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Barriers to Recruiting a Diverse Workforce: Literature reviews

Date Published: 
May 2008

This report responds to a request by New Zealand Police to produce two literature reviews on the barriers to the recruitment of (i) women, and (ii) Māori, Pacific and ethnic groups. It has been prepared by the Crime and Justice Research Centre (CJRC) in collaboration with the Institute of Criminology.

The purpose of the literature reviews is to provide a fuller picture from the literature of recruitment issues both in New Zealand and internationally, and initiatives that have been implemented to address and/or mitigate these barriers. The reviews are to help New Zealand Police to identify good or innovative practice that might inform local approaches to recruitment.

In particular, NZ Police are interested in identifying: the most effective strategies to encourage people to join the Police; ways in which NZ Police can encourage growth in diversity without compromising standards; and the barriers to recruitment, and ways to remove them. 

EM Bail evaluation

Date Published: 
February 2008

This report presents the findings of an evaluation of EM bail (electronic monitoring of defendants on pre-trial bail). The report was prepared by Duncan Consulting Services Ltd under contract to New Zealand Police.

The focus of the evaluation was EM bail processes operated by NZP. Key evaluative questions were: Are these processes operating as intended? Is NZP's supporting infrastructure for EM bail adequate? And how could EM bail processes operate more effectively? 

Formative evaluation of Neighbourhood Policing Teams in Counties Manukau District

Date Published: 
January 2012

This report presents a summary of findings from formative evaluation of Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) in Counties Manukau District. The focus of this formative evaluation has been on the development of the NPT approach in Counties Manukau District and the establishment of the Mangere South, Papakura East, Homai and Takanini NPTs.

It is intended that these findings be used to refine the role and function of the NPTs in Counties Manukau District and inform the design requirements and implementation of teams in other districts.

Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007

Date Published: 
April 2013

The reports relating to the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 detail results from the reviews of relevant Police activity since enactment of the Act.

Monitoring was initially for a two year period commencing with the enactment on 22 June, 2007. However, in December 2009, the Prime Minister invited Police to continue monitoring for a further three years. This followed a review into the policies and procedures used by the New Zealand Police Child, Youth and Family. Police was also invited to include data on cases in which parent or caregiver said the force used on the child was reasonable in the circumstances.

Results for the 11th review are consistent with previous reviews. There were three prosecutions for smacking in the tenth review period, which means that there have now been eight prosecutions for smacking since monitoring began in June 2007.

Police Safety Orders Formative Evaluation

Date Published: 
January 2012

Police safety orders (PSOs) were introduced by the Domestic Violence Amendment Act 2009 and provided the New Zealand Police with the power to issue and serve PSOs from 1 July 2010. This followed the introduction of similar orders in other jurisdictions, including Australia.

PSOs are a significant development in the law relating to family violence, premised on early intervention and protection for victims of family violence. PSOs enable the Police to provide immediate protection to victims of family violence.

In October 2010, the New Zealand Police commissioned the Crime and Justice Research Centre to carry out a formative evaluation to understand the implementation of PSOs and to inform the policy and practices surrounding their use.

New Zealand Police Pre-Charge Warnings: Alternative Resolutions evaluation report

Date Published: 
December 2010

This is the final evaluation report of the Pre-Charge Warning: Alternative Resolutions initiative. The initiative is part of the Policing Excellence workstream and responds to calls from New Zealand Police (Police), the Law Commission and judiciary to develop better alternatives to hold offenders to account for less serious offending without having to use the courts.

The findings in this report cover Police charge data from regional implementation in November 2009 to the end of May 2010. Data is also drawn from observations, interviews and surveys of police staff, offenders and victims.

Alternative Actions that Work

Date Published: 
January 2011

A review of research on ‘what works’ in Police Warnings and Alternative Actions (collectively referred to as diversion) for children and young people who offend. The emphasis of the review is on the practical implications for those in the field. ‘Alternative Actions that Work’ links high quality international research with each step of the Police youth Alternative Action and Warning processes in New Zealand.

The document is in two sections, starting with an overview of Police youth diversion systems in New Zealand and overseas. This first section describes what Police do in New Zealand to divert youth away from formal youth justice processing, particularly appearing in court and the second section explores international and New Zealand research on Police diversion and restorative justice in depth.

Community Policing evaluations

Date Published: 
December 2009

A refreshed national community policing initiative is being implemented by New Zealand Police in accordance with the NZ Police strategic goal of community reassurance. Over the years 2006/7 to 2008/9 250 new positions were allocated to community policing. NZ Police and Government needed to be informed of the effectiveness of this significant new investment and existing Community Policing initiatives were evaluated.

The purpose of the evaluations were to:

  • provide an overview of the operation of the new initiatives;
  • assess progress towards achieving the desired outcomes;
  • outline the strengths and challenges of the initiatives; and
  • determine ways the additional community policing positions contribute to the goals of the national community policing strategy.

Building Diversity: Understanding the Factors that Influence Māori to join the Police

Date Published: 
February 2010

A long established principle is that the police service ought to mirror the ethnic profile of the wider population in order to secure and maintain public confidence and police legitimacy. A key goal for New Zealand Police (NZP) is to achieve equity and diversity in their workforce. This research focuses on exploring factors that influence Mäori to apply to and join Police.

The objectives of the research were to explore factors that influence Māori to apply and join NZ Police; explore the role of Police Māori recruitment initiatives, including Te Haerenga, in attracting Māori to join NZ Police; and to identify improvements to Police initiatives and processes for recruiting Māori.

Youth Offending Risk Screening Tool (YORST) Reports

Date Published: 
November 2011

These reports look into the assessment and validation of the Youth Offending Risk Screening Tool (YORST).

The first report responds to a request by the New Zealand Police to conduct a literature review of risk screening instruments for youth offenders, with a particular focus on the methods used to establish validity and reliability of these tools, including validation across cultures. The purpose of the literature review is to inform a larger project that aims to assess the validity, reliability and predictive capability of the New Zealand Police Youth Offending Risk Screening Tool (YORST).

The second report presents key findings from the last sub-component of Phase II, testing the predictive ability of the existing YORST. This includes the testing of the accuracy of the existing total YORST score to predict recidivism, an analysis of the relative contribution and utility of individual YORST items, and an exploration of whether an alternative combination, formation or transformation of items or additional variables are better able to predict recidivism.