Napier got an early Christmas gift with the opening of its new police station.
The $5.5 million station – formally opened on Friday by Police Minister Judith Collins - stands next to the old Napier station, which opened in 1963 and is showing its age.
Events began with a dawn blessing, including the positioning of a mauri stone in the foyer. The formal opening included a haka pōwhiri by more than 60 students from Maraenui Bilingual School.
Among those present was Philip Schmidt who, as a young constable, was present at the 1963 opening.
The station at 135 Dalton Street is phase one of a $24 million investment by Police into the Hawke’s Bay Area. Phase two includes the building of Eastern District and Hawke's Bay Area headquarters in Hastings.
Minister Collins says the station will be a valuable asset to Napier and represents the Government’s commitment to ensuring police have what they need.
“The men and women who police our communities and the staff who support them deserve to have a working environment that is safe and comfortable,” she says.
“The former building was entering its sixth decade of service and was slowly becoming unsuitable for a modern-day police team.
“This new station provides them with an up-to-date station that is fit for purpose and caters for the needs of both the public and our 21st century policing service.”
Police Commissioner Mike Bush says the new station provides a working environment that is safe, secure, open and flexible.
“The design also reflects the modern, collaborative approach to policing and the focus on community engagement, providing space where the people of Napier can come and meet with our staff and work with us in keeping the community safe.”
The station includes space for strategic partners including Victim Support, Community Patrols and Māori Wardens.
Commissioner Bush congratulated the project team and contractors for finishing “on budget and in time to deliver a nice Christmas present to the people of Napier”.
He acknowledged Eastern District Commander Superintendent Sandra Venables and Hawke’s Bay Area Commander Inspector Tania Kura for their efforts, and staff for their professionalism and continued service during construction.
What is a mauri stone?
In Māori tradition, mauri is the energy shared by all living things. It can be concentrated into a stone or other object, giving it powers to protect the people or place associated with it.
At the dawn blessing, Des Ratima, Chair of Whaia Te Ara (Māori Focus Forum), said it was appropriate the police station’s stone was not smooth like many others.
“It’s a stone that has a lot of character about it,” he says. “There are seashells embedded in it. There are twinkling crystals in there.
“To me it starts to say that people who come in here aren’t all going to be smooth people, they’re not all going to be good people. They’re going to be shaped very much like this toka [rock] here, with many parts to them.
“So the ability for this toka to reach out and touch everybody becomes a lot more apparent.”