R1

New Zealand Police should review and consolidate the numerous policies, instructions, and directives related to investigating complaints of misconduct against police officers, as well as those relating to the investigation of sexual assault allegations.

Underway

•       Police have begun the process of reviewing and consolidating ‘all’ policies, instructions and directives

•       A permanent Corporate Instruments Group of 5 staff has been established to manage, maintain and provide co-ordination of the development, review and publishing of all operational and administrative guidelines, instructions and policy

•       A program is underway to review and consolidate all police instruments. A number of instruments have been redeveloped and published to staff and a large number of others are under active review

•       An electronic Corporate Document Management System (CDMS) is under development. Key software has been obtained and detailed functional requirements have been determined

•       Development and implementation of the corporate document management system has been delayed because of the need to install software that is consistent with needs in all areas of police

•       The revised implementation plan due early October 2007, will confirm the implementation date

•       As soon as the new document management system is operational all corporate instruments will be migrated to the new system regardless of whether they have been updated, as this will provide a sole source repository of instructional material and staff will access an enhanced search function to locate information

•       The review and consolidation of instruments related to investigating complaints of misconduct against police officers, as well as those relating to the investigation of sexual assault allegations is a priority

•       Work is underway in this regard with priority given to those instruments that could be impacted by the changes in the Police Complaints Authority Act, which is currently under review and changes to the police Regulations, which is being rewritten. It is anticipated the Act and Regulation changes will be implemented by 1 January 2008

•       New instruments or any rewrites are published in the new format

•       This work will be done in conjunction with recommendations R2; R3; R10; R11; R16; R33; R39; R40; R52; R54.

All instruments should be fully reviewed within 2 years

Policies, instructions and directives, relating to this recommendation, will be consolidated and then converted to the CDMS by June 2008

 

R2

New Zealand Police should ensure that general instructions are automatically updated when a change is made to an existing policy.

Completed

•       A new set of standardised instrument templates and instructions have been developed and implemented online

•       Formal development, consultation and approval processes have been implemented to ensure that general instructions are updated when a change is made to an existing policy

•       This process will be incorporated in the CDMS as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1.

Completed 2006

R3

New Zealand Police should develop a set of policy principles regarding what instructions need to be nationally consistent and where regional flexibility should be allowed.

Partially completed

•       A set of policy principles for ensuring consistency in national instructions have been developed

•       The process on regional flexibility has commenced through development and implementation of Memorandum of Understanding templates and instructions

•       These principles and guidelines will be incorporated in the CDMS as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1.

National phase completed April 2007. Regional phase by June 2008

R4

An enhanced policy capability should be developed within the Office of the Commissioner to provide policy analysis on sound data, drawing upon the experience of front-line staff and upon research from New Zealand and beyond.

Completed

•       All the necessary appointments are made, the policy team was established in June 2007 and a work plan has been drawn up

•       As part of the policy process, relevant research and front-line staff will be involved to varying degrees in the development of all operational policy.

Completed June 2007

R5

New Zealand Police should develop an explicit policy to notify the Commissioner of Police when there is a serious complaint made against a Police officer. This policy and its associated procedures should specify who is to notify the police commissioner and within what time frames.

Completed

•       An explicit policy was developed and published in June 2007 that specifies:

*   that the Commissioner of Police must be notified of any serious complaint made against a Police officer or any Police staff member

*   who is to notify the Police Commissioner and within what time frames.

Completed June 2007

R6

New Zealand Police should ensure that members of the public are able to access with relative ease information on the complaints process and on their rights if they do make a complaint against a member of the police.

To be done

•       This will be dealt with as part of an initiative for reviewing complainants rights

•       It is in the early stages and is in the process of identifying a person who will be able to research and document the solution

•       It is envisaged this recommendation will be met by the development of a website and pamphlets for complainants.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R7

New Zealand Police should undertake periodic surveys to determine public awareness of the processes for making a complaint against a member of the police or a police associate.

Underway

•       Funding for research has been approved for Police citizen satisfaction monitoring for 2007/08

•       Memorandum of Understanding signed with State Services Commission for the use of the Common Measurements Tool

•       A question drawn from the Common Measurements Tool will address this recommendation and will allow for benchmarking against Canadian and other New Zealand agencies that use the same question

•       Tenders from the first round of advertising for a research company to conduct the research did not conform to minimum requirements and has been re-advertised with a close date of 12 October.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R8

New Zealand Police should develop its database recording the number of complaints against police officers to allow identification of the exact number of complaints and the exact number of complainants for any one officer.

Underway

•       This database exists currently and will form part of the Early Intervention database

•       A prototype for Early Intervention reporting has been developed and will be trialled for three months commencing 1 October 2007 across three Districts and one Service centre

•       The Early Intervention system and associated processes will then be further developed and consulted before national implementation

•       This recommendation will be delivered in conjunction with recommendations R47 and R48.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R9

New Zealand Police should review the implementation of the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy to ensure that the training and resources necessary for its effective implementation are available and seek dedicated funding from the Government and Parliament if necessary.

Underway

•       Effective implementation of the adult sexual assault policy was discussed with adult sexual assault district coordinators at a conference held between 8 to 10 August 2007

•       Agreement was reached that an adult sexual assault core reference group would be established with the purpose of assessing progress of policy implementation and identifying and resolving gaps

•       Nominations for the core reference group were sought from District Commanders, Crime Managers, adult sexual assault District Coordinators and conference attendees

•       Consultation is progressing with the Police Training Service Centre in regard to improving the adult sexual assault training courses.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R10

New Zealand Police should incorporate the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy in the "Sexual Offences" section of the New Zealand Police Manual of Best Practice for consistency and ease of reference.

To be done

•       The Commissioner has implemented a new structure where "Police Manuals" will replace "Manuals of Best Practice"

•       Each manual will refer to all instructional material on that subject, including relevant links to the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy

•       These links have been identified and will be updated in the manual once the manual has been implemented on the document management system as noted recommendation R1.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R11

New Zealand Police should strengthen its communication and training practices by developing a system for confirming officers have read and understood policies and instructions that affect how they carry out their duties and any changes thereto.

Underway

•       Requirements have been defined for providing an online facility for Police staff, which will:

*   Track the delivery of online publications

*   Track the opening of the documents by staff

*   Provide a facility for testing staff’s understanding by requiring each staff member to answer a series of questions on-line, from the content of the policy or instruction

•       These requirements will be incorporated in the document management system as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1.

Progressively to June 2009

R12

New Zealand Police should strengthen its communication and training practices to ensure the technical competencies of officers are updated in line with the new policies and instructions.

Underway

•       Police have established behavioural competencies and have commenced a process of identifying technical competencies

•       The process has started for incorporating these competencies in the position descriptions

•       These will then be linked to training and communication.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R13

Bearing in mind the mobility of the workforce, New Zealand Police should conduct a review of what training should be mandatory at a national level and what should be left to the discretion of the districts.

Underway

Now Partially completed

•       A process for mandating national training has been document and is being applied

•       Mandated training is defined annually and considered by the Training Governance Committee and then presented to the Executive, who then approve the training that should be mandated nationally for the year

•       A new district training model for district discretionary training was trialled and the results of the trial are being evaluated to determine if it will achieve the purpose, which is to target training to individuals on a needs basis while ensuring national consistency.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R14

New Zealand Police should ensure that the practice of providing investigating officers with a reminder of the standards for complaint investigation is applied consistently throughout the country

Underway

•       In order to ensure national consistency for complaint investigations, it was identified that the current process needs updating

•       The update will comprise the development of an instruction to complaint investigators on the standards required for complaint investigations

•       This instruction will form part of a generic template that is forwarded to investigators following receipt of a complaint against police.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R15

New Zealand Police should improve the process of communicating with complainants about the investigation of their complaint, particularly if there is a decision not to prosecute. Complainants and their support people should be given

a)       realistic expectations at the start of an investigation about when key milestones are likely to be met

b)       the opportunity to comment on the choice of investigator

c)       regular updates on progress, and advance notice if the investigation is likely to be delayed for any reason

d)       assistance in understanding the reasons for any decision not to prosecute

To be done

Now Underway

•       Police have recently implemented a "five step best practice (PEACE) model" for interviewing complainants, victims and vulnerable witnesses. This model has guidelines for the conduct at interviews for investigators, and has progressive skill levels, ranging from level one for frontline Police officers, through the level 5, for Specialist mentors

•       Processes are in place to record all interactions with victims via POL1060. This includes ensuring the Victim is kept appraised of investigation progress in a timely manner, but no longer than 21 days after initial contact and recommends referral of all Victims to Victim Support to ensure information is provided in relation to programmes, remedies or services available

•       A review of the original 2002 Police Practice note on the Victim Rights Act obligations and the original POL1060 training paper, will be undertaken and recirculated as a Commissioners circular. Included in the review will be an assessment on the opportunity for victims to comment on the choice of investigator.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R16

New Zealand Police should develop a consistent practice of identifying any independence issues at the outset of an investigation of a complaint involving a police officer or a police associate, to ensure there is a high degree of transparency and consistency. The practice should be supported by an explicit policy on the need for independence in such an investigation. In respect of the handling of conflicts of interest, the policy should, among other things,

•       identify types and degrees of association

•       define a conflict of interest

•       provide guidelines and procedures to assist police officers identify and adequately manage conflicts of interest (including in cases where cost or the need to prompt investigation counts against the appointment of an investigator from another section or district)

•       ensure that the risk of a conflict of interest involving investigation staff is considered at the outset of any investigation involving a police officer or police associate.

Underway

•       Work on the 'conflict of interest' component of this recommendation has started with draft guidelines prepared for refinement

•       Work on the wider instructions on 'independence of investigations' has not yet started

•       Options on who will conduct this work are being considered and work is expected to start in October 2007

•       This work is likely to be completed in early 2008

Commence 07/08 and estimated to complete June 2009

This estimate revised to June 2008

R17

New Zealand Police should expand the content of its ethics training programme to include identifying and managing conflicts of interest, particularly in respect of complaints involving police officers or police associates.

Completed

•       The original national ethics training package has been revised and incorporates material on conflicts of interest involving complaints against or observed offending by members of Police

•       The revised supervisors' ethics training package includes material on identifying and managing members who may be subject to such conflicts of interest.

 Completed

R18

New Zealand Police should ensure that training for the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy is fully implemented across the country, so that the skills of officers involved in sexual assault investigations continue to increase and complainants receive a consistent level of service.

Underway

•        Delivery of adult sexual assault training within Districts continues with a Bay of Plenty course held 20 - 24 August for 24 participants and South Auckland course held 27 - 31 August for 24 participants

•        During July and August 2007, advanced level 3 specialist Investigative Interviewing training was provided to 24 members of Adult Sexual Assault offices nationally. This Investigative Interviewing programme model is outlined in recommendation R15.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R19

New Zealand Police should initiate cooperative action with the relevant Government agencies to seek more consistent Government funding for the support groups involved in assisting the investigation of sexual assault complaints by assisting and supporting complainants

Ongoing

•       Police continue to support partner agencies to develop capability and resources, an example of this is Puawaitahi, a multi agency child advocacy centre

•       Work is progressing with the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence which is chaired by the Ministry of Justice and includes Chief Executives from Police, Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), Ministry of Health (MoH) and representatives from non-government organisations

•       Work with Doctors for Sexual Abuse and Care (DSAC) on the Sexual Abuse Assessment and Treatment Service (SAATS) project and connection to crisis support agencies at a national level, is progressing together with ACC and MoH

•       Promotion of peer support for Victim Support workers where utilised in areas identified without bon-a-fide crisis agencies, are notified to Victim Support Head Office for relevant training and support by an adjoining bon-a-fide agency

•       The costs associated with funding the SAATS model remains 'work in progress'.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R20

In relation to investigations of sexual assault complaints against police officers or police associates, New Zealand Police should have in place systems that

•       verify that actual police practices in investigating complaints comply with the relevant standards and procedures

•       ensure the consistency of practice across the country, for instance in the supervision of smaller and rural stations

•       identify the required remedial action where practice fails to comply with relevant standards

•       monitor police officers' knowledge and understanding of the relevant standards and procedures

Partially completed

•       The verification of compliance of police practices in investigating complaints, ensuring consistency of practice, identifying remedial action and monitoring of Police understanding of standards and procedures is a process that exists in Police

•       In relation to the investigation of all complaints against Police, there is a three step review process

*          First review of practice takes place at District level and a report with recommendations are sent to the national manager professional standards

*          Second review takes place at Police National Head Quarters by or on behalf of the national manager professional standards

*   Third review is done by Police Complaints Authority

•       These reviews check that the relevant standards and procedures have been applied

•       As a result of the process, police officers’ knowledge is evaluated

•       In order to ensure consistency and to comply fully with this recommendation, the practice note needs to be reviewed and updated

•       This recommendation will be reviewed in conjunction with recommendation R16, independence of investigation.

Ongoing and estimated to complete June 2008

R33

Those provisions of the Police Regulations 1992 that establish the disciplinary tribunal system be revoked as soon as possible to enable a more efficient system to come in force.

Underway

•       The Social Development Committee, on 15 August 2007, instructed the Parliamentary Council Office (PCO) to draft the Regulations

•       Police were able to provide the PCO with draft Regulations that had already been through a rigorous consultation process with the service organisations, allowing the PCO to complete their instruction by 21 September 2007

•       The process is progressing well and is on track for the Police to implement a new Code of Conduct for all staff, by 1 January 2008

•       Government sign off of new regulations will also allow the implementing of a number of other recommendations from the report, which are recommendations R33; R34; R35; R37; R38; R39; R40; and R49.

Estimated to complete December 2007

R34

New Zealand Police should implement a best practice State sector disciplinary system based on a code of conduct in keeping with principles of fairness and natural justice as part of the employment relationship.

Underway

•       The implementation of the new Regulations and the code of conduct, will bring Police's employment and disciplinary processes more into line with the general employment framework operated by Government and private sector employers in New Zealand

•       The draft Regulations, that Police provided to the Parliamentary Council Office, included the principles of the disciplinary processes

•       Practice notes are currently being developed.

Estimated to complete December 2007

R35

The new disciplinary process should allow independent investigation of alleged misconduct where necessary or appropriate (in accordance with section 5A and 12 of the Police Act 1958) but should not include the use of a formal disciplinary tribunal.

Underway

•       The disciplinary process allows clear separation of criminal matters from disciplinary matters

•       The process also allows for serious misconduct, whereby matters are referred to an independent disciplinary hearing that will undertake an inquisitorial role to inquire into the misconduct

•       This work has been done in consultation with the team that is working on the new Police Act.

Estimated to complete December 2007

R36

New Zealand Police should ensure that the human resource and professional standards functions are fully integrated in all aspects of their operations and systems.

Underway

•       Joint working between Human Resources and Professional Standards has started on consolidating and implementing policies and changes

•       The plan has been approved for Police National Headquarters Human Resources and Professional Standards staff to share office space, with the target date for this set at March 2008.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R37

The Commissioner of Police should invite the State Services Commission to review the police approach to performance management and discipline to ensure their systems and processes are adequate, standardised, and managed to a standard that is consistent with best practice in the public sector.

Completed now Ongoing

•       On 17 May 2007, the Commissioner of Police invited the State Services Commissioner to review the police approach and progress to date on performance management and discipline, to ensure the Police systems and processes are adequate, standardised and managed to a standard that is consistent with good practice in the public sector

•       As this review will be ongoing by the State Services Commission for the term of the programme it has been decided to treat this as an ongoing initiative where review results will be reported on by State Services Commission and acted on by Police

•       State Services Commission have provided Police with the approach they will be taking in this regards and have noted progress in their quarterly report update

Estimated to complete by 2017

R38

A code of conduct for sworn police staff should be implemented as a matter of urgency. Subsequently, the existing code of conduct for non-sworn staff should be brought in line with the new code for sworn members.

Underway

•       A code of conduct has been developed covering sworn and nonsworn

•       The code of conduct has been consulted with internal parties and service organisations and has obtained Executive approval for consultation with all employees

•       The code of conduct was circulated to all employees early September, with feedback received by 27 September

•       Adverts were placed for additional staff required to assist with the implement of the code of conduct and the relevant policy and Regulations changes

•       Vacancies for these positions close 28 September.

Estimated to complete December 2007

R39

New Zealand Police should amend its Sexual Harassment Policy to include a requirement that any mediated resolution of a complaint of sexual harassment be finalised in writing and signed by both parties

Underway

•       The Sexual Harassment Policy has been re-written to apply to all forms of harassment and allows for parties to attend mediation where the harassment is at a low level and the remedies are within the power of the respondent e.g. apology

•       Under the policy all mediation settlements will be signed by the parties and by the mediator so that they are full, final and binding

•       The policy has been through initial consultation internally and with service organisations

•       Extensive revisions were made that required further consultation and this process has started.

Estimated to complete December 2007

R40

New Zealand Police should develop standards, policies, and guidelines on appropriate sexual conduct towards, and the forming of sexual relationships with, members of the public. These should be incorporated into all codes of conduct and relevant policy and training materials. The standards, policies, and guidelines should be developed with the assistance of an external expert in professional ethics and should

•       specify actions and types of behaviour of a sexual nature that are inappropriate or unprofessional

•       prohibit members of police from entering any relationship of a sexual nature with a person over whom they are in a position of authority or where there is a power differential

•       provide guidance to members and their supervisors about how to handle concerns about a possible or developing relationship that may be inappropriate

•       emphasise the ethical dimensions of sexual conduct, including the need for police officers to avoid bringing the police into disrepute through their private activities.

To be done

•       A Professional Relationship Policy will be developed in conjunction with the code of conduct

•       This is still to start

Estimated to complete June 2008

R41

Directions given by New Zealand Police management on what constitutes inappropriate use of police email and the Internet should not allow for any individual interpretation of appropriateness by police officers.

Completed

•       A new policy that addresses this recommendation, was introduced in 2006

•       All users of Police computer systems are required to acknowledge the new policy on computer use, including email and internet usage, each time the user logs on

•       The logon screen reads as follows:
"Use of this computer system is subject to statutory requirements and Police policy - refer to General Instructions A400-406, C800-803 and S600-603.
All usage of the system and information on it may be subject to review. There should be no expectation of privacy of information or communication.
Proceeding with the logon, beyond this screen, is deemed to be an acknowledgement of the conditions of use
Misuse of the system or information on it may result in disciplinary action or prosecution.
To accept and continue press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and enter your QID and password."

Completed 2006

R42

New Zealand Police should introduce a requirement that all staff sign a document to confirm that they have read and understood the acceptable use policies for the Internet and email. These requirements should be fully explained to all recruits during their training.

Completed

•       Each time a user logs on to the Police system they are required to acknowledge the acceptable use policies for internet and email

•       In relation to recruit training, recruits are given a full copy of the policy, which they must read. They are led through the basic process of logging in and out of the Police IT systems and application of the policy is discussed using examples. They are required to sign a letter stating they have read and understood the policy.

Completed 2006

R43

All police officers should be required to acknowledge that they have read and understood any changes to police computer use policies. These requirements should also be fully explained to all recruits during their training.

Partially completed

•       Each time a user logs on to the Police system they are required to acknowledge the acceptable use policies for internet and email

•       In relation to recruit training, recruits are given a full copy of the policy and are taken through examples in training. They then sign a letter stating that they have read and understood the policy

•       These requirements for communicating and tracking acknowledgement of changes have been defined with recommendation R11 and will be delivered as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R44

New Zealand Police managers should receive regular reports on the use of the Internet by their staff. This reporting requirement should be built into the early warning system that the police are developing (see recommendations R47, R48).

Partially completed

•       The early intervention system identified in recommendation R48, has been established and now contains information from the last 12 months of Internet Reports

•       The system used to monitor and report on Internet usage is being replaced and is in proof of concept phase

•       The replacement system is planned to be implemented by February 2008

•       This recommendation has been largely completed using the existing system however remains open until monthly reporting has been finalised using the new monitoring and reporting system.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R45

All New Zealand Police districts should implement a nationally consistent ethics training programme that all police officers are required to attend. Police officers should also be required to attend regular refresher courses on ethics.

Partially completed

•       The revised national ethics training package is currently mandated for all members for the year 2006/07 and in most Districts has been rolled over into the 2007/08 year.

•       105 members across all Districts have been trained over the past year to deliver this national training package within Districts and Service Centres

•       A refresher training package has been developed and is being delivered to staff who have previously received the initial training

•       This will be complete once a decision is reached at the Executive level in regard to the training programme for ongoing refresher courses.

Ongoing and estimated to complete June 2008

R46

New Zealand Police should ensure that the establishment of ethics committees is mandatory for all police districts. There should be a national set of guidelines to guide police districts on the purpose, operation, and membership of their ethics committees.

Underway

•       An assessment has been made of the current state of ethics committees across police and has identified that most districts operate ethics committees

•       These committees do not have a consistent approach and work on standard guidelines and policy around the operation of ethics committees is currently underway.

Estimated to complete December 2007

R47

New Zealand Police should implement a nationally mandated early warning system in order to identify staff demonstrating behaviour that does not meet acceptable standards and ensure such behaviour does not continue or escalate.

Underway

•       A prototype for Early Intervention reporting has been developed and will be trialled for three months commencing 1 October 2007 across three Districts and one Service centre

•       The Early Intervention system and associated processes will then be further developed and consulted before national implementation

•       This recommendation will be delivered in conjunction with recommendations R8 and R48.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R48

The early warning system should ensure that all relevant information, sufficient to give a complete picture of an officer's full record of service, is captured in a single database, and is accessible to police managers and supervisors when making appointments and monitoring performance, as well as to complaint investigators when appropriate.

Underway

•       This recommendation has been identified as a requirement of the Early Intervention system and is being evaluated as part the trial noted in recommendation R47

•       This recommendation will be delivered in conjunction with recommendations R8 and R47.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R49

New Zealand Police should review its approach to performance management, including the training provided to supervisors and managers, the performance appraisal process and documentation, and the methods in place to ensure that the follow-up identified in the performance improvement plans actually occurs.

To be done

•       The performance and development appraisals process will be reviewed as part of the introduction of the revised Code of Conduct

•       An online performance management system, that will complement the human resource system, is currently under evaluation

•       This recommendation will also consider any findings from the State Services Commission review of performance management as noted in recommendation R37

•       The requirements to update the early warning system will be considered as part of the performance management evaluation.

Commence 07/08 and estimated to complete June 2009

R50

New Zealand Police should continue its efforts to increase the numbers of women and those from ethnic minority groups in the police force in order to promote a diverse organisational culture that reflects the community it serves and to enhance the effective and impartial investigation of complaints alleging sexual assault by members of the police or by associates of the police.

Ongoing

•       Ongoing reviews are carried out and advice is gathered and applied as necessary from other organisations in New Zealand and the rest of Australasia

•       All NZ Police recruitment marketing and communications material is developed with the target audiences in mind. The creative strategy is tailored around messages that would effectively reach and appeal to people within Police's targeted demographics

•       Police's media purchasing and placement is aligned with the media consumption habits of those target groups, for example, a campaign aimed at recruiting women utilises a television commercial that features a female lead character and is advertised in media where women are the main audience

•       Recruitment material has and continues to be developed in order to effectively engage people from specific target groups, such as members of New Zealand's Asian, Maori and Pasifika communities

•       Direct marketing material, press adverts, posters and brochures have been developed for these targeted groups

•       Female focused TV commercials are currently being broadcasted

•       Female specific seminars are being held in Auckland and about 30,000 female focused flyers have been placed in retail outlets around Auckland that attract a predominantly female customer base

•       Police has taken out a sponsorship package with the Netball World Cup and will be tying this up with the seminars in Auckland (attendees will have the chance of winning the tickets etc)

•       Police continue to create public relation opportunities such as securing profiles of female police officers within magazines

•       Maori centric communication material has been developed and distributed throughout Maori communities

•       Police are currently planning Te Haerenga, a Maori focused roadshow, which will involve NZ Police engaging with and performing to Iwi and other Maori organisations and individuals around the country

•       Police have utilised Asian, specifically Chinese/Mandarin, media for advertising and press releases and Police have run Asian only seminars

•       A review is planned to assess whether the current workplan is on target to achieve the desired results.

Ongoing

R51

The Commissioner of Police should invite the State Services Commissioner to carry out an independent annual "health of the organisation" audit of the police culture (in particular, whether the organisation provides a safe environment for female staff and staff from minority groups). The need for the audit should be reviewed after 10 years.

Ongoing

•       Police have contracted Gallup, in consultation with State Services Commission, to undertake the organisation health audit

•       A set of questions to be asked in every audit for the next 9 years, have been agreed

•       The initial audit will be a sample of 6500 members of NZ Police and from then on the audit will be a census of all employees

•       The initial sample health audit will become a benchmark for future surveys

•       The initial audit will commence 19 October and conclude 1 November

•       Gallup will present the feedback to the Executive on 11 December.

Estimated to complete by 2017

R52

New Zealand Police should review its current policies, procedures, and practices on internal disclosure of wrongdoing, and actively promote a single stand-alone policy for all disclosures, including (but not limited to) those made under the Protected Disclosure Act 2000. The policy should ensure that proper inquiry is always made where information received indicates that a police member or associate may have committed a sexual offence.

Underway

•       A draft policy has been developed and has been through the first round of consultation

•       The writing and implementation of this policy will take cognisance of recommendations R53; R54 and R56.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R53

New Zealand Police should ensure that the policy and the approach of "report and be protected" are well understood and implemented nationally.

Underway

•       This will be achieved as part of recommendation R52.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R54

New Zealand Police should ensure that all other relevant policies, procedures, and practices are consistent with the stand-alone policy on the reporting of serious wrongdoing and the approach of "report and be protected".

Underway

•       This will be achieved as part of recommendation R52.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R55

The New Zealand Police ethics training programme should aim to foster a culture which encourages reporting of allegations of wrongdoing by police members or police associates and provide support to those who make disclosures, consistent with the "report and be protected" approach.

Underway

•       This is a key focus of the current ethics training programme

•       The ethics training emphasises the responsibility of supervisors and mangers in determining the culture that exists and the need for the culture to support members who make allegation of wrongdoing against other members or disclose such wrongdoing

•       This training is delivered on all NCO and Commissioned Officer promotion Qualifying Courses as well as within Districts

•       The revised policy on report and be protected, as identified in recommendation R52, will be incorporated into the national ethics training content once signed off.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R56

New Zealand Police managers and supervisors should actively communicate to police members the expectation that they will report any allegations of sexual misconduct made against a colleague or a police associate. Police managers and supervisors should encourage and support members to report such allegations.

Underway

•       This approach for communicating this is being documented as part of the implementation of the report and be protected policy identified in recommendation R52.

Ongoing

R57

Each police district should establish groups of community representatives, chaired by recognised community leaders, which meet regularly to provide comment and feedback on police service delivery and policing issues throughout the district. Relevant information obtained from the feedback from the community should be incorporated into the police early warning system (see recommendation R47, R48).

Underway

•       At the time of the June report, the scope of Service First and the funding for it had not been finalised. The initial assessment was that the Service First initiative would address both Recommendation 7 and 57

•       After gaining a better understanding of the outcome expected from recommendation R57 it has been decided that a different approach is required

•       The Service First research will address the requirement for a formal, systematic and ongoing mechanism for obtaining feedback on police service delivery

•       The research will monitor the general public's levels of trust and confidence in Police and, for those people who have had contact with police, monitor their levels of satisfaction with actual police services

•       In addition those who have had contact with police will be asked about whether it was clear what they could do if wanted to make a complaint as identified in recommendation R7

•       The satisfaction monitor will be used as an ongoing measure of citizens' satisfaction with the services that they receive and will be used to inform service improvements

•       Further work is being carried out into identifying how to obtain feedback from community representatives on local policing issues, which relates to the second part of this recommendation

•       A paper on the approach to be taken, was presented and accepted by the COI Steering Committee on 3 September

•       A stocktake of current mechanisms for community engagement occurring in Districts is being carried out along with a request for preferred options. This will be collated to identify possible approaches for presentation to the Steering Committee.

Estimated to complete June 2009

R58

New Zealand Police should rationalise the projects and initiatives currently in train (including those started in response to this Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, and the review of the Police Act 1958) and any further projects arising out of the Government's response to this report, to ensure that overlaps between projects are addressed, interdependencies are identified, priorities are assigned, and adequate resources are made available to do the work. New Zealand Police should address these issues in its annual statement of intent, and consult with the Minister of Police in respect of the priority to be given to projects.

Ongoing

•       Rationalisation of the COI programme of work together with all Police initiatives is progressing as part of the annual planning exercise

•       The initiatives within the programme have been prioritised and programme risk have been identified. Mitigation actions are being progressed in order to reduce the impact of the risk

•       Success criteria have been identified for each initiative and are currently under review

•       Initial drafts of the change management and communication approach are complete and work is progressing on the implementation planning of the change. If any gaps are identified in regard to the statement of intent, as part of this work, they will be assessed for change.

Estimated to complete by 2017

R59

New Zealand Police should consult with and involve the State Services Commission and other public sector agencies, where appropriate, to ensure that the projects and initiatives of the type described in recommendation R58 take account of best practice in the public sector. The Government should take steps to remove any statutory impediment to such consultation and involvement.

Ongoing

•       On 17 May 2007, the Commissioner of Police invited the State Services Commissioner to provide advice on projects and initiatives that may be needed, ways of managing interfaces and the resourcing or timetabling of the overall programme and its parts as identified in recommendation R58

•       State Services Commission have accepted this invite and have provided Police with the approach they will be taking in this regards

•       Progress on this recommendation is noted on the State Services quarterly report.

Estimated to complete by 2017

R60

The Government should invite the Controller and Auditor-General to monitor, for the next 10 years, the New Zealand Police implementation of all the projects and initiatives of the type described in recommendation R58, and also the police implementation of the recommendations of this Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct as approved by Government. The Controller and Auditor-General should report regularly to Parliament on this matter during the ten-year period.

To be done

now Ongoing

•       The Auditor-General has been invited to monitor the programme

•       An initial meeting was held between Police and the Office of the Auditor-General to discuss the approach.

Estimated to complete by 2017

Completed

4

7

6

R37 has moved to Ongoing as this will be an ongoing review by SSC with assessments that may need actioning by Police

Partially completed

2

5

6

R13 has moved from Underway and has progressed to being Partially Completed

Ongoing

3

5

7

R37 has moved from Completed to Ongoing as noted above and R60 has moved from To be done to Ongoing

Underway

31

25

25

R15 has moved from To be done and is now Underway; R13 has moved to Partially completed

To be done

8

6

4

R15 is now Underway; R60 is now Ongoing

 

R37

The Commissioner of Police should invite the State Services Commissioner to review the police approach to performance management and discipline to ensure their systems and processes are adequate, standardised, and managed to a standard that is consistent with best practice in the public sector.

The first phase of implementing this recommendation is almost completed. Interviews of senior Police staff, plus two focus groups made up of a random selection of staff have been completed, a framework for evaluating the Police approach and progress has been developed, and the findings will be presented to the Police COI steering committee on 1 October 2007.

The second phase will begin once Police have implemented their Code of Conduct and the new Police Regulations are in place. This work will be carried out sometime around mid 2008.

Estimated to complete June 2008

R51

The Commissioner of Police should invite the State Services Commissioner to carry out an independent annual "health of the organisation" audit of the police culture (in particular, whether the organisation provides a safe work environment for female staff and staff from minority groups). The need for the audit should be reviewed after 10 years.

Police and the State Services Commission have agreed on the core basis for carrying out the Health Audits and a provider has been selected. A baseline health audit will be carried out by the end of December 2007, with annual audits carried out in August of each year.

Baseline audit complete approximately 31 December 2007

R59

New Zealand Police should consult with and involve the State Services Commission and other public sector agencies, where appropriate, to ensure that the projects and initiatives of the type described in recommendation R58 take account of best practice in the public sector. The Government should take steps to remove any statutory impediment to such consultation and involvement.

The State Services Commission is undertaking an initial review of the Police approach and progress to the implementation of the programme of work. This will form the basis of the advice to Police Interviews of both internal and external stakeholders and two focus groups made up of a random selection of staff have been completed. The findings will be presented for discussion at a COI steering committee work session on 1 October 2007.

3 October 2007