranaki on 15 July 2004. Constable Wipatene is sadly
missed by his colleagues. He started his career with the
Ministry of Transport and joined the Highway
Patrol in 2002.
Detective Travis Hughes of Queenstown died in a light
aircraft crash in the Gibbston Valley area while on a
routine cannabis reconnaissance fl ight in January this
year. Detective Hughes was a highly regarded police
offi cer. The aircraft in which he perished was piloted
by Mr Chris Scott of the Bay of Plenty. Mr Scott had
for many years piloted cannabis reconnaissance aircraft
members throughout the country.
Operational Activities
The recorded crime rate continues its downward
trend with a further 7.1% drop in recorded crime
in the year to 30 June 2005, coupled with a very
favourable resolution rate of 44.2%. There has been
a 24.4% drop in recorded crime rate per head of
population since 1995/96 (which is the earliest year
for which we have population estimates calculated).
I would like to thank all the members of New Zealand
Police for their hard work and commitment to
achieving this fine result.
The year brought its usual operational challenges for
our highly skilled criminal investigators with difficult
homicide inquiries in several districts. Nevertheless,
the homicide statistics dropped by 20% from
100 in 2003/04 to 80 in 2004/05.
In May a letter threatening an outbreak of Foot and
Mouth disease on Waiheke Island galvanised Police
to provide fi eld support for Ministry of Agriculture
and Forestry offi cials as well as instituting a criminal
investigation into what turned out to be a hoax.
In June the Lions eleven-match international
rugby tour commenced in tandem with visits by
several VIPs. The Police focus was on traffic flow
to ensure minimum disruption, the security
of visitors and monitoring of after-match
revelry around licensed premises. The tour
passed largely uneventfully from a policing
perspective, due to well behaved fans,
detailed pre-operational planning, good
police work and effective cooperation
between the key groups involved.
National Security and Regional Policing
National security and regional policing activities
continued to be an important focus for New Zealand
Police during the year. As well as working in the South
Pacifi c we sent two offi cers to Afghanistan to train
police offi cers in the province of Bamiyan.
There is no doubt that our neighbouring region of
the South Pacifi c remains the principal focus of our
overseas activity. The South Pacifi c Chiefs of Police
Conference (SPCPC) opened a permanent Secretariat
in Wellington in December 2004. Founded in 1970
as the South Pacifi c Chiefs of Police, the organisation
was renamed Pacifi c Islands Chiefs of Police last year
to better refl ect its expanded pan-Pacifi c membership.
Current membership stands at 21 members
representing more than 75,000 serving officers.
The Secretariat has agreed on a three-pronged
strategy concentrating on integrity development;
communications and cooperation; and capacity
building.
New Zealand Police has an ongoing commitment
to the region and it is rewarding to see our offi cers
leading Police in Niue and fi lling the Deputy
Commissioner’s role in the Royal Solomon Islands
Police Service.
The Solomon Islands 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.
The largest operation New Zealand Police participated
in during the past twelve months was the recovery
phase that followed the earthquake and associated
tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26 December
2004. This natural event was spread across a huge
geographic region and involved loss of life on a scale
I and members of my Executive have never witnessed
in our careers. Disaster Victim Identifi cation and
Emergency Response Teams were assembled and
deployed within a few days of the earthquake as
part of a New Zealand response dubbed Operation
Phuket. I visited the second contingent of our staff
who worked alongside staff from 14 other nations
in Thailand. The prolonged process of identifying
thousands of bodies was a life-changing
experience for all involved.
Operation Phuket reinforced the effective interagency
partnerships which are essential to planning and
managing large-scale critical events, particularly those
involving mass casualties. The experience gained from
this event can be applied to other natural disasters
or terrorist incidents.
Organisational Developments
it’s pleasing to see that our staffi ng levels have again
been up to strength. The rate of resignations and
retirements was 4.5% for the year for sworn staff,
at the lower end of the range of 4-7% over
the last 30 years.
The year was marred by the lengthy investigations
into historical allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct to
consider past allegations of sexual offending and the
Police response to those allegations was in recess for
much of the year, in order to allow the parallel criminal
investigations to take place. Amendments to the COI’s
terms of reference enabled the recommencement of
its work in parallel to processes in the criminal
justice system.
In addition it was very disappointing to have to
undertake an investigation into inappropriate use of
the Police email system. Over 300 staff were identifi ed
as falling into the category of having pornographic
material on their work computers. Police hold a
privileged position within the community and the
public rightly expects all aspects of our behaviour
to be beyond reproach.
In October 2004 Police were faced with the tragic
disappearance of Iraena Asher in Piha. Ms Asher’s
call for help through the 111 service highlighted the
pressures on Police staff to appropriately prioritise
and respond to calls for service. The Asher case
was instrumental in my decision to call for an
Independent Review Panel (IRP) report on the
Communication Centres.
That report, which I released in May, made
61 recommendations for action to enhance the service
provided by the Communications Centres and districts
with whom they interact. The appointment of an
Advisory Board chaired by well-known businessman,
Mr John Perham, in conjunction with a new national
manager of Communication Centres and project work
centering on the IRP’s recommendations, will clearly
address the issues that came to the fore during the
reporting period. Government has allocated over
$45 million specifi c funding for this work.
The success of New Zealand Police is highly dependent
on good leadership and management. We have
worked hard, therefore, to develop a values and
competency-based framework for leadership and
management development designed to increase the
capability within the organisation. The introduction
of a succession planning pilot across Auckland
will produce an individual development report for
approximately 60 people, which the individuals and
their managers will use to inform their performance
appraisal dialogue.
Police successfully migrated from the 30-year-old
Law Enforcement Computer System to the National
Intelligence Application platform. This brought to
a conclusion a four-year project involving the
movement of core police information functions
in six phases.
Trials of Stab Resistant Body Armour were undertaken
with a view to equipping staff with it in the year
ahead. An announcement was also made for
replacement of Remington rifl es with a new firearm
- the Bushmaster XM15 M4A3. The Remington 7
has been in use since 1993 and has served
New Zealand Police well. Its replacement was
chosen for its reliability, serviceability, operator
maintenance capability and compatibility.
We also made good progress with our station
replacement programme in 2004/05. New stations
were opened at Morrinsville (September 2004),
Richmond (October 2004), Glen Innes (January 2005)
and Ohakune (April 2005). The Auckland Firing
Range was also completed during the year
(September 2004).
Conclusion
The year has been one of high visibility
for the organisation.
It is testimony to the professionalism of the members
of New Zealand Police that very good operational
results were maintained in the face of negative
public attention.
I have pledged the commitment of the organisation
to respond positively to the forthcoming
recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry
into Police Conduct. Meanwhile we will do what we
do best and that is to deliver policing services to the
citizens of New Zealand "without favour or affection,
malice or ill will".
Rob Robinson
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
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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: Maori Responsiveness
Key Intervention: Pacifi c Peoples Responsiveness
Key Intervention: Ethnic Responsiveness
EEO and Diversity
Organisational Development
Service
Capability
Integrity
Organisational Performance
Resource Deployment
Management of Key Risks
Statement of Objectives and Service Performance 3
Statement of Responsibility
Output Class Three - Specifi c Crime Prevention Servic
Output Class Six - Case Resolution an
Output Class One - Policy Advice and Ministerial Servicing
Output Class Two - General Crime Prevention Services
and Maintenance of Public Order
Output Class Four - Police Primary Response Management
Output Class Five - Investigations
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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