Police Perceptions of Maori - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

attitudes to Maori political aspirations. Scores on this scale were used to determine
factors affecting perceptions and attitudes. Maori officers, older officers, senior
sergeants and those no longer in the front line were more likely to have favourable
attitudes than New Zealand European officers, younger officers, constables and those
in the front line. Increased contact with Maori in one's private life, either through
social activities or family membership, was also associated with more favourable
attitudes although work contact with Maori seemed irrelevant. Several officers
mentioned their experiences with marae programmes as increasing their understanding
of Maori issues. These findings suggest that, given the right type of contact with
Maori people, it is possible to increase understanding and promote positive responses.
Finally, a number of questions explored responses to proposed policies and strategies
aimed at building responsiveness to Maori. Overall, respondents agreed with most of
the proposals or were at least neutral toward them. However, proposals to recruit and
promote Maori, to emphasise police commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi and to
provide Maori translation on request were disagreed with by a significant minority.
Comments indicated that issues of equity were at the heart of much of the
disagreement and suggest that affirmative action policies in recruitment and promotion
of Maori police will meet with considerable resistance. Increasing Maori
representation will be best achieved by ensuring that well educated Maori are recruited.
The views of police of Maori descent and those who identified themselves as New
Zealand European or Pakeha were compared. In general, the two groups did not hold
different views on police attitudes, language or behaviour. But on specific aspects of
behaviour, officers of Maori descent were more likely to report discrimination,
especially in responding to members of the public, stopping cars, using abusive
language with offenders and treating suspects roughly. Police of Maori descent were
also more likely to report that the police had negative attitudes to Maori. One
interpretation of this is that Maori officers were more likely than others to see the
actions of their colleagues as displaying negative attitudes and behaviour toward
Maori. Another interpretation is that Maori officers were more likely to describe real
differences in behaviour and this is supported by the fact that, on several of the
behavioural items, there were no differences in the perceptions of Maori and other
police officers. It is not possible to check either of these interpretations without
carrying out an observational study.
The findings raise questions about the position of the Maori police officer within the
service and the extent to which he or she has a distinctive view. The data show that
often the views of Maori police officers are indistinguishable from those of other
police. Some of them clearly share the negative views and attitudes toward Maori
offenders that characterise some of their colleagues. Perhaps this is not surprising.
Other research demonstrates the power of the occupational culture in shaping the
attitudes and behaviour of groups within the police who do not fit the traditional police
stereotype. Heidensohn (1992) discusses the conformity of women to the male police
culture in England. One study cited by Heidensohn actually showed that policewomen
were more similar to their male colleagues on a number of personality measures
including femininity than they were to nurses (p 93). She cites a description of the
phenomena as a mark of the conquest of biography by occupation (p 89). A parallel
can be drawn with the results here where the attitudes of some of the officers of Maori
descent may well be more similar to those of other police than to those of Maori
outside the service.
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