New Zealand Police carries out a range of activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
The International Service Group (ISG) manages these activities, which include:
- peace support operations
- post-conflict capacity building, bringing about sustained change and renewal
- investigative support
- advisory
- mentoring and long-term development
- security-related activities for major events
- emergency and crisis responses.
The ISG works with international agencies to support the New Zealand Government's foreign policies and other New Zealand interests. The continuing demand for New Zealand Police participation abroad reflects the high regard in which Police is held internationally.
For more information about the New Zealand Government's international aid and development programme visit the website of New Zealand Aid.
International Service Group staff
The ISG is based at Police National Headquarters in Wellington. It has 16 staff carrying out strategy, planning and operations.
There are between 30 and 60 staff, drawn from throughout Police, working in the Pacific. While there, they are considered to be part of the ISG. There are also contingents in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands (28 staff) which form part of the ISG.
Current and past Police deployments abroad
For information about current deployments
For information about past deployments
Training of staff assigned to overseas operations
Staff assigned to overseas operations undergo a period of training before being deployed. The training includes language, culture, mentoring, maritime safety, four-wheel-drive training and navigation where appropriate, comprehensive first aid, firearms and public order policing. Each operation requires a wide spectrum of skills and abilities. Capacity development projects use a range of specialist staff with a wealth of expertise.
Asia-Pacific policing projects
As well as taking part in specific peace-support operations (outlined in the current deployments page), Police are involved in joint policing programmes and projects in Asia-Pacific.
Partnership for Pacific Policing
The Partnership for Pacific Policing (3P) programme is a four-year programme for capacity development of the Pacific police services in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa and Vanuatu. Outcomes targeted under 3P include:
- increased public confidence in the police
- more professional police forces in the Pacific
- stronger links between Pacific police services and their governments.
3P is a multi-country policing development programme with bilateral partners implemented in the seven 3P participating Pacific island countries, with activities designed and undertaken to meet country-specific needs and set within an overarching programmatic framework. This will serve to strengthen policing development approaches within the Pacific. 3P has three components: Management and Organisation, Partnerships and Communications and Policing Capability. These contribute to its overall goal; safer and more secure Pacific island countries.
The Partnership for Pacific Policing programme delivers three types of support:
- technical policing skills (eg, basic recruitment training with New Zealand Police at the Royal New Zealand Police College)
- management support (eg, how to make a police service function - human resources, planning, budgeting, resourcing)
- leadership – ethics, internal discipline, management mentoring.