2012-11 - New Zealand Police Association

View from the bottom BY CONSTABLE IAM KEENThis column is written by a frontline police officer. It does not represent the views or policies of the Police AssociationWhere’severyonegone?I once tried my hand at tertiarystudies. For a boffin who wentto school to eat lunch and havea smoke behind the bike sheds,this was very new territory.It wasn’t all wasted, though,and I’ve used bits of it over theyears.Something that really stuckwith me from Management101, and was in almostevery textbook the universitykindly sold to raise funds forretired academics, was thatorganisations should placetheir people as close to thecoal face as possible and thosesupporting the front end shouldbe located as close to theircolleagues at the coal face aspossible.I remembered this as I lookedaround at vacant workspaces inour police station.“Where’s everyone gone?” Iasked the Senior.“Centralisation, lad. They’redown at district headquartersrunning the new preventionmachine.”Now, don’t get me wronghere, I’m all for this PreventionFirst. It’s getting the results, butI can’t help wondering if it wasnecessary to physically shiftso many of our colleagues andbuild back room mini-castles(castlets) to support the newinspector jobs created seeminglyat the expense of seniorsergeant positions.Proximity to the action meansa sense of ownership, pride andjob satisfaction for our supportstaff. Information is passed onfirst-hand and not through aseries of filters where it can endup resembling something else.This maybe the e-era, but youcan’t send a computer to runan errand and they will neverreplace the benefit of interactingwith your colleagues, which,I recall from the engagementsurvey, was the No 1 reason folkenjoy this job.I rang the old staff seniorabout some repairs needed inthe locker room. He’s now a“workforce manager” down atDHQ. He told me that repairswere not his job anymore.“Who gets stuff fixed for usnow?” I asked.“The O/C station will have todo that,” he replied.I was about to say thatthe O/C station’s positionhad disappeared, when Irealised those last bastionsof grandfatherly support are abygone era and I’d be left behindif I didn’t get with it.I still miss all my buddies fromIntel, etc. Many staff still in ourstation have new bosses at DHQwho send them off doing otherstuff and not what we once alldid as a team.There’s a silver lining,however; I now have my own carpark in the back yard.Members – don’t missout on great discountsCheck out our growing range of discounts for members throughthe Police Association Member Discounts Programme.Te Puna Reothe spring of languageIn the first of our new regular feature promoting te reofor police employees, Sergeant Paddy Whiu, of thePolice Maori, Pacific and Ethnic Services team, explainssome basic greetings that would be used in everydayinteractions with family and members of the public.1. Tena koeGreetings to you (singular)2. Tena koruaGreetings to you both (plural)3. Tena koutouGreetings to you all (three or more)If you are talking to someone alone, the first phrase isused (tena koe).When there are two people you would like to greet, in thestreet or when you have the opportunity when speakingto a motorist where there is the driver and passenger, thesecond phrases is appropriate (tena korua).The third phrase is used when you are talking to three ormore people (tena koutou).Simply log in to www.policeassn.org.nz. Select “Member Discounts”from the Products & Services menu to view the discounts available.266 november 2012police news – the voice of police