New Zealand Police Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2007
Presented to the House of Representatives pursuant to section 44
(1) of the Public Finance Act 1989.
ISSN: 1177-1526 (Print)
ISSN: 1178-1815 (Online)
The Minister of Police WELLINGTON
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 65 of the Police Act 1958 and
Section 44 (1) of the Public Finance Act 1989, I submit my report on the
operations of the New Zealand Police for the year ended 30 June 2007.
Howard Broad, Commissioner of Police
Commissioner’s overview
Introduction
I am pleased to report on activity
which has constituted the first year of our Strategic Plan to 2010. We have
made progress towards our goals of community reassurance, policing with confidence
and organisational development.
We have done this in the context
of two equally important demands - the changing nature of the global policing
environment and the focus on community expectations at home.
The Changing Nature of Policing
While some ‘bread and butter’
policing duties have largely remained the same over the years, the influence
of the global community has also brought a much more complex policing environment
and become a major driver of
our service.
There are two distinct patterns
here. The first is that ever-improving technology has made country boundaries
irrelevant. There are now more opportunities for electronic crime, including
identity fraud, organised crime and internet fraud, which requires increasing
investment in our fight against e-crime.
The second is that we live in a
global community. International crises are our crises too, and we must respond
to them. The capable way New Zealand Police staff engage in the international
policing arena makes our services highly valued. Responding to international
policing issues can intensify pressures back home, but we cannot ignore them.
We also learn from working with others.
Our work continued in Afghanistan,
Timor-Leste, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. In addition we sent 45 staff
to Tonga in November when rioting broke out in Nuku’alofa. A smaller contingent
remains there.
Back in our own communities, we
want to make the most of those relationship skills that are so admired overseas.
One of our long-term goals is to increase engagement with our communities. To
support this a national Community Policing Group was established.
During the year three districts
started to focus new positions on a variety of community roles as diverse as
rural policing to working with communities around shopping malls. In the coming
year all districts will be focussing on community policing and will use extra
staff in a wide range of community roles.
Operational Activities
Many high profile investigations
took place in all corners of the country. Early in the year a murder inquiry
was launched in Wellington into the death of Tony Stanlake, whose body was found
at Red Rocks. In Northland, a major investigation began after the kidnapping
and assault of a Dutch couple who were touring New Zealand in a campervan. A
large-scale manhunt took place in the Hutt Valley for armed offender Graeme
Burton and towards the end of the year Dunedin Police began preparing for the
retrial of David Bain.
Drug and alcohol-related offending
continued to be a major focus. We dismantled 193 methamphetamine clan labs during
the 2006/07 year, on a par with previous years.
It was also another year punctuated
by several tragic child deaths. The Auckland Police investigation into the deaths
of baby twins Chris and Cru Kahui continued and the fatal shooting of Wanganui
two-year-old Jhia Te Tua brought the activities of gangs under the spotlight.
As part of our response to child
abuse we launched a new programme called All About Me to help early childhood
centres prevent and handle evidence of child abuse. It complements the Keeping
Ourselves Safe programme for primary schools.
Another initiative to keep children
safer, the award-winning Speed Kills Kids (Slow Down Near Schools) campaign,
saw a lowering in average speeds around schools. Also on the roads we initiated
Operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers) in response to a concerning rise
in the number of drink drivers.
In September 2006 we began the trial
of tasers in metropolitan Auckland and Wellington. This followed public concern
about a number of high profile incidents involving firearms and before the trial
we had investigated less lethal technology used by police services internationally.
An analysis of the trial will
take place in the coming year.
Other developments in equipment
included the rollout of Stab Resistant Body Armour for frontline staff. Introducing
this tailor-made equipment has been challenging, but it is worth getting right
for the safety improvements it brings. We also introduced LiveScan electronic
finger and palm printing in large stations and we have approved new alcohol
breath screening devices which will be progressively introduced over the next
few years with the rollout of new police vehicles.
Benefits from significant investment
in our Communications Centres became evident with more emergency calls being
answered more quickly than at any time since detailed records began. This result
was especially pleasing given it was achieved against a background of an average
annual increase in emergency calls of 9 percent. We also began a demonstration
project delivering standardised non-emergency crime reporting in the Auckland
City and the Bay of Plenty police districts. The new service is handling around
2000 calls a week and has anecdotally improved public satisfaction and created
efficiencies for frontline staff.
New Legislation
A significant piece of ongoing work,
expected to result in new legislation during 2007/08, is the review of the 1958
Police Act. Throughout the past year, a small team has been working to consult
proposals for a new Bill on behalf of government. This has been a wide-ranging
process, including the release of eight Issues Papers, a series of expert forums
and a symposium on networked policing, commissioned research on public expectations
of policing, and drawing in youth voices via a secondary school essay competition
and debating contests. In May, this work was brought together for public consultation
on a major discussion document, Policing Directions in New Zealand for the 21st
Century. With the help of staff throughout the country, more than 120 public
and partner meetings were held to capture public views on the discussion document,
before proposals were forwarded for Ministerial consideration. Work now commences
on the drafting of a new Policing Bill, and I look forward to describing in
next year’s Annual Report how this has resulted in the passage of a truly
modern and comprehensive policing statute that lays the platform for successful
policing into the future.
Organisational Developments
In early April, the Commission of
Inquiry into Police Conduct reported on its investigation into police behaviour
and our internal discipline processes. The report made 48 recommendations for
Police and 12 for the Police Complaints Authority.
In the lead up to its release, we
had already taken steps to address some issues. We began a review into how we
investigate adult sexual assault and set up a team to modernise our discipline
and performance management processes which will be underpinned by a new Code
of Conduct for all staff.
We also initiated a review into
how we develop and communicate all our policies, with a view to creating a more
user-friendly system to ensure all staff are familiar with them. Implementation
is well under way.
Growing our leadership training
has been another area where we made good headway during the year by introducing
a variety of courses for staff at all levels.
Staffing numbers continue to rise. The first tranche of additional staff (as
part of the Government’s pledge of 1250 extra police staff) was funded
by the 2006/07 budget.
This increased Police staffing (sworn
and non sworn) by 406 people over the year and Police ended the year slightly
over its target strength.
The ‘Better Work Stories’
recruiting initiative was launched and has sparked good interest in policing
as a career. We have also continued recruiting experienced UK police officers
who want to move to New Zealand and interest remains strong. Meanwhile, about
310 (3.9%) sworn officers left during the year which compares well with our
historic average of about 5%. Since mid 2000, both our sworn and non-sworn staff
numbers have grown by just over 1000 each.
Among our staffing developments
we extended the use of non-sworn Crime Scene Attendants in Auckland to reduce
demands on frontline sworn staff. CSAs are trained to collect forensic evidence
from volume crime scenes like burglaries and recovered vehicles. We also employed
36 Electronic Monitored Bail Assessors nationally which gives courts the ability
to allow remanded defendants to apply for EM bail.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to acknowledge
the efforts of police staff who have maintained a highly professional focus
on the job despite the attention given to the objectionable historical behaviour
of a few.
Times are challenging and public
expectations are increasing. While it can be hard to balance community desires
with resource constraints, I believe the public’s interest in their policing
service can only have a positive outcome by making us scrutinise ourselves and
justify our actions.
In the coming year we will continue
our concerted investment in staff and our investment in infrustructure.
We have clear goals ahead and we
have the will and ability to achieve them.
Howard Broad, Commissioner of Police
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Table of contents
Commissioner?s overview
Part 1 – Strategic Context 5
- Police alignment with Government goals and Justice Sector outcomes 6
- Outcome progress report 7
- Police Outcome: Reduce Violence 7
- Police Outcome: Reduce Burglary 9
- Police Outcome: Reduce Vehicle Crime 11
- Police Outcome: Reduce Organised Criminal Activity 13
- Police Outcome: Increase National Security 15
- Police Outcome: Enhance Road Safety 18
Part 2 Reducing Inequalities 21
- Key Intervention: Responsiveness to At-Risk Families 22
- Key Intervention: Drugs and Alcohol 22
- Key Intervention: Responsiveness to Young People 24
- Key Intervention: Mäori Responsiveness 26
- Key Intervention: Pacific Peoples Responsiveness 27
- Key Intervention: Ethnic Responsiveness 29
Part 3 Organisational Development 31
- Leadership 32
- Integrity and Accountability 33
- Policy 33
- Service Management 33
- Organisational Performance 33
- Technology and Innovation 34
- Organisational Chart 35
- Management of Key Risks 36
Part 4 Statement of Service Performance 39
- New Zealand Police Financial Statements 40
- Output Expense One – Policy Advice and Ministerial Servicing 41
- Output Expense Two – General Crime Prevention Services 43
- Output Expense Three – Specific Crime Prevention Service
- and Maintenance of Public Order 48
- Output Expense Four – Police Primary Response Management 51
- Output Expense Five – Investigations 54
- Output Expense Six – Case Resolution and Support to Judicial Process 57
- Output Expense Seven – Road Safety Programme 60
Part 5 Financial Statements 65
- Audit Report 84
- Additional Financial Information 86
Part 6 Information Required by Statute 87
Part 7 Organisational Information 93
Part 8 Statistical Information 105
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