Advisory Board to oversee Police Communications Centres

On 11 May Police Commissioner Rob Robinson announced the establishment of a National Communications Centre Advisory Board to oversee the performance and strategic direction of police communications centres....


The announcement follows the release of the Independent Review of Police Communications Centres which the Commissioner initiated in response to several high profile service failures.

Establishing the board, to be chaired by businessman and public sector specialist John Perham, is one response to more than 60 recommendations for change made by an independent review panel.

Mr Robinson says the review provides an excellent basis for police to move forward and to improve delivery of service to the public.

"I asked for an objective assessment of the communication centres and we now have one. It helps us understand the scope and nature of the inherent difficulties the centres have been experiencing.

"I am aware of the pressures on centre staff and on some of our systems and we now have options to relieve those pressures. I have already had discussions with Government seeking their assistance with this."

Mr Robinson is pleased the reviewers acknowledged the commitment of communications centre staff and their dedication to improving performance. However the panel advised that the management structures in the decade old centres are no longer working and changes are required.

"They have also acknowledged that the communications centre technology used by NZ Police is world-class, and that the problems they have identified in the centres are readily fixable.

"With some high-profile exceptions, deficiencies that have arisen in the communications centres have flowed from these structural difficulties and operating pressures. In the main, the performance of staff in the centres is exemplary.

"I have indicated all along that if additional resources are needed to help relieve those pressures they will be found, either from within police budget or by an injection of new investment. This has been the focus of my discussion with Government."

However, Mr Robinson says resourcing is only part of the solution.

" The work of communication centres must be more closely integrated with the whole organisation and external stakeholders need to have a greater role in determining service delivery expectations and standards. All stakeholders have a role in educating the public around those standards", he says.

Mr Robinson believes the establishment of the National Communications Centre Advisory Board and a separate community reference panel are keys to achieving this.

Mr Robinson says the wide ranging review recommendations can be categorised into four key areas; demand and service delivery, leadership, training and supervision, and new technology.

"We have already started implementing some of the changes recommended by the review and other proposals will be worked through by the new advisory board and communications centre management," he says.

For more information about the Independent Review of Police Communications Centres see www.police.govt.nz/news/release/1911.html and www.police.govt.nz/resources/2005/comm-centres-review/