He tūnga hōu, he mahi hōu tā Kaititiro Whiti Timutimu - engari ko te whāinga tonu kia whakamana, kia whai māramatanga i waenga i Ngā Pirihimana me ngā iwi Māori.
Ko Hikurangi, Taiarahia me Putauaki ngā maunga.
Ko Waiapu, Ohinemataroa me Te Rangitaiki ngā awa.
Ko Te Aitanga a mate, Te Mahurehure, Ngāti Rongo me Ngāi Tamawera ngā hapū.
Ko Rongohaere, Te Rewarewa, Owhakatoro me Uiraroa ōku marae.
Ko Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tūhoe me Ngāti Awa ōku iwi.
Nō te urunga atu o Juanita Timutimu - kua mōhiotia whānuitia ko Whiti - ki Ngā Pirihimana, i rite mai ia kia whakapai ake, kia whakaūngia he rerekētanga ki tētahi tōpūtanga e hiahia nuitia ana.
Kua tutuki kē i a ia ēnei whāinga, kua noho ia hei pirihimana mō ngā tau 17, ā, ināianei ko ia te wahine Māori tuawaru kia eke ki te tūnga Kaititiro ki Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa - he ekenga tino nui.
He mahi hōu tā Whiti hei Kaiwhakahaere Urupare Māori ki te rōpū Firearms, Arms Safety and Control - he rōpū kua whakawhanakehia nō runga i te mōhio he hiahia kia whakapai ake i te pēheatanga a Ngā Pirihimana me te whakahaere i te Arms Act.
He tōpūtanga pakihi hōu, ā, he tūnga hirahira tōna - me whai hautūtanga whakaohooho hei whakakotahi i te tangata, kia mahi ngātahi me ngā whāinga ōrite ki ngā rōpū Arms Safety me Control, mō ngā iwi me Ngā Pirihimana hoki.
I mua rā ko Whiti te Kaiwhakahaere Urupare ki Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou ki Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa, ā, i tukuna ki Ngāi Tūhoe hei Kaiwhakahaere mō tō rātou iwi.
Kāore ia e wehe i Te Tairāwhiti, ka nuku noa ki rōpū kē kia haere tonu ngā mahi me ngā iwi maha ā-motu, me ngā kōrero mō te haumarutanga pū.
He tūnga hōu tōna ki tētahi tīma kāore anō kia whai tangata, heoi e tūmanako ana a Whiti kia hui tahi me ngā mema hōu, kia kōkiri whakamua ngā mahi. Ko āna mahi he aro ki ngā taumata rangatira, ngā taumata mātinitini hoki, tae noa ki ngā akoranga haumarutanga pū kei ngā marae.
Hei tāna, “e hia nei ngā tūnga ki tēnei tīma mō ngā pirihimana, ā, ka noho ēnei tūnga ki te takiwā hononga ā-iwi - te hui ki ngā iwi Māori, me Whakatūpato, ā mātou akoranga haumarutanga pū,”
“Mōku nei, ko te mea nui me hui tika mātou ki ngā kaupae katoa. Ko te kanohi kitea kia mōhio mai he rau kanohi e āhei ana kia tūtaki ā-kanohi - te kite i ā mātou kaimahi, kaua ko ngā kaimahi ki ngā teihana anake.”
“Ko te mea nui kia rite mai mātou me ngā whakahōunga tika, kia haere i runga i te ngākau aroha, i te ngākau pono mō ngā hapori.”
He wāhanga nui tēnei mō Tā Mātou Mahi. Ko te whakaaro me pēhea te whakaaweawe i a mātou anō - me te mōhio ka taea e mātou ngā whāinga a Ngā Whāinga Amorangi (te māia kia hui tahi me ngā iwi Māori hei hoa tiriti) te tutuki.
“Me whai kaimahi mātou ki tēnei tīma e tautoko pai ai i ngā mahi kia whakaako anō hoki mātou i a mātou anō.”
Ehara a Whiti i te tauhou ki ngā mahi kairangatira - i te tau 2017, i whakaingoatia ia mō te tohu ‘Most outstanding female practitioner’ nō te Australasian Council of Women and Policing (ACWAP).
I whakamōhio mai ko ia hoki ‘te pirihimana tuatahi he haepapa ōna ki ngā tōpūtanga ā-iwi, kaua ki ngā teihana Pirihimana,’ ā, ka whakamanahia hoki tōna hautūtanga whakaohooho me āna mahi ki ngā rangatahi, ngā wāhine Māori.’
I whakamihia hoki āna mahi ki ngā whānau kēnge, ki te tarati kaiārahi rangatahi a ATAWHAI, ā, ki ngā tuākana tēina, he kaupapa kaiārahi mā ngā tamariki he mātua tā rātou ki te whare herehere.
I te tau 2019, hei tāriana, i whakawhiwhia a Whiti ki te Mētara Whakanui Ratonga a te Kuīni (QSN) mō ngā mahi whakarato ki ngā kaupapa ture taihara me ngā hapori. Ka whakahira te whakamihi i āna mahi tautoko mō ngā mahi ture taihara ki Te Tairāwhiti.
He tūnga motuhake tō Whiti i te whakawhanaketanga o Te Pae Oranga, ā, kua kitea te rahi o āna mahi i ngā whakatutukitanga pai mō te whakamātūtū kaihara.
I tīmata tōna tūnga hōu i tērā marama, ki ngā huihuinga mō ngā whakarerekētanga ki te whakatureture me te kaupēhitanga ki te Māori.
Hei tāna, “he wero, ā, he pai ki ahau te wero.”
“He ara pai tēnei e kitea ai taku kanohi, e noho ai ki ngā wāhi hapori me te kite me pēhea tātou e mahi auaha me ō tātou hapori e mahi ana i te mahi.” Ka rongo au i ngā momo whakahaerenga me te kite i te pēheatanga o ngā mahi.
Facing the challenge
Whiti speaks at her mihi whakatau.
Inspector Whiti Timutimu has a new rank and a new job – but the same mission to promote partnerships and understanding between Police and iwi Māori.
Ko Hikurangi, Taiarahia me Putauaki ngā maunga.
Ko Waiapu, Ohinemataroa me Te Rangitaiki ngā awa.
Ko Te Aitanga a mate, Te Mahurehure, Ngāti Rongo me Ngāi Tamawera ngā hapū.
Ko Rongohaere, Te Rewarewa, Owhakatoro me Uiraroa ōku marae.
Ko Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tūhoe me Ngāti Awa ōku iwi.
When Juanita Timutimu – known to all as Whiti - joined Police, she was prepared to make changes, to bring a point of difference to an organisation desperately in need of it.
She has already achieved this, with 17 years of policing under her duty belt and now as just the eighth wahine Māori to achieve the rank of inspector in New Zealand Police – a mammoth effort.
Whiti has a new role as the Māori Responsiveness Manager within Firearms, Arms Safety and Control – a group developed after recognition of the need to make improvements in how Police regulate and administer the Arms Act.
It’s a new branded business unit and her role is important – it will call for visionary leadership to bring people together, to build and unify, with shared goals within Arms Safety and Control teams, and for both iwi and Police.
Whiti was previously the Responsiveness Advisor based at Te Runanganui ō Ngati Porou in Gisborne, and was seconded into Ngai Tūhoe as their Iwi GM.
She won’t be leaving Tairāwhiti, just moving to a different workgroup to continue her mahi with different iwi nationally on the discussion around firearms safety control.
Hers is a very new team position without a team yet, but Whiti is looking forward to meeting new members and getting on with the mahi. This involves everything from engagement from leader level down to the grassroots, to marae-based firearm safety courses.
“There will be a number of positions for police in this team and they will all sit alongside the iwi partnerships space – engagement with Māori, and Whakatupato, our firearms safety courses,” she says.
“For me it’s making sure we engage appropriately at all levels. It’s being seen – it’s kanohi kitea (the face that’s seen) making sure there are different faces available to meet in person – seeing our staff, not just staff stuck in stations.
“It’s about being readily available and up to date and, more importantly, it’s how we can go with open ears and hearts and serving the community well.
“It’s a big part of Our Business. It’s how we can go about influencing ourselves internally – providing a mindset that we can achieve the goals of Nga whainga Amorangi (the capability to engage with iwi Māori as good treaty partners).
“And we need to have people in the teams to support the mahi and to continue educating ourselves.”
Whiti is no stranger to excellence in mahi – in 2017, she was nominated for the ‘Most outstanding female practitioner’ award from the Australasian Council of Women and Policing (ACWAP).
The nomination then said she was ‘the first officer based with an iwi organisation rather than at a Police station’ and notes her inspirational leadership in her work with Māori youth and women’.
It cited her work with gang families, with the ATAWHAI youth mentoring trust and with Tuakana Teina, a mentoring programme for children with a parent in prison.
In 2019, as a sergeant, Whiti received a Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) for services to criminal justice programmes and the community. Her citation highlights her support for criminal justice causes in Tairāwhiti.
Whiti has had a key role in organising Te Pae Oranga iwi community panels and has made an impact on the successful rehabilitation of offenders.
Her new role started last month, and began with consultation around changes to the legislation and potential impact on Māori.
“It’s a challenge, and I like a challenge,” she says.
“It will be a good way to show my face and be in the community space and look at how we can work innovatively with our hapori doing our mahi. I will run with the ball and see how it works.”