Three secondary school students will present their winning essays to the Police Executive meeting in Auckland tomorrow (23 August) and receive their prizes.
The trio has been selected as the winners in an essay competition held as part of the review of the 1958 Police Act.
135 entries were received on the topic: "If there was one thing you'd change about how policing is done in New Zealand, what would that be, and why?"
First prize goes to Jehan Casinader, Year 13, Hutt International Boys' School, Upper Hutt. His essay begins "Batons, blood, bureaucracy and the blue line" and is a look at the need, as he sees it, to "restore the human face of the police".
Second prize has been awarded to Alexander Simmonds, Year 11, Auckland International College. Alexander tackles the subject of community policing, concluding Police need "to be proactive in becoming more intimately involved with the community they serve" if they are to re-strengthen "the bonds of trust between the Police and the public".
Third prize goes to Elizabeth Youard, Year 12, Riccarton High School who believes Police "as a role model of our society... can take the opportunity to put the community back into communities." Elizabeth sums this up with the lines "by getting out there, into the community they serve, police can perform a task no one else can. They can bring people together and promote a closer society".
The three winners will present their essays to the Police Executive Committee meeting in Auckland this Thursday, 23 August, and receive their awards from Police Commissioner Howard Broad. The finalists will then have the opportunity to ask or answer questions with Police bosses.
The officer leading the review of the Police Act, Superintendent Hamish McCardle, says the secondary school essay competition provided a way of hearing the youth voice and their ideas on the future of policing in New Zealand.
"The majority of essayists touched on the central role Police play in the community, and the need to maintain the trust and confidence of the public.
"The three winners brought a considered and thoughtful analysis to the task, and provided some good challenges for Police to connect more closely with communities and youth," Superintendent McCardle says.