Taking the best of initiatives that have done well elsewhere and putting a Waikato spin on them is how Waikato Police are describing the success of a programme targeting recidivist drink drivers.
District Maori Responsiveness Manager, Inspector Frank Grant, said about 50 participants and their families came together last week for a barbeque marking their completion of a six-month long Alcohol Impairment Intervention Programme (AIIP).
"The programme mirrors a successful pilot that ran in Rotorua and is based on the Police's Turning of the Tide strategy which aims to reduce levels of Maori victimisation and offending.
"Though based on the Turning of the Tide's philosophies our course, which was held at Hamilton's Te Rangiora Marae, wasn't just offered to Maori participants but open to those from other cultures as well."
Mr Grant said members of the Maori, Pakeha, Pacific Island and Indian communities made up the course's 50 participants and the use of the marae as a venue had provided some tangible benefits.
"A lot of our target audience don't have fond memories of school so taking them out of the formal educational environment and enabling them all the opportunity to be embraced by the marae experience really paid off.
"And that is evident by the fact that while the course ran we didn't have a single case of re-offending. The drivers of last week’s get-together was reconnecting and strengthening relationships, allowing the participants to reflect on key messages from the program, celebrating the successes (no re-offending) and confirming their "Plan B" going forward, especially over the high risk Christmas and New Year period."
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