Volume 38, Number 7, August 2005 - New Zealand Police Association

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August 2005 Police News The Voice of PoliceCONTENTS140NATIONWIDE AVL?nIndustrial newsAppointment review changes proposed ................................................................142A chance to have your say ....................................................................................142Telephone rental backpay claim – should you be included? ..................................143Home telephone rental policy ...............................................................................143Victorian recruits may be subject to DNA testing ..................................................145nGeneral newsVictorian communications upgrade finally bears fruit ............................................139AVL could eventually be rolled out nationwide ......................................................140Professionalisation a “quantum leap” ....................................................................149Last volume of Police history out shortly ...............................................................150nFeatureFund the frontline – making NZ the safest little country in the world ................ 146/7nnHumourWhen not to call emergency services ....................................................................141The Darwin Awards for 2005 ................................................................................141Special FeatureElection 2005 – police numbers/asset seizure legislation ................................... 147/9146FUND THE FRONTLINEnColumnsFrom the President ...............................................................................................139Health Watch ........................................................................................................144View from the bottom (I Am Keen) .......................................................................145Letters to the Editor .......................................................................................... 153/5nnSport/EntertainmentCopper’s crossword ..............................................................................................144Sports news ...................................................................................................... 151/2Welfare/Notices151ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MENNZ Police AssociationPolice News is thenewsletter of the NewZealand Police Associationand incorporates the NewZealand Police Journalfirst published in 1937.Editor: Steve PlowmanAugust 2005, Vol. 38, No.7ISSN 1175-9445Deadline for next issue Monday, August 15, 2005.Published by the New Zealand Police AssociationP.O. Box 12344, Willbank House,57 Willis Street, Wgtn.Phone: (04) 496 6800, Facsmile: (04) 471 1309Email: editor@policeassn.org.nzWebsite: www.policeassn.org.nzPrinted by City Print Communications, Wgtn.Opinions expressed are not necessarilythose of the Association.COPYRIGHT: NZPA Police News must not bereproduced in part or as a whole without theformal consent of the copyright holder - the NewZealand Police Association.Christmas holiday home ballot .............................................................................143PSS – your decision ...............................................................................................150Useful Information & ContactsAssociation and Police Welfare Fund:Police Network 44446 Website www.policeassn.org.nzFreephone 0800 500 122 Police Home Loans 0800 800 808Police Health Plan/Staffpac Insurance Police Credit Union 0800 429 000Quotes & information 0800 500 122 or (04) 472 9645or Fax (04) 496 6819 Credit Union www.policecu.org.nzStaffpac claims 0800 110 088 GSF information 0800 654 731All enquiries (04) 496 6800 PSS information 0800 777 243Vice PresidentsGeoff Smith (027) 268 9417Richard Middleton (027) 268 9411Field OfficersNorthland and Auckland Districts: Stewart Mills (027) 268 9407Waikato, BOP and Eastern Districts: Eric Newman (027) 268 9408Central and Wellington Districts: JJ Taylor (027) 268 9409Tasman, Canterbury and Southern Districts: Dave McKirdy (027) 268 9410Regional DirectorsRegion One Steve Hawkins Whangaparoa (027) 268 9419Region Two Mark Leys Papatoetoe (027) 268 9413Region Three Mel Ridley Tauranga (027) 268 9414Region Four Chris Cahill Napier (027) 268 9415Region Five Stuart Mills Office of Com (027) 268 9416Region Six Craig Prior Sumner (027) 268 9412Region Seven Dave Steel North Dunedin (027) 268 9418138
New Zealand Police AssociationAugust 2005From the President“The ‘just be positive’ messagerings very hollow around emptymuster rooms and CIB squad offices.”When the ‘just bepositive’messagerings so hollowEver interviewed a good fraud offender,gone into the interview room with yourevidence laid out including securitycamera identifications, handwritingcomparisons, fingerprint hits, evenrecovered property and money andall you require from the ‘fraudy’ is aconfession?Then after you’ve been interviewingthem for half an hour, you need togather up your papers and go outof the room to re-read them andconvince yourself that the denials andexplanations you’ve just heard arerubbish. A good fraud offender can dothat because they honestly believe theyare innocent. It’s that same ability toconvince themselves they are genuinethat enables them to dupe their victims.Sometimes I feel a little the same waywhen people are trying to convince methat there are plenty of frontline police;gangs are under control; and that thepublic are happy with the service theyare getting from their police. I need toleave the room and talk to the CrimeManagers, Area Controllers, stationsergeants and their troops to get the realpicture of what is happening aroundthe country.It’s not to say that there are not alot of good things happening in theNZ Police and we would be doing adisservice to a lot of people if we failedto acknowledge that, in many areas, weare better off than we have been for along time.We’re solving the big crimes, cuttingthe road toll and volume crime, andimproving our infrastructure. However,we as an Association can’t get caughtup in the Amway type hype, whichsees critical problems, mostly involvingfrontline police shortages, placed in thetoo hard basket while focus goes onother ‘sexier ‘ specialist areas.The ‘just be positive’ message rings veryhollow around thinning muster roomsand CIB squad offices.Our “performance objectives” as anAssociation focus on how well themost vulnerable people in the Policeare resourced and led. They are thosewho have most to do with victims andoffenders i.e. the frontline. Those whoare most complained against, assaultedand publicly criticised. Sadly, theyare the most junior, least supervised,and bear a hugely disproportionateburden as a result of the organisation’sshortages.So when I am in danger of beingconverted by wide-eyed ideologiesabout how wonderful things are in thegarden of Molesworth, I re-programmemyself with visits to the districts andareas to understand again that ourbattle to sufficiently resource ourfrontline, so the troops believe they aredelivering the public a good service,won’t be won by the abilityto deliver a convincingperformance butby realisticresources.Victorian communications upgradefinally bearing fruit – one year lateThe Victorian Government’s troubled$170 million upgrade of Police andemergency services communicationssystems is finally bearing fruit - one yearbehind schedule.A recent report in The Melbourne Age saidpilot testing of the Mobile Data Networkproject had commenced in more than 60police and ambulance vehicles.The vehicles have instant access toa range of networked information,including information on wanted peopleand driver and car registration details- information that routinely takes 10 to15 minutes to gain access to via policeradio.However, Government promises thatpolice would be able to view picturesof suspects and maps pinpointingthe location of emergencies, remainunfulfilled.Response times set to beenhanced?Police Minister, Andre Haermeyer, said:“It will (help police) going into a houseto know whether the people in there arepeople who have a criminal history, whatthe nature of the history is and whetherthere are firearms stored in the house,”he said.The computers were due to be installed in700 police cars recently.Metropolitan paramedics also will havetheir vehicles fitted with computers,allowing more efficient dispatches andaccess to critical medical information enroute to emergencies.The network project has been marred bycost blow-outs and delays. Testing of theMotorola system comes about one yearafter the “late 2003” target date set bythe Government in 2001.Cost blowoutIn May, Auditor-General, WayneCameron, reported a cost blowout to$171 million, compared with $100million set out by Labor in 2001.Originally, $78 million was set aside forthe project in 1998.Shadow Police Minister, Kim Wells, toldThe Age that the inability to downloadpictures of wanted people or view mapspinpointing the location of emergenciesshowed the system was out of date.But the Police Minister said VictoriaPolice’s and VicRoads’ respectivedatabases were to blame for the lack ofsuspect pictures and maps.Superintendent Darrell Stephensonsaid police testing the equipmenthad reported significantly improved“effeciency boosts”.139
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