Police News August 09.indd - New Zealand Police Association

The Voice of PoliceVOLUME 42 • NUMBER 7 • AUGUST 2009Shooting from thehip – is it time foran arming debate?■ A DAY IN THE LIFE OF COMMS■ COURT PROCESS LEGISLATION EXPECTED NEXT YEAR■ THE GREAT ARMING DEBATE – WHERE DO YOU STAND?

New Zealand Police AssociationThe arming issueThis month’s Police News features aseries of articles around the subject ofPolice access to firearms.In a year when six of our colleagueshave been shot, two fatally, it is nota topic which can be swept aside ina media sound bite or other generalcommunication, especially when halfof us now believe police should begenerally armed.The Police Association endeavours to bewell informed on all aspects of policingto ensure any statements we make comefrom a well informed position; one weare confident represents the views ofthe relevant group of our members.Due to the specialised nature of manyparts of our large organisation, it isimportant that the views of the peoplemost affected by any proposed changebe isolated and weighted accordingly.That’s what makes the views of frontlinepolice, those most vulnerable and incontact with the public, of significancein any decision-making.As this month’s survey results show, amajority of our frontliners now wantto be armed, or have better access tofirearms.We fully accept there are many factors,which need to be taken into account, asthey were in the Northern Territory ofAustralia, the last Australian Force togenerally arm, and in the NorwegianPolice, the only force on mainlandEurope, which remains unarmed. Irecently visited Norway to ensure we canput their situation into the right context.We can. In fact the four Scandinaviancountries, as national forces policing“The Norwegians reached their compromise of havingevery patrol car equipped with firearms in safesbeside the driver after considerable debate. This wasafter just one officer was killed when police wereoutgunned during a robbery.”countries with small populations butlarge land areas, whose main criminalgroups are Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,are much more like our own than a lotof other countries we tend to emulate.The Norwegians reached their compromiseof having every patrol car equipped withfirearms in safes beside the driver afterconsiderable debate. This was after justone officer was killed when police wereoutgunned during a robbery.We need that debate here, not sillyresponses like “if we arm the crimswill arm” or “most cops are shot withtheir own weapon” both easily refutablestatements.Of course, very significant is the factthat the majority of the public is nowhappy to see their police armed.I don’t necessarily agree with onemember’s statement that policefunerals are preferable politically topolice shootings but I understand thesentiment and frustration expressed.Many of the first police on the sceneof Len Snee’s shooting in Napier were‘day workers’, exempted from trainingin many districts but luckily not inHawke’s Bay.It just showed the call to arms cancome at any time in policing and nowis no time to be squeamish or overlycautious in fully assessing the responsecapability of police; a police, which isbeing assaulted and shot at more thanever before. It is certainly no time to bereducing the number of officers who willbe trained, as is the current proposal.Let’s at least have the discussion and seeif there may even be a Norwegian-stylecompromise, which matches the needsof frontline policing with the statusquo being advocated by some decisionmakers.Otherwise we are left asking theobvious question; how many of us willit take to be shot and shot at beforewe are prepared to review our armingpolicies?Election notice:Nominations for Vice-Presidentof the NZ Police AssociationRule 89 of the Association Rules allows any member of the Associationto nominate any other member for election to the position of President orone of two Vice-President positions.Another member must second all nominations.The term of each of these positions is for three years, with one electionheld every year.This year, one of the two Vice-President positions is open for election.The term of office for this role will be from October 2009 until October2012.Nominations close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday 22 September 2009,and should be sent to:Mr Chris PentecostNational SecretaryNZ Police AssociationP.O. Box 12344, Wellington.Nomination forms are available from:Ms Karen GibsonSenior Executive AssistantNZ Police AssociationPO Box 12344, Wellington.Conference delegates will elect the Vice-President at the Association’sAnnual Conference on Wednesday October 14, 2009.August 2009167

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceLegislation to speed up court processesexpected by the end of next yearThe Government’s proposed reforms of thecriminal justice sector are taking shape.The Criminal Procedure (Simplification)Project includes a range of initiativesto improve timeliness and efficiency incriminal court cases.The median waiting time for District Courttrials is one year while in the High Court itis just over 16 months.Mr Power said that a complete overhaul ofcriminal procedure is long overdue.Reform of legislation“The time has come to reform legislationin a way that ensures all parties in thecriminal justice system are better served byimproving efficiency, reducing delay andcosts, and better using technology whereappropriate. We need to reconsider someof the traditional practices of the courtsystem,” he said.The Criminal Procedure (Simplification)Project is being undertaken to address anumber of long-standing inefficiencies andissues with pre-trial criminal procedure,including:• Repeated adjournments;• Unnecessary appearances to deal withmatters that should have been addressedout of court;Burial ‘plot’ sees women charged with fraudA resident of Hawthorne, California boughtlife insurance policies on people who didnot exist, held fake funerals and cashed inthe plans when they “died,” according to areport in The Daily Breeze.Faye Shilling, 60, and her allegedaccomplice, Jean Crump, 67, of Los Angeles,are suspected of defrauding insurance andassignment firms of about $1 million duringa three-year con, authorities said. They hadallegedly run the scheme for three years.A notary and a cemetery owner have alreadyoffered guilty pleas as being accessories inthe alleged plot.$10,000 bailFBI agents arrested Shilling and Crumprecently. The women made their initialappearances before a magistrate in U.S.District Court in Los Angeles and werereleased on $10,000 bail.They faced a five-count indictment allegingmail and wire fraud and other charges.If convicted, they face about 20 years inprison.According to the indictment, Shilling andCrump purchased life insurance policies fortwo people - “Jim Davis” and “Laura Urich.”168August 2009• Late guilty pleas that result in inefficientuse of court time;• Trials that fail to proceed on theirscheduled date;• Inadequate incentives and sanctions toensure that prosecution and defenceprogress the case as they should;• Long delays before the final disposal ofcases;• A trial system in which relatively minorcases may be tried by jury;• Barriers to the use of moderntechnologies and an excessively paperbasedprocess; and• An excessively complex and outdatedlegislative framework.Mr Power said that such issues createinefficiency and cause inconvenience andfail to deliver justice to victims, witnesses,and others in the community.ProposalsThe proposals include:• Requiring parties to discuss cases in anattempt to resolve them, so unnecessarycourt appearances can be avoided andtrial time can be shortened;• Changing the process to determinewhether jury trials are held in the HighCourt or the District Court;• Requiring the defence to identify issuesFor Jim Davis, the women obtaineda $250,000 policy from Conseco LifeInsurance Company in Carmel, Indiana, anda $450,000 policy from American GeneralLife Insurance in Houston. Chesapeake LifeInsurance Co. in Oklahoma City issueda policy for Urich with a face value of$50,000.Fake death certificatesThe women allegedly then waited for thepolicies to mature. When they did, Shilling,Crump and their co-schemers preparedfalse death documents, including fake deathcertificates.In addition to the insurance companies,they filed the documents with financialassignment companies. These companiesadvance funds to pay for funeral expenses inexchange for a fee and reimbursement whena deceased person’s life insurance pays off.In Davis’ “death,” the women purchaseda burial plot at Abbey Memorial Park inCompton and held a sham funeral.Bill for $31,000Shilling, Crump and Lydia Eileen-Pearce,owner of Steward-Pearce Mortuary in LongBeach, wired a bill to Jackman Financial forin dispute so the court can focus onthose issues at trial;• Removing the prosecution’s abilityto choose a jury trial for somethingthat could go to summary trial, andpotentially raising the jury trial thresholdfrom more than three months to morethan three years (or more);• Making clearer rules for proceeding inthe absence of the defendant; and• Introducing legislation to enablethe different participants in criminalproceedings to appear by audio-visuallink.Hoped for resultsIt is hoped that the changes will result in lessdelay, fewer adjournments, shorter trials, amore satisfactory process for victims andwitnesses, and increased efficiencies withinthe Justice system.Consultation papers have been released tostakeholders, and a draft Bill will be releasedfor consultation at the end of this year, beforea final draft is developed for introduction. Itis hoped legislation will be enacted by theend of 2010.Consultation papers on a number of criticalissues being considered under the project areavailable on the Ministry of Justice websitewww.justice.govt.nz/Simplification-Project/Criminal-procedure.htmlnearly $31,000 in funeral and related burialcosts, even though they had grossly inflatedthe costs for a “sham funeral with a nonexistentcorpse,” the indictment said.Based on the fake death certificate, thelife insurance company paid more than$232,000 into a beneficiary bank account.ExhumationAfter the staged funeral, the women fileddocuments to exhume the “body,” and filedfaked documents with the county to indicateDavis had been cremated.The women feared that if law enforcementor insurance investigators ever caught windof the ruse, they would find an empty casket,authorities said.In the case of Urich, the women allegedlyconducted a similar plot, creating fakedocuments. This time, they held a fakecremation, according to the indictment.Insurance and funeral assignment companiespaid out checks ranging from $5,000 to$45,000, the affidavit said.The indictment also alleges that the womenapproached a physician and offered him$50,000 to help create fake medical recordsfor Davis.

New Zealand Police AssociationPOLICE COMMUNICATIONS CENTRESBy Deb Stringer, Communications AssistantEver since the external reviewof the Police CommunicationCentres in 2005, Police havecommitted themselves tomaking their communicationsystems more effective andefficient.A recent trip to the Central CommunicationsCentre in Wellington demonstratedthat Police have made positive steps inmaintaining this commitment.As Police communicator Penny answers a111 call a distressed caller tells her: “Couldyou hurry, my Dad has lost it, he’s becomeviolent.”Penny calmly asks the young man to“stay with her” while she gathers moreinformation.As Penny works a series of maps, otherrelevant programmes flash up on to her twocomputer screens, allowing her to quicklylocate the caller’s area.She immediately confirms the locationwith the caller and sends the initial detailsthrough to the dispatcher so a patrol car canstart heading to the ‘Priority 1’ incident.Safety issueAs the call continues, Penny manages to calmthe young caller so she can obtain furtherdetails. She asks if there are any weaponspresent. She knows it is vital to get as muchrelevant information as possible to ensure thejob is given the appropriate level of responseand so attending staff are kept safe.This is just one of the nearly 700,000emergency 111 calls that the PoliceCommunication Centres deal with each year.Communications Centre staff endeavourto answer 90% of these calls within 10seconds. Last year, they met and exceededthis target in 96% of cases.• The Palmerston North dispatcher works on allocating units to jobs out of the WellingtonCommunications Centre.In 2008, they received 953,170 generalcalls, which include calls to *555 and theCrime Reporting Line.Where are they?In total, around 1.7 million calls are spreadamongst three Police CommunicationFalse, accidental and hoax callsOf all the 111 calls received initially byTelecom, 64% are deemed to be nongenuineincluding accidental misdials,hang-ups, children playing with the phoneand cellphones being bumped in pocketsand bags.Below are some examples of 111 calls thatwaste Police time:• A three-year-old boy called 111 to sayit wasn’t him who stole the chair atkindy, it was another boy.• A very drunk male call 111 and, whenasked what his emergency was, stated:“Oh….um….I’m in love!” He then saidhe’d better hang up.• A woman rang to say she had aspider in the bath and required Policeattendance to remove it.Centres - Northern Communications inAuckland, Central Communications inWellington and Southern Communications inChristchurch.Auckland is the biggest centre and duringthe 2008 calendar year fielded 870,000• A man called 111 to say there were twohedgehogs fighting outside his house.• A man called 111 to complain that thefirewood he had ordered did not fit inhis firebox.• Students occasionally call 111 whenthey get lost on campus.• A woman called 111 to report a mousein her house.• A bride dialled 111 on her day foremergency help because she hadspilled oil on her wedding dress.• A man phoned 111 to say he wasdrunk and hungry and then requested apizza.• Another woman rang 111 to say thatthe tap in the bathroom was leakingand could Police recommend a goodplumber.August 2009169

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Policegeneral and 111 calls. Wellington took386,000, while Christchurch received theremaining 384,000.All three centres have complete businesscontinuity plans and back-up capability,which means if one of them goes down,the other two centres can compensate bypicking up the overload.Five hundred and thirty-one staff workacross the three centres with rolesconsisting of communicators, dispatchers,section managers, team leaders, shiftcommanders, workforce analysts andadministrative support.Police communicators deal with calls aboutburglaries, family violence, disputes, fightsand disorder, vehicle crashes, armedrobberies, search and rescue operations,homicides, dangerous driving, missingchildren, civil disputes and thefts, to namejust some of the events they respond to.• A communicator takes calls at the Wellington Communications Centre.Communicators find out what’s happeningand where, make the initial assessmentof the priority of the job, enter the detailsinto the computer system and send theinformation through to the dispatchers whoare responsible for getting Police units toattend the incident.The dispatcher’s primary role is to helpco-ordinate the Police response to anemergency.Intercad to allow better emergency services communicationPolice are set to introduce an electronicinformation sharing system called Intercad,which will link Police, Fire and Ambulanceservices.The project, known as Go Live, has beendeveloped over the last 18 months and was dueto go live as this article was being prepared.Currently, Police and Fire have linkingsystems but Ambulance has a separateservice, though they liaise closely inemergency situations.Intergraph (Police /Fire) and SDSI (Ambulance)have been developing a number of technicalsolutions during the life of the project tofacilitate information sharing.StreamliningThe Intercad system will assist through:• A more timely and informativecommunication being sent between thethree emergency services;• An easier method for sending theinformation. The process of "copyingthe event" to send, involves only onekeyboard stroke as opposed to thecurrent system (associate event), whichrequires 11 key strokes;• A verifiable (documented) record ofinformation that is sent;• Encouraging a closer working relationshipbetween the three emergency services;and• Possibly leading to other areas of sharedcommunication processing and capability.Common jargonAnother spin-off of the project will beestablishing a common ‘jargon’ list betweenall three agencies so that incident codes arecommon to all three services.Under the Intercad system, Policedispatchers will be the only ones to dorequests for assistance to the other twoservices. The communicator would enterthe event/incident and forward it to therelevant dispatchers, who would then beresponsible for copying the event to Fireand/or Ambulance.1 2 3 4 5 6 7Clues:Across:2. The forming of an opinion, idea orconclusion (9)8. Say at chicken tasting? (5)9. A marked increase with pendulum (7)10. Had a look around new environment (10)12. A particular period of time (5)14. Japanese food (5)15.Caught baby goat asleep (10)18. Manacles; handcuffs (British slang)19. Ogle at a group of steps (5)20. Swim event (9)July answers:Across:1. Acid3. Educated9. Dilemma10. Mends11. Testimonials13. Offset15. Caddie17. Battlefields20. Micro21. Conquer22. GuessingDown:1. Have too much paperwork in winter more likely?(slang) (2,6,5)2. Throw excess load overboard (8)3. Senior member (5)4. School teachers perhaps? (13)5. Inclined to drink to excess: intoxicated, tipsy. (7)6. Extra time for extra hard work? (4)7. Stole (slang) (13)11. At times ate together, I guess (8)13. Item that holds in place (4,3)16. Insipid looking (5)17. Semi (4)23. ShedDown:1. Audition2. Isles4. Dragon5. Combinations6. Tangled7. Dash8. Ambidextrous12. Censored14. Fiancee16. Beacon18. Laugh19. Smog8 91012 13 1415 161718 192011170August 2009

New Zealand Police AssociationWhat happens when Police answer a call1. You call 111 and the Telecom operator will ask you which service you require– Ambulance, Fire or Police. After determining you need Police, the operatorconnects you to a Police Communications Centre.2. A Police communicator receives your 111 call and determines what action isnecessary e.g. if a patrol car needs to respond, whether other emergency servicesneed to attend etc.3. The Police communicator then relays this information to the dispatcher and thedispatcher will contact units to see who is available to respond to the job. Thedispatcher keeps in constant contact with the unit during the course of the unit’sattendance and updates information for other police that may be required toattend, as well as making sure that the officers are safe.4. The information is relayed to Police units, who are then sent out to the incident.5. Police arrive.Police staff receive honours• Several police staff received a variety of Honours from the Governor-General recently.Pictured from left to right at the investiture are: Constable John Ward, Porirua (Queen’sService Medal), Assistant Commissioner Jon White, Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope, GavinMcFadyen, Wellington, (Queen’s Service Orders), Sergeant Kevin Stewart, Napier (QSM),Superintendent Brett England, North Shore, (Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit),Detective Inspector Bruce Good, Auckland (QSM).- Photo courtesy of Antony Paltridge.NOTICE OF AGMS:Police Association Conference inWellington from 14-16 OctoberThis year’s NZ Police AssociationConference will be held from Wednesday14 October to Friday 16 October at theJames Cook Hotel, Wellington.The Police and Families Credit Unionand the Police Welfare Fund will holdtheir respective AGMs on Wednesday 14October at the same venue. The PFCUAGM will take place between 11 and11.45 a.m. and the Welfare Fund meetingbetween 11.45 and 12.30 p.m.Have you movedrecently?If you have moved or perhaps are about to,please let us know so we can update yourrecords. You can do this by:• writing to us at PO Box 12344;• calling us on free phone 0800 500 122;• faxing us on (04) 496 6819; or• Emailing us at: membership@policeassn.org.nzYOU NEED TO LET US KNOW YOURMEMBERSHIP NUMBER, NEW ADDRESSAND IF YOU’RE A SERVING MEMBER -YOUR NEW STATION.August 2009171

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWhy your Revocable NominationForm should be up to dateIn the event of your death, whom would you like your life insurance paid to?This is the question that haunts Police Welfare Fund Insurances for all those memberswho have not provided us with a Revocable Nomination Form.If you or your partner/spouse have any of the following:Sworn Group LifeNon-Sworn Group LifeLife Insurance ExtraThen you need to make sure that Police Welfare Insurances holds a current RevocableNomination Form for each policy.What is a Revocable Nomination Form?A Revocable Nomination Form allows you to decide who will be the beneficiary ofyour life insurance payout in the event of your death. If you have a New ZealandPolice Sworn Group Life policy, it also asks you to provide the details of your spouse/partner whose life will also be insured under the Spouse Death Benefit.Why should you complete a Revocable Nomination Form?This form is held independently from your will and estate. The policy owner (PoliceWelfare Fund Insurances Limited) will pay the benefit to whomever you specify onthe form, instead of your estate.If we do not hold a form, any benefit under the Policy will be paid to your estate.In the absence of a will at the time of death (if you die intestate), it can take sometime to finalise estate issues. In this event, Police Welfare Fund Insurances Limitedwill not be able to assist with any initial death benefit payments to your survivingspouse/partner.Not sure if you have completed a form?Easy. Call our our Member Service Centre on 0800 500 122 and speak with oneof our representatives who can check if we hold a completed form for you, oralternatively you can go to the Members Only website on www.policeassn.org.nzwith your membership number and password and you will be able to view whetherwe hold a form for you.If you haven’t already filled one in and lodged it with us we are able to Email theforms to you upon request.Try our 5 minute quizOkay, morning or afternoon tea break hasarrived. You have your cuppa in hand and youand your colleagues could do with a quickbrain workout. So appoint your quizmaster andhave a go at these questions. The answersare under the quiz (upside down, no peeking!).1. How many Olympic gold medals didNew Zealand’s great middle distanceathlete Peter Snell win during hiscareer?2. Who was the actor who played thecharacter Jake The Muss in the NewZealand film “Once Were Warriors”?3. What Australian actor played thecharacter Mad Max in the Mad Maxfilms?4. What is the capital of Norway?5. He was born in 1642 – the year Galileodied. He became the greatest Englishmathematician of his time. Who washe?6. What is the closest planet to the sun?7. The well-known board game ChineseCheckers is a direct descendant ofanother game that was inventedin Victorian times. What is it? (A)Draughts. (B) Halma. (C) Ludo. (D) MahJong.8. One modern nation has Latin as it’sofficial language. Which nation is it?9. What does the prefix micro mean?10. The composer Mozart embarked ona major concert tour when he wasonly six years of age. In keepingwith the fashion of the time, whichof the following accessories did hewear while performing during thoseconcerts? (A) A kilt. (B) A sword(C) A wig (D) High-heeled shoes.Scoring: 0-2 – Hmmn, room for significantimprovement (perhaps next month). 3-5 Notbad, better luck next time. 6-7 – Good effort.8 – Very good. 9 – Excellent. 10 – Wipe yournose, take a bow and go to the top of theclass Einstein.• NZ Police Association President Greg O’Connor (left) was a guest of the InternationalAssociation of Police, United States Section, New York City recently. Pictured left toright are: Greg, IAOP President Jon Adler, Vice-President for Agency Affairs ChrisSchoppmeyer and NOAA AP Ernie Soper at the chapter meeting in Queens, New York.Answers: 1. Three. 2. Temuera Morrison.3. Mel Gibson. 4. Oslo. 5. Isaac Newton.6. Mercury. 7. Halma. 8. The VaticanCity, the smallest country in the world. 9.One millionth. 10. A sword.172August 2009

New Zealand Police AssociationObituary:Alfred Fairclough Edwardson 1916-2009 (Life Member)Police Association Life Member, AlfredFairclough Edwardson, will always beremembered as someone who stood forwhat he believed in, even if it meant goingagainst the grain.Never was this trait more evident thanwhen Mr Edwardson was championingfor the rights of Association members.Mr Edwardson served in the NZ Policefor 26 years and 3 months and in 1977received a Life Membership from theAssociation.Life Membership is only bestowed onmembers who have made significantcontributions to Police Associationmembers from a national perspective.Mr Edwardson’s time working with theAssociation was definitely testament tothis.During his early involvement he becamethe Auckland District Secretary in 1960.PresenceHe soon made his presence felt,encouraging the then secretary of theAssociation to talk to the Commissionerof Police about changing what heconsidered an outdated style of Victorianera policing. This discussion resulted inan internal inquiry, which was eventuallymade public.While holding this position, MrEdwardson also wrote numerous lettersto the Police Journal (now the Police News)championing the interests of members.One of the most memorable issues MrEdwardson brought to the table was a callfor coverage of management committeeminutes, despite this going against whatthe Annual Conference delegates hadpreviously agreed.After winning this battle, in 1976, MrEdwardson moved on to the next -assisting members, who as a result of adecision by Police National Headquarters,were in danger of being arrested if theywere deemed an overstayer under theImmigration Act.Most complaints received by MrEdwardson were against Policemanagement and he dubbed it OperationShambles. He identified the cause ofthe issue as a senior member of Policewanting to make a name for himself.His dislike for officers, learned from hisNavy days, never disappeared.Tireless workerMr Edwardson was a tireless worker onbehalf of fellow Association workers andthis was no more in evidence a year laterwhen he took on what was to be his mostsignificant battle. During the 1977 payround campaign he organised a meetingat the Mt Albert War Memorial Hall tosecure a 9.9% pay increase for members.Mr Edwardson was successful afteradopting his well-known “pull nopunches” demeanour, encouraging the800 police officers that attended to standas one against President Alan Monk andAssociation Secretary Bob Moodie.Work to rule threatHe achieved this by encouraging theofficers to threaten a work to rule andprovide negative public comment, whichwas aimed at deterring potential Policerecruits.Although the issues Mr Edwardson tackledwere often controversial, it never managedto stifle his drive to provide Associationmembers with fair and equal rights.Hamish Beckett, who seconded MrEdwardson’s Life Membership nominationdescribed him as a “very strong operator”in the area of welfare work for Associationmembers. Mr Edwardson was there whenmembers found themselves in trouble.This strong sense of pride in his workcould still be seen many years after he hadceased working for the Association.• The late Alfred Edwardson, Life Memberand Police Association stalwart.Great prideHe declined to attend the 75th AnnualConference, which honoured Life Members,after becoming confined to a wheelchair inhis later years. He was a man with greatpride.Aside from working for Police, MrEdwardson had also enjoyed a successfulcareer as a Royal Marine.In 1939 Alf saved a man from drowningwhile the Achilles was in the port of Aden.He received a Naval Board commendationfor courage.During this time, he served on HMSAchilles during the famed Battle of theRiver Plate.This South Atlantic battle was the firstmajor naval battle of World War 11 andinvolved ships from the Royal Navy’sSouth American Division taking on themight of the famous German warship theGraf Spee.Mr Edwardson is survived by his twodaughters, Patricia and Julie.– By Deb Stringer.Digital mirror cameras mooted for NYPD afterofficer shot dead in friendly fire incidentA cop-turned-lawmaker wants panoramiccameras placed in all New York PoliceDepartment police cars to investigateincidents like the recent friendly fire killingof Officer Omar Edwards, according to TheNew York Post.Edwards was shot while he was off-dutyand in street clothes. He was engaged in afoot pursuit of a drug addict who had brokeninto his car. Edwards had drawn his policeissue gun.When cops approached, Edwards failedto stop or drop the gun and turned towardOfficer Andrew Dunton, gun still in hand,according to Police reports.Dunton shot Edwards three times, killinghim. The circumstances are still underinvestigation.State Senator Eric Adams, a former policeofficer, is now advocating for the $2,500AV360's high-tech digital video and mirrorsystem, housed in the car's rear-view mirror,saying it would help take the NYPD "out ofthe eight-track age and into the iPod age."August 2009173

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceRealising thevalue of MumOnce – not such a long time ago - the thinking was that a man’sincome supported the home. So, if the family was to continue tolive in the same comfort in the event of the man dying or becomingcritically ill, it was his life that needed to be insured.Today, the reality is that whether a woman is working outside orin the home her contributions are equally important to the runningof the home. Recently, it was reported that British Mums do nearlyNZ$72,000 worth of work around the house every year, 50% morethan men. Here in NZ, a 2001 Statistics NZ study showed womenbetween 25 and 44, spent on average, 57% more time a weekcaring for children than men.Working MumsWhat if Mum is working? With women making up over 45% of NZ’slabour force, even in today’s economic climate, it is now more likelyshe is. The number of women bringing home more than $40,000 issteadily increasing. Statistics taken between 1991-2001 indicatedthat the number of women earning in excess of $40,000 hasquadrupled. That’s a sizeable chunk of the family income to haveto suddenly go without. Yet, according to studies both here andoverseas, women – if they have life insurance at all - are generallyunderinsured and seldom covered for critical illness.If Mum died or became critically ill, who would do what she does?Can Dad afford to cut back his work hours to care for the kids andhome? Can he afford childcare or before and after school care?Some general examples of ‘home help’ and caregiver feesFull or part-time nanny$14 - $25 per hourBefore and after school careBabysitting fees$26 - $30 a day per child$7 - $15 per hourHouse cleaner/ general home help $15 - $20 per hourNursing care$20 - $28 per hourHousekeeper$18 - $25 per hourLive-in caregiver/housekeeper $600 - $1,200 a weekLive-in, sole charge nanny$165 - $250 per 24 hour dayThese costs are indications onlyWe have to ask ourselves why, when a recent survey foundtwo of our greatest insurance concerns were paying the billsand protecting our family’s income, are we so care-less aboutinsuring our women?Critical illnessWithout wishing to be doom and gloom merchants, the fact remainsthat the cancer rate among women in New Zealand is high. The riskof melanoma or breast cancer is among the highest in the world.These diseases are not just affecting women in their twilight years,but in their prime, with young or teenage children. Many of us willknow of someone with children, who has had some form of cancer.While thankfully most recover, that road to recovery can be a longand costly one. Often it means having to rely on one income anda drastic change in lifestyle at one of the most stressful times in afamily’s life.Women need insurance too or barriers to adequate family protection.Today, women need to have insurance whether they work in oroutside of the home. After realising the true value of Mum, the nexttwo greatest barriers to adequately protecting the family seem to bethe perceived cost and effort involved in getting life insurance. Thisis where the Police Welfare Fund can help. While many membersuse our Police Life Insurance Extra cover as a top-up to their groupPolice Life Insurance, over 40% of those insured under this cover aremembers’ partners or spouses.Low-cost coverIt is a very good, low-cost life cover, which can be extended toinclude cover for critical illness. Staff in our Insurance Section arethere to make the process easy. Most often it’s a case of completingone simple form.Police Life Insurance Extra - Sample of the standardfortnightly rates for a female non-smoker with $200,000 LifeCover plus $100,000 Critical Illness Cover are as follows:Age $200k $200k Life Age $200k $200k LifeLife Cover & $100k Life Cover & $100kCriticalCriticalIllnessIllnessCoverCover25 $ 5.38 $ 9.03 35 $ 5.77 $ 12.2726 $ 5.24 $ 9.16 36 $ 6.15 $ 13.1927 $ 5.00 $ 9.04 37 $ 6.47 $ 14.1628 $ 5.00 $ 9.20 38 $ 6.77 $ 15.3429 $ 5.00 $ 9.62 39 $ 7.23 $ 16.9230 $ 5.08 $ 9.93 40 $ 7.69 $ 18.5831 $ 5.23 $ 10.39 41 $ 8.46 $ 20.8932 $ 5.39 $ 10.89 42 $ 9.15 $ 23.3033 $ 5.61 $ 11.42 43 $ 10.00 $ 25.9234 $ 5.70 $ 11.78 44 $ 11.08 $ 28.96These are based on the standard fortnightly rates.For more information or to work out how much cover you might needvisit the Online Police Life Insurance Calculator on the Insurancepage of our website at: www.policeassn.org.nz or call us on 0800500 122, 8:00am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday.We remember…Who passed away…HEALEY Joan Shirley 14-Jan-09 Widow of retired member ManukauJENKINSON Peter Ian 9-Mar-09 Retired member Milford, AkldGILMOUR Sydney George 7-May-09 Retired member WaikanaeEDWARDSON Alfred Fairclough 24-Jun-09 Life Member AucklandSTEWART Carole Ann 25-Jun-09 Retired member Onehunga, AkldCRAMPTON Dallas 28-Jun-09 Retired member PoriruaBURROWS Brian Leslie 29-Jun-09 Retired member GisborneMcGREGOR Katrina Louise 7-Jul-09 Retired member ChristchurchGYDE Alfred Arthur Edward 22-Jul-09 Life member HamiltonBROWN Frances Elaine 23-Jul-09 Member’s daughter Waitakere174August 2009

New Zealand Police AssociationTo be (armed) or not to be (armed)?A debate whose time has come?By Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsWhile the Police Associationis not calling for the generalarming of Police, PresidentGreg O’Connor is not impressedwith ‘political’ attempts to stopany discussion on the issue.In the last 12 months, two police officers,Len Snee and Don Wilkinson, have died atthe hands of armed offenders while anotherfour officers have been shot and wounded.Over the last two decades, the PoliceAssociation has canvassed opinion on theissue amongst its members and with eachpassing survey the pendulum has steadilymoved in favour of general arming. Twentyyears ago about three in every four officerswere against routine arming but by 2005that had come down to 64%. In 2007 asurvey indicated that 69% were opposed.Police split on issueThe latest Association survey (see graph onpage 177), conducted last year by Nielsen,indicates that members are evenly split onthe issue of general arming. In total, fortyeightpercent (48%) of police employeesare in favour of general arming of policeofficers while forty-seven percent (47%) areopposed to the idea. Five percent (5%) areundecided.It would be fair to say that there is slightlymore reticence amongst those most likely tohave to carry firearms (constables) with 49%opposed and 46% supportive then there isamongst non-sworn employees wishing tosee police officers armed (50% supportive,42% opposed).Although the question wording was slightlydifferent, compared to the 2005 research,there appears to have been a shift amongmembers towards greater support of armingpolice. In 2005, just over a quarter (26%) ofconstables supported the general armingof police, while in 2008 48% support thegeneral arming of police with firearms.Frontline opinionsNot surprisingly, those at the coalface aremore in favour, with Road Policing (55%)and General Duties Branch (GDB) frontline(54%) staff being more in favour of generalarming than other groups. Support is alsohigher among members who have been inthe NZ Police for four years or less (58%).Sworn Administration, planning and supportstaff (61%), GDB community relations (60%)and Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB)(58%) staff are more likely to be opposed togeneral arming. This is also the case withmembers who have been in the NZ Policefor more than 15 years (57%).There is higher support among memberswho have been in a situation where anoffender has been injured (50% support),have been attacked by an offender (53%support) or injured by an offender (54%support), threatened with any other weapon(54% support), while of those actuallythreatened with a firearm, the support forgeneral arming was at 65%.“How many more officershave to be seriouslywounded or killed before asensible debate on the issueof arming can take place?”- Greg O’Connor, President, NZPublic supportPublic opinion is also changing. In thesame Associaton/Nielsen survey conductedlast year, 55% of the public approved ofarming the police, while 32% were opposed(see graph on page 177). This is in starkcontrast to a survey conducted in 2003 byResearch New Zealand in which only 33%of the public supported police carrying arms.The latest Research NZ survey, conductedlast year, mirrored the Police Associationsurvey with a 53% public approval rating forgeneral arming.“How many more officers have to beseriously wounded or killed before a sensibledebate on the issue of arming can takeplace?” Mr O’Connor asked recently.The need for debateIn an address to the Wairarapa Chamberof Commerce, only a few days prior to theChristchurch incident in which a paraplegicman shot and wounded an Armed OffendersSquad member and a member of the public,Mr O’Connor challenged politicians to stumpup on the issue of the arming of police.“Tell us what you want us to do and we’llwork out what power we need,” he said,challenging Justice Minister Simon Power onthe issue of resourcing.Mr O’Connor said that Prime Minister JohnKey and Commissioner of Police HowardBroad had attempted to “close down thediscussion that needs to be had on arming”.“I am not saying we should arm every policeofficer at this time but perhaps it is timely,in light of the Napier shootings, in which agood cop in Len Snee lost his life and twoother good cops in Grant Diver and BruceMiller were seriously wounded and narrowlyescaped with their lives, that we should, as asociety, be engaged in this debate. Instead,we have those who seek to sweep theseissues under the carpet in the hope that theywill disappear.”The reality on the frontline is that mostpolice officers are not afraid of beingshot. Police officers are more likely tobe afraid of having to shoot someone inthe execution of their duty to protect thepublic or themselves. In the event of thathappening, the officer knows that he or shewill be subject to media vilification beforeany official inquiry has begun. Years maypass before the Independent Police ConductAuthority has completed its investigationsor the officer may be subject to a privateprosecution. That’s years of stress for thepolice officer and his or her family.TasersMr O’Connor says that Tasers do not providethe answer to armed offenders. “They havea limited range and I think the day is comingwhen Police will have to grapple with thereality that the best option may be to havea gun readily available in lock boxes ineach patrol car, as they do in Norway,” MrO’Connor said.Police Commissioner Howard Broad posedhis own question on the issue at Len Snee’sfuneral in May: What more could have beendone to protect our police?August 2009175

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceAfter admitting that the fatal shooting ofConstable Snee and the serious wounding ofConstables Diver and Miller was “our worstfear” he went on to say: “Should we makedecisions based on our worst fears? If therewas a slim chance our officers could returnfire, would that make us a better or saferpolice?"It’s an interesting question.The answer, though Commissioner Broadmay have an understandable level ofdiscomfort with it – may be “Yes”. It is not somuch reacting to fear that is at the heart ofthe issue, rather it is reacting to an increaseddanger and level of violence on the frontline,which the Police’s own statistics bear out.Coincidentally, among the first respondersin the Napier siege were Youth Aid workerson day shift. Many Youth Aid workers areexempted from firearms training as Policeseek to reduce defensive tactics training. YetNapier shows the folly of this approach in thatany officer can be called upon to respond toa potentially life-threatening incident at anytime.21st century policingSenior Sergeant Malcolm Ward, anOperations Manager on the Technical SupportUnit for 20 years and with 42 years frontlineexperience, says that times have changedand Police need to change with the times. MrWard was present when Don Wilkinson wasshot during a surveillance operation.“We are in the 21st century now and timeshave changed drastically. We are facingserious issues of violence on the frontline,the magnitude of which we have not seenpreviously, and we have to respond to that. Iprefer a model where a member who deemsit necessary for the risks faced should beable to decide for him or herself whether it isappropriate to carry a firearm. I can assureyou I have no desire whatsoever to carry afirearm, nor for the responsibility that goeswith it, but with the reality of policing today Ibelieve it’s become a ‘no-brainer’.”Mr Ward said that policing is very fluid andthings can change to violence in the blink ofan eye. “You can’t say to an offender who ishell bent on grievously harming or killing youthat you’d like a few minutes to whip backto your patrol car to get a firearm out of thelockbox,” Mr Ward told Police News.“Of course, we would need to have farbetter firearms training than we have nowif that was to work though,” he added.“Picking up a firearm two days a year, firingoff a few shots at a target and saying I’maccomplished enough to be armed is quitefrankly, nonsense. If we were to give peoplethe discretion to use firearms according to thecircumstances then we would certainly needto think about more intensive firearms trainingto back that up,” he said.“In my experience, the Police Executive haveignored, or ‘fudged over’ this and other issuesfor a long time now. If there is a positiveresponse, it is usually a ‘one size fits all’ replyrather than anything specific to a particulargroup’s requirements. This has caused, orcauses frontline staff to operate in less thandesirable circumstances, take unnecessaryrisks and allows complacency to creep in toget the job done” Mr Ward said.Opinions variedOfficers spoken to by Police News reflectedthe results of the survey split suggestingunease with the current situation. Of about adozen frontline officers spoken to by PoliceNews, most favoured a change to firearmsbeing readily available in every frontline car.This would mean they would not have toreturn to the station or meet up with a NCO(non-commissioned officer) at a criticalincident. “If this happened there wouldbe less perceived need for everyone to bearmed,” one senior sergeant said.“In an ideal situation frontline vehicles wouldbe fitted with long-barrelled weapons securedin the front of them. This would give staffaccess to them before they exit the vehicle.The long-barrelled weapon (rather than apistol) is important because of the practicalproblems with using a pistol for anythingother than self-defence (their accuracy andstopping power over anything more than 5metres is very limited). The managementof their use could be done via a seal on thecabinet or lock that could be checked by theNCO at appropriate times and then resealedafter use, meaning the administration part ofissuing firearms could be done after a criticalincident rather than before as is the case atpresent,” the officer added.Some officers expressed concerns abouthaving Tasers in locked cabinets in a vehicletoo. “Having the thing in a locked cabinetin a vehicle is no use if something suddenlyhappens that wasn’t foreseeable. If we aregoing to issue them, we should be carryingthem,” one officer said in summing up a viewheld by several officers spoken to by PoliceNews.A shift supervisor, who did not wish to benamed, said: “We would need to adopt andtrain our staff in a totally different style ofpolicing that focused on weapon retention.One has to think twice about enteringpopulated areas (like pubs and clubs). Onehas to think twice about actually physicallygrappling with a person. When cops needguns they tend to need them immediately -having them in a locked box isn't helpful.”Perhaps the threshold at which we drawfirearms might need to be lower,” he said.A superintendent told Police News: “Whilewe don’t carry side-arms on our person, weare in a sense quietly armed as we carrythem in patrol cars and so they are fairlyreadily available to us as the need arises.But I wouldn’t want to see us generallyarmed.”Officer who was shotSenior Constable Mark Prendergast ofAshburton can speak from the uniqueperspective of someone who has beenshot. In April 1998, he and his partner wentto a routine domestic incident where MrPrendergast was shot in the back with ashotgun. “I am in favour of generally armingfrontline police because I believe that firstresponse units need all the tools availableto them to be able to adequately deal withall incidents they attend. Also, the need tohave to protect oneself, or another is never,nor will it ever be able to be accuratelypredicted,” he said.Even Mr Prendergast has his reservationsabout the maturity needed to handle afirearm and whether some members ofPolice would have the physical ability toprotect, guard and secure their firearm.“But I believe the New Zealand policingenvironment has reached the point where,unfortunately, we need to be armed. It's abig subject…there are fish hooks attachedof course but on the balance I think it istime.”Drastic changes in violence levelsAll of the officers spoken to, from frontlineconstables to inspectors, readily admittedthat policing has changed drastically inthe last two decades – certainly in termsof the levels of violence encountered fromcriminals.176August 2009

New Zealand Police AssociationOne officer, who favoured general arming,said he felt that those making the decisionswere “out of touch” with the frontline.“People are used to seeing armed officersat airports and overseas, and I think thepublic would soon get used to the idea ofpolice being armed. You could be forgivenfor thinking that sometimes, there arepeople within the higher echelons of Policewho would sooner go to a police funeralthan have to explain a police shooting to thepublic and politicians,” he said pointedly.A detective inspector said he was againstarming: “I think routine arming is too drasticand would be a step too far but I think thatthere should be easier access to firearms.The idea of a lockbox in the front consolecertainly has merit,” he said.“Australian police are aghast that ourofficers are going to potentially lifethreateningincidents, sometimes aloneand unarmed,” Association President GregO’Connor added.Australia, the United States and mostEuropean states have a routinely armedpolice force. The United Kingdom remainswith an unarmed police force but hasspecialist groups similar to our ArmedOffenders Squad and Anti-Terrorist Squads.As terrorist threats have become more of aconcern, more police officers are seen onthe streets of the UK carrying weapons.Public reluctance?While Mr O’Connor acknowledged thatNew Zealanders may be reluctant to seea general arming of police, he said it wasinteresting to note an increase in publicsupport for Tasers in the aftermath of theNapier shootings.“There may come a time when that opinionchanges again in the aftermath of anotherAramoana or Napier siege,” he added.Police firearms protocols emphasise theprinciple of “minimum personal carriage… at all times". Police sometimes carryfirearms in secure cabinets in the back ofpatrol cars but it differs between areas..Guidelines allow for any sworn memberof police to take a gun on a job if there isevidence of substantive risk, which is usuallydefined as a risk of death or serious bodilyharm.Authorised officerAn authorised (non-commissioned) officer issupposed to authorise the issue of a firearmbut where this is not practicable – perhapsin an emergency in a rural situation – theofficer may use his or her own discretion tocarry a firearm.In armed incidents, police are told towithdraw, cordon and contain.The incidence of threats to police is starklyevident in the Police’s own figures on useof force. ‘Use of force’ is a term used todescribe when police have drawn firearmsin incidents where they believed arms werepresent. The figures show that in the lastyear police responded to 532 incidentsand on 153 occasions (or 29% of the time)deemed the risk sufficient to carry weapons.Firearms were recovered on 72 of thoseoccasions.Complex issueThe arming debate is a complex one. No oneis pretending otherwise.Feeding into it are issues of very limitedfirearms training, a reduction in defensiveGeneral Arming - Firearmstactics training and the reduced humancapabilities that arise from that, the movetowards more of a Critical Response Vehiclemodel, the recruitment of younger policeofficers, the general availability of weapons,public confidence in their police, officersafety, increased violence against officersand a whole range of other issues.Once again, the Association is notadvocating for general arming of policeofficers but it has taken note of a changein both public opinion and police staff onthe issue and feels, in light of the shootingsof six police officers in the last year, thatperhaps it is a debate whose time has come.What do you think? If you have anopinion on the issue of arming of policeplease feel free to write to our Letters tothe Editor column by sending an emailto editor@policeassn.org.nzAugust 2009177

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceHow policingin Norway lostits innocenceBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsNorwegian police officers don’t routinelycarry guns and they are the only Europeanofficers who don’t.But they do have ready access to a Policeissue pistol, which is stored in a lockedconsole in the front of each police vehicle.Up until 2004 Norwegian police weregenerally regarded as unarmed.Police officer shot deadIn April 2004 Norway lost its innocence,however, when 13 heavily armed criminalsrobbed the NOKAS Cash Centre in Stavangerof 65 million kroner ($15NZ million). Apolice officer was shot dead. All 13 werelater convicted and sentenced to between10 and 19 years in prison.Egil Haaland, President of the NorwegianPolice Association, told Police News that fourthings contributed to the decision to institutethe new model of having arms readilyavailable to officers in patrol cars:• Increasing levels of violence in society;• Police confiscating more weapons;• An incident in 2000 when police officerswere shot at when answering a burglaryalarm. Police were told the alarm wasin a coffee shop but the burglars wereactually robbing the property next door,which turned out to be a gun storagefacility; and• The killing in 2004 of the police officerin the NOKAS Cash Centre robbery.Some resistance to general armingMr Haaland said that there was someresistance to general arming on the basisthat this may lead to more criminals beingarmed. “We also realise that if we startarming our police officers there will be noway back, and as has been said, we havelost our innocence.”“But we think that availability is important– and can function as a security for ourmembers,” he added.• A birdseye view of the position of the lockbox between the front seats of a Norwegian policecar.• Another view from above showing the Police-issue pistol readily available to an officer.178August 2009

New Zealand Police AssociationThis column is written by a frontlinepolice officer. It does not represent theviews or policies of the Police Association.Send in the clownsI’m not that big on stage shows but the writer of the ‘lose 10% ofyour cars’ has got to be up for some sort of award! Unprintable fromthis fella’s perspective! Didn’t this government promise more cops andmore cars?Maybe our Minister of Finance was speaking Egyptian rather thanEnglish during this brain wave (not) session. And as per usual, webend over and take it. My God, the silence from the top table has beendeafening on this one. That bouquet from last week has gone and isnow replaced by a barrow of brickbats!Flower of TasmanOne of the south’s own speaking commonsense and speaking it loudly!Well done our Hugh. They want an evidence-based world and thosewith influence completely ignore the stats when the hard facts are putbefore them.Our Minister (whom I gotta say I have been reasonably impressed withso far) has got this one way wrong. And as my teenage daughter wouldsay: “What a random world Dad.” But as I tell her and her siblings, ourjob is far from random as we predict the next place to put our resources.I’m sure the newspaper misquoted our good lady in reconsidering herposition, as innovation and open mindedness is the order of today’s(random) world!Transition - robots in disguiseAs you can see, I spent some of the school holidays away from the coldin a warm dark place watching the big screen and telling everyone thekids chose the movie (honest). It’s funny how fiction is so close to, andoften stranger, than facts.I’ve been seeing all these transition courses racing through andspeaking with me southern mates, who have taken the big steps upthe rank chain, it appears that these really are more about the quantityrather than the quality. And here was me believing in the rhetoric thatcame forth from this domain that the restructure was all about makingus smarter and more efficient! However, the cynic in me suggests thatour numbers of qualified ranking members was too low to bear and wejust don’t have the resources to get all the staff through their courses.Hence, let’s do it quicker (and dare I say cheaper) and make the damnstats look better. No doubt I will get some replies to this one!On the positive side, I understand HQ has done a bit of a reversalon needing your exams to apply for promotion. So a bouquet for thiseffort. I’m a bit old fashioned in this area and you have my 100%support on this U turn.SolidBoys and girls up North. What can I say? That was simply a fantasticeffort in regard to wee Pumpkin. Well done. A real solid effort and a bitlike the Men in Black in the second test match against the French andthe first Tri Nations test against the Aussies. And look what the Frenchhad to resort to after the match, which kept our Welly Team busy for afew days unraveling the web that had been weaved.See YaAugust September OctoberWAIHEKE ISLAND ........................... 10-14,17-20,24-26,30-31 .............................1-3,7-10,14-17 .......................................................1,15,19-21,27-29PAIHIA............................................ 9-10,14,16-20,24-27,30-31 ..........................24,26.......................................................................27-28STANMORE BAY ............................. 6,8-14,16-28,30-31 ......................................1-3,5-18,20-24,27-28.............................................1,4,9,11-15,17-23,26-31AUCKLAND .................................... 31 ..................................................................2-3,8,16,22 .............................................................12,15,20-21WHANGAMATA ............................... 9-13,16-20,23-27,30-31 ...............................1-3,6-10,14-15,21-24.............................................18-22MT MAUNGANUI ............................ 6,9-12,16-20,23-27,30-31 ............................1-3,9-10,14-17,21-25.............................................11-15,18-22,26-29OHOPE ........................................... 6-7,9-13,15-20,23,25-27,29-31 ...................1-3,7-13,15-18,20-24.............................................11-16,18-22,27-30ROTORUA ...................................... 6-7,14-15,17,24-26,31 .................................1-3,6-10,13,16,20-24 .............................................1,11-14,19-22,26-27,30TAUPO ........................................... 5,10-11,17,20 ...............................................3,6,8-10,13-14,20-23 .............................................6-8,11-15,19,22,26-30TURANGI ........................................ 7,14-15,19-21 ...............................................Fully booked ............................................................7,11,13-15,18-22,26-29NAPIER .......................................... 6,10-13,16-20,25-26 ....................................2,6-9,14-17,22........................................................5,11-15,20-22,26,28-29PARAPARAUMU .............................. 6,10-11,16-17,22-27,31 ...............................1-2,6-8,20-22,24,27 ...............................................4,11-15,27-29GREYTOWN .................................... 6,9-13,16-20,24-27,30 .................................6-10,13-14,20-24,30 ..............................................1,4,8,11-15,18-22,26-29WELLINGTON ................................. 9-12,19,26,31 ...............................................1,10,14,17,20,.........................................................19-20,22,27-29NELSON ......................................... 12-20,22-27,30-31 .......................................1-3,6,8-11,13-14,16-17,20-23,26,30 .....................7-8,11-12,15,18,26-29HANMER SPRINGS ......................... 6,16-17,31 ....................................................1-3,6,9-10,15-17 ....................................................26CHRISTCHURCH ............................. 12-13,17-18,20,23-25,27,30-31 ...................7-10,14,20-21.........................................................13,16,18,20-21,27AKAROA ......................................... 11-12,16,25-27 .............................................8-9,23-24................................................................12,26TEKAPO ......................................... Fully booked ..................................................Fully booked ............................................................14,21-22,27-28WANAKA ........................................ Fully boked ....................................................Fully booked ............................................................11-15,20-21CROMWELL ................................... 17,30 .............................................................6-9,14-17,20-24,27 ................................................11-12,15,17-21,27-29QUEENSTOWN ............................... 6,10-14,.........................................................Fully booked ............................................................8,26-27TE ANAU ........................................ 6,9-16,18-31 .................................................1-21,23-25..............................................................3-4,8,14,18-21,26-31DUNEDIN ....................................... 6,10-11,14,17-18,26 .....................................3,6-11,14-15,17-18,22-23......................................10-16,18-22,27-29August 2009179

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceFree Roadside Assistancewith your car insuranceCPNZ DVD takes runner-upspot at annual Telly AwardsCommunity Patrols of New Zealand, which works closely withPolice to try and prevent crime through being the “eyes andears’ of police in communities, was recently awarded secondplace in the 30th Annual Tell Awards in Los Angeles.The CPNZ DVD named Building Safer Communities took secondspot in the not-for-profit category of the annual awards.The Telly Awards attract over 14,000 international entriesevery year and is a highly respected and competitive festival.The awards showcase the best work of the most respectedadvertising agencies, production companies, televisionstations, cable operators, interactive agencies, and corporatevideo departments in the world.Don’t be stranded.If your motor vehicle has ‘Full Cover’ with Police Fire & GeneralInsurance, we provide a professional roadside assistance service– free-of-charge.Your car could have: a breakdown, a flat battery, a flat tyre, or maybeyou’ve just run out of petrol, or locked the keys in the car – at whatevertime - you can call Police Welfare Fund Roadside Assist Plus for help.The beauty of the service is that cover is attached to the insuredvehicle, not the driver, so it doesn’t matter who is driving your car. Ifthey have a problem, the driver can contact the service.This premium service includes the provision of a rental vehicle and/oraccommodation if your vehicle breaks down 100 kilometres or morefrom your home. These are benefits not generally provided by standardroadside support services.About the coverThe New Zealand Automobile Association (NZAA) is contracted tosupply Police Welfare Fund Roadside Assist Plus. All motor vehicleswith ‘Full Cover’ (but not third party policies) will be covered, with PWFGeneral Insurances meeting the cost of the service in full.Police Welfare Fund Roadside Assist Plus will provide roadside supportfor:• Mechanical breakdown: The NZAA will provide assistance to restartthe vehicle. When the vehicle cannot be restarted, cover includesan emergency taxi and towing the vehicle to a local repairer. If thebreakdown occurs over 100km from home and the repairs will takeover 24 hrs to complete, cover includes accommodation and/or arental vehicle (where available).• Vehicle recovery;• Vehicle lockout;• Flat battery;• Flat tyre; and• No or incorrect fuel.A full description of services Police Welfare Fund Roadside Assist Plusprovides is on the Police Fire & General Insurance page of our website:www.policeassn.org.nz. Trailers, caravans and vehicles with third partyinsurance are excluded from cover.How do I get cover?Insure your vehicle with ‘Full Cover’ Police Fire & General Insurance andyou’re automatically covered. If you would like a quote, Police WelfareFund members can call 0800 500 122, or visit the new insurancesection in the ‘Members Only’ area of our website:www.policeassn.org.nzNEWRETAILERSPolice AssociationMember Discounts ProgrammeThe following retailers have joined our Member DiscountsProgramme.Hallensteins – now offer members 10% off allHallensteins products including items on sale and 2 for 1deals (excludes gift vouchers).Les Mills – memberscan now join a Les Millsgym and receive 25% offa 12-month membership.Pacific Magazines – the 3rd largest magazinepublisher in New Zealand offers members an exclusiveoffer to subscribe to “New Idea”, “That's Life” or “Girlfriend”magazine. The offer represents a significant saving off thesubscription price.To find out about these and other discounts throughthe Member Discounts Programme – go online to the‘Members Only’ section of our websitewww.policeassn.org.nz. Sign-on then click on “MemberDiscounts” from the menu on the left-hand side of thescreen to go through to view all the discounts available.180August 2009

New Zealand Police AssociationHome buying hints fromThe National BankIs this a good time to be thinking abouta rental property?Buying a rental property has traditionally been one of New Zealanders’favourite ways to invest their money and provide for their retirement.With house prices having taken a bit of a battering over the last12-18 months, many investors have had a hard time of it.With most commentators predictingthat capital gains from growth in houseprices over the next few years will bemodest at best, what is the outlook forproperty investment?Capital gain is just one part of theproperty investment story. The other isrental yield – and there are signs thatthis may be an increasingly positivefactor.Rental yield is basically the return onyour investment – your rental incomeminus your costs (such as home loanrepayments, maintenance, and so on).With interest rates and house pricesboth lower than in recent years, andrents rising in many areas, rental yieldsare increasing.In fact, according to a recent reportreleased by QV.co.nz, cashfl owpositive properties are becomingincreasingly common. These areinvestment properties where yourrental income is greater than yourcosts. In the past many investors werehappy to record an annual loss on theirproperty, because rising house pricesmore than made up for it.According to QV.co.nz, rising rents andfalling mortgage repayments mean it’snow increasingly possible to fi nd rentalproperties that return a profi t. Theyhave identifi ed a list of suburbs, whichare likely to return a positive net cashfl ow (based on average rents, costsand house prices). You can fi nd thefull article at the QV.co.nz KnowledgeCentre.While the big capital gains of recentyears are unlikely to be seen for sometime, property investment may bestarting to come back into favour. If youare seeking a solid return backed up bythe security of bricks and mortar, it maybe worth considering for your situation.A free, one-stop resourcefor residential propertyinvestmentIf you’re thinking about buying aninvestment property, check out ourunique Home Buyers Centre (www.homebuyerscentre.co.nz) fi rst. It’sa comprehensive online resource foranything to do with buying or sellinga home or investment property, andit includes a separate section oninvesting.At the Home Buyers Centre you’ll fi ndinformation, tools and resources onevery aspect of residential propertyinvesting, from how to finance aproperty, to the pros and cons ofdifferent ownership structures, tofi nancing, to understanding the taxissues through to managing yourtenants. It’s invaluable – and it’sabsolutely free.The Police Home LoanPackage and rental propertiesDon’t forget you may be able to takeadvantage of the special Police HomeLoan package if you’re thinking aboutpurchasing a rental property. If you’dlike more information, contact a MobileMortgage Manager or call us on0800 800 808 or come into your localbranch.08-2009OUR LENDING CRITERIA, TERMS, CONDITIONS AND FEES APPLY. A COPY OF OUR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT MAY BE OB-TAINED THROUGH ANY BRANCH OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (PART OF ANZ NATIONAL BANK LIMITED). WHEREBORROWING OVER 75% OF A RESIDENTIAL INVESTMENT PROPERTY’S VALUE IS APPROVED, A LOW EQUITY PREMIUM ONA GRADUATED SCALE WILL APPLY AND A REGISTERED VALUER’S REPORT IS REQUIRED. THIS MATERIAL IS PROVIDED AS ACOMPLIMENTARY SERVICE OF THE NATIONAL BANK. IT IS PREPARED BASED ON INFORMATION AND SOURCES THE BANKBELIEVES TO BE RELIABLE. ITS CONTENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND IS NOT A SUBSTITUTEFOR COMMERCIAL JUDGEMENT OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, WHICH SHOULD BE SOUGHT PRIOR TO ENTERING INTO ANYTRANSACTIONS. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW THE NATIONAL BANK DISCLAIMS LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY TO ANYPERSON FOR ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT MAY RESULT FROM ANY ACT OR OMISSION BY ANY PERSONIN RELATION TO THE MATERIAL.August 2009181

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Policeby Ricky CollinsThe upside of tough timesSharper pricingThe impact of the current recessionis now starting to show in the wineindustry in New Zealand. Wineproducers and retailers are feeling theeffect of consumers’ reduced discretionary spending andhave to adjust their prices, or risk being left with stock theycan’t sell. If you are keen on wine and have money in yourpocket, there are some great deals on offer these days.Supermarkets are renowned for dropping the price on lowcost wines. They are regularly running specials on wines suchas the Jacob’s Creek range and Hardy’s non-vintage varieties.While these offer good buying, I’ve noticed recently that thereare some fantastic savings on wines that traditionally sell for$25 to $35. It’s now not uncommon to find wines in thisprice range discounted by up to 50%. Some examples thatI’ve seen recently include Penfolds Kalimna Bin 28 Shirazthat normally sells for $35 selling for $18; Taylors JarramanCabernet Sauvignon that normally sells for $28 selling for$15; and Esk Valley Black Label Merlot that normally sellsfor $25 selling for $15. So, if you’re prepared to spend afew more dollars on your next wine purchase, you can try awine that is at a significantly higher level of quality that thosenormally selling for $10 to $12.Some high-end producers are now looking to re-positionsome of the wines in their portfolio at a price that willhopefully attract higher volumes of sales. The best exampleof this that I’ve seen is Craggy Range. They have lowered theprice of their Block 14 Syrah from around $40 to around $28.This is a fantastic New Zealand Syrah, and in my opinion amore balanced example of this wine style than their flagshipwine the Le Sol, which sells for around $90. Clearly, sales oftop end wines have fallen off dramatically and this is forcinga re-think by the industry. There is one clear winner in thisre-pricing approach - the consumer.Another approachIn these hard times, wine producers are forced to thinkoutside the square and are some are coming up with novelnew ways of attracting buyers. Some Australian producershave made an art out of not taking themselves too seriouslyand have come up with wacky labels that appeal to youngwine buyers and create interest in their own right, regardlessof the quality of the wine. A couple of Australian reds pricedbetween $15 and $20 caught my eye recently. They don’ttaste too bad either. Evil is a South East Australian CabernetSauvignon that on the back label simply states: “It’s justwrong”. Then there is a South Australian Grenache markedas Bitch, that on the back label just repeats the word bitchcontinuously. Side by side they make a formidable pair!CorrectionIn last month’s issue in the feature about the Fingerprints Sectionit stated that there were Fingerprint Sections in Auckland,Wellington and Christchurch. There is, of course, a FingerprintSection in Hamilton but unfortunately this was inadvertentlyomitted from the article. Our apologies to all who work in theHamilton Fingerprints Section – keep up the good work.Useful Information & ContactsNew Zealand Police Association:For immediate industrial & legal advice(on matters that cannot be deferred such as Policeshootings, fatal pursuits or deaths in custody)ring 0800 TEN NINE (0800 836 6463)– 24 hour/seven days servicePolice Network 44446 Website www.policeassn.org.nzFreephone 0800 500 122 Police Home Loans 0800 800 808Police Health Plan/Police Fire and General Insurance Police Credit Union 0800 429 000Quotes & information 0800 500 122 or (04) 472 9645or Fax (04) 496 6819 Credit Union www.policecu.org.nzPolice Fire and General Insurance claims 0800 110 088 GSF information 0800 654 731All enquiries (04) 496 6800 PSS information 0800 777 243Vice PresidentsStuart Mills (027) 268 9416Chris Cahill (027) 268 9411Field OfficersAuckland District: Stewart Mills (027) 268 9407Waitemata and Northland Districts: Steve Hawkins (027) 268 9406Waikato, BOP and Eastern Districts: Graeme McKay (027) 268 9408Central and Wellington Districts: JJ Taylor (027) 268 9409Tasman and Canterbury Districts: Dave McKirdy (027) 268 9410Southern District Dave Steel (027) 268 9427Regional DirectorsRegion One Jug Price Whangaparaoa (027) 268 9419Region Two Dave Pizzini Counties-Manukau (027) 493 0524Region Three Mel Ridley Tauranga (027) 268 9414Region Four Luke Shadbolt Hastings (027) 478 9001Region Five Ron Lek Wellington (027) 268 9417Region Six Craig Prior Sydenham (027) 268 9412Region Seven Tracey Maclennan Invercargill (027) 268 9418182August 2009

POLICE COUNCIL OF SPORTTo contact the Police Council of Sport, call Alison Murray at the RNZPC. Ph: (04) 238-3139CyclingBob Scott shows the youngsters how itsdone in Graperide Ultimate cycle raceBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsChristchurch-based Bob Scott is a man whoknows how to stay the distance – 42 yearsas a police officer is testimony to that - andthat endurance spills over into his passion forcycling too.Bob belies his 62 years when he races ashe showed when he won the GraperideUltimate (505 kilometres) road race recentlyin Marlborough – showing the youngstershow it is done by leaving them in his wake.Included in the field were two former Olympicrepresentatives. He cut the distance out injust over 17 hours.After two hours rest he was back out theresupporting his Police colleagues who wereriding in the other events, cheering manyon to personal bests. Among them was thewomen’s winner of the 202 kilometres race,Shelley Pemberton, a fellow Christchurchpolice officer.Bob’s partner Virginia Le Bas won the firstwoman's Graperide race last year. Virginia isa Detective Senior Sergeant in Christchurch.MultisportBob’s love of cycling actually came out ofan original interest in multisport, which wasfostered by competing in the 1985 Coastto Coast race – one of the most gruelingendurance events anywhere. Bob Ealam (nowretired) fostered Bob’s early interest, teamingwith him to register a first-up victory in theveteran teams’ race. Bob Scott was hooked.Since then, Bob has completed the event afurther seven times, including the one-dayevent on five occasions and in 1999 he wonthe "Classic Vets" Longest Day in 1999.Bob, who is a very modest bloke andsomething of a legend in cycling circles, hashad some memorable races along the way- the Zerox Challenge (a 22-day multi sportrace from Cape Reinga to Bluff), the NewZealand Ironman and an amazing ride of 4days and 19 hours to cycle the length of New• The loneliness of the long distance cyclist: Bob Scott has cycled from Christchurch to theWest Coast and back on more than 40 occasions as part of his training for rides like theGraperide Ultimate, which he won earlier this year.August 2009183

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Police• Bob Scott shows the form that took him to victory in the grueling Graperide Ultimate (505 kilometres) cycle race in Marlborough earlier thisyear by being out where he likes to be, in front.- Photo courtesy of Marathon Photos.Zealand – cutting an incredible 40 hours ofthe previous record! Bob has also captured aNew Zealand Mountain Biking title during hislengthy career as well as winning the Nelsonto-Christchurchcycle race in 1993.Australian eventsBob’s career has taken him to many eventsin Australia, most notably the AustralianOttway Odyssey Mountain Bike Enduro earlierthis year and Queensland’s "Epic". He alsocompeted in the World Police & Fire Gamesin Melbourne several years ago, competing incycling, mountain biking and the triathlon andcoming away with gold and silver medals.Bob told Police News that the secret to riding anextreme distance like the Graperide Ultimateis “preparing well.” It was not uncommon forBob during his build-up to the Graperide toride for hundred of kilometres in one hit andduring his cycling career he admits he hasdone extreme rides such as the Christchurchto West Coast ride on around 40 occasions.After a few days he would ride back again.“I’d look to get a good training base of 250-600 kilometres riding a week, with one longride of 200-300-plus kilometres each weektoo,” Bob said.Time commitmentSo where did he find the time to do this andhold down a fulltime policing career? “Afterwork. It’s a very demanding schedule andheading out on the bike for two to three hoursafter work isn't always that much fun,” Bobreadily admitted.Bob said the other major factor in his Graperiderace success was good support. “I have beenfortunate over the years to have very goodsupport and in this year’s Graperide, VirginiaLe Bas (2nd in 202 km race,) Andrea Joplingand Gary Knowles completed the Graperideafter doing laps with me,” Bob said.Also on hand were Canterbury Crime ManagerPeter Read and his friend Paul Threadwellwho did the last 300 kilometres, ensuringthat Bob was on schedule with keeping uphis food and hydration. “Having good supportis the key to doing well is these enduranceevents and I am very grateful for the help,”Bob told Police News.A cyclist’s dreamAt time of writing, Bob was heading off tospectate at this year’s Tour de France andto do some riding on the classic climbs in theFrench Alps.When you speak to Bob, you realise he islike most legends – very modest about hisachievements. There is huge commitmentand dedication required to be as successfulas Bob has been in multisport events andespecially in cycling.Perhaps as Bob was watching the likes ofCadel Evans, Alberto Contador and seventimes winner Lance Armstrong, among theother greats in this year’s Tour de France,there may have been the passing thoughtof what might have been had he discoveredcycling a lot earlier.Visit www.policeassn.org.nz for updated contact details for the Police Council of Sport management committee,District Sports Officers and the latest schedule of events.184August 2009

Conder and Adkins take titles atnational cross-country champsNew Zealand Police AssociationThe 36th New Zealand Police cross-countryChamps were held on the Kapiti Coast inmid-May. Wanganui’s Rob Conder dominatedin the Open Men’s title over 9,000 metreswhile Claire Adkins bolted home in the OpenWomen’s race over 6,000 metres, repeatinglast year’s victory but in even more convincingfashion this year.Andy Horne of Hastings took out the veteranmen’s event by a good margin while HelenGillespie of Hokitika scored an emphatic winin the veteran women’s championship. BradClark, as has become his habit, was too goodfor the opposition in the Draught Horse (forrunners 95 kilograms and over) title again.Brad has had a strangehold on this title forseveral years now and his success gaveHastings a double for the day.Good conditionsThis year’s race was held at Queen ElizabethPark just north of Paekakariki in Wellingtonon a scenic, undulating coastal track withgood underfoot conditions prevailing.Fifty-six runners took part from as far awayas Manurewa, Hokitika and Christchurch andthey competed over distances of 6 and 9kilometres respectively, depending on grade.Representatives from Te Awamutu, Hamiltonand Waikato added colour to the field bywearing Hula skirts and fairy wings.Thanks go to sponsors – the New ZealandCouncil of Sport, New Zealand PoliceAssociation and Stirling Sports. A big thanksis due to Joe Franklin and Ray Read who camealong to reminisce about the old days of thecross-country and assist with marshalling.• This quartet added some colour to the annual NZ Police Association-sponsored Policenational cross-country champs held at Waikanae (just out of Wellington) recently. From leftto right: Candice Howe (Waikato), Mel Leonard (Hamilton), Felicity Cook-Jones and TamsinJones (both from Te Awamutu). It was the first occasion in the 36-year history of the champsthat they have been held on the Kapiti Coast and feedback from the competitors indicatedthey relished the good course on offer.Cheers to Section 4 from Kapiti for a fine jobhelping out on the day.Results were:Open men (9,000 metres):1. Robert Conder (Wanganui) 33.382. Lea Smith (Upper Hutt) 38.203. Craig Vinning (Wellington) 40.10Open women (6,000 metres):1. Claire Adkins (Palmerston North) 25.092. Kristyana Parkes (Manurewa) 30.493. Jayde Corlett (Hastings) 33.29Veteran men (9,000 metres):1. Andy Horne (Hastings) 36.242. Mike Wilson (Christchurch) 37.143. Neil Gillespie (Hokitika) 37.35Veteran women (6,000 metres):1. Helen Gillespie (Hokitika) 27.022. Deb Potter (Hastings) 29.193. Carrie Martin (Palmerston North) 29.31Draught horse (6,000 metres):1. Brad Clark (Hastings) 26.062. Mike Morgan (Counties-Manukau) 27.423. Alan Daly (Hastings) 30.30California considers non-emergency optionNZ Police moves to introduce a singlenon-emergency number (SNEN),now known as a Crime ReportingLine (CRL), are also being consideredin California as operators becomeswamped by non-emergency calls.However, the option could wellbe in doubt, with California facingcost cutting measures to balance itsbooks.Some of the calls are from peoplewanting to order a pizza, learn about arestaurant recommendation, or askingthe time of day. The Vallejo DispatchCenter of the California HighwayPatrol handles 3,000 calls per day. Ofthese 600 are non-emergency calls anddispatchers are becoming concernedabout the rise in their numbers nowthat cell phones are so prevalent.The CHP is now looking at trying tofilter out the non-emergency calls. Manyof California’s cities are also consideringdirectly receiving their own 911 callsfrom cell phones, rather than havingthem rerouted through a secondarytelecommunications agency, accordingto a recent report in the Vallejo HeraldTimes.“The brain is a wonderful organ; itstarts working the moment you get upin the morning and does not stop untilyou get into the office.”- Robert Frost (American poet)“Don’t aim at success if you want it;just do what you love and believe in andit will come naturally.”- David Frost (British TV journalist)“Success is getting what you want.Happiness is wanting what you get.”- Dale Carnegie (American author)August 2009185

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWrite it here! Letters to the Editor are welcome.Signed letters are preferred, but in all cases the writer’s name and address must be supplied. Names will be published unless there is a goodreason for anonymity. The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or decline letters without explanation. Email to: editor@policeassn.org.nz orwrite it to the Editor at PO Box 12344, Wellington. Letters under 400 words are preferred.What’s wrong with zero tolerance?Inspector Hugh Flowers’ tirade against Ministerof Police Judith Collins in the June issue(“Warnings don’t work) – and his invoking of“zero tolerance” – raises an interesting point.The Minister said the Police “…cannot dotheir job without the respect and co-operationof the law-abiding public…” That’s OK withme, as it seems to have come straight from the1829 Principles of Law Enforcement as espousedby the father of modern policing, Sir RobertPeel. Ms Collins then says that actions “…taken against generally law-abiding citizens …actually ultimately undermines the respect thepublic have for the Police…” In a similar veinSir Robert said “…the police must secure thewilling co-operation of the public in voluntaryobservance of the law to be able to secure andmaintain public respect…”Note the use of that word “respect” by both.Mr Flowers’ riposte to these statements by theMinister centered on his claim that “…warningsdon’t work, and that a consistent zero toleranceapproach is the most effective way of changingbehaviour on the roads…”It is from the “Broken Windows” method ofpolicing that we get that phrase “zero tolerance”– but how, and why?When introducing “Broken Windows” intoNew York city in the 1990s, the NYPD had tofind out from the public what it was that theyexpected of them and what it was the public didnot expect. So the NYPD, for example, beganto arrest people who lay down and obstructedaccess to stoops (an open porch with stepsleading up to a building entrance) becausesuch behaviour was found by a majority of thecitizens of New York city to be extremely antisocial.But if people were just sitting on thestoop the police left them alone.Similarly, when people were queuing at anATM or a bus, they found it annoying to bepanhandled. Conversely, if they were walkingdown the sidewalk and were approachedby a beggar, that behaviour they found lessoffensive and anti-social. The NYPD respondedaccordingly.The successful introduction of a “BrokenWindows” style of policing has to do it withthe willing co-operation of the public and theknowledge that there will be built in to thatstyle of policing a certain amount of “tolerance”insofar as the policing – or not policing – ofcertain “anti-social” behaviours.NYPD Police Chief Bill Bratton was conscious ofthis “non-policing” aspect of “Broken Windows”and that there had to be tolerance, by the Police,of some “anti-social behaviours.” Because hehad first-hand experience of how successful“Broken Windows” had been in his othercommands, Bratton knew that “tolerance” wasintegral to that success.One type of “anti-social” behaviour Brattonwould have absolutely “zero tolerance” for wascorruption in the New York Police Department.So are traffic offences in the Tasman PoliceDistrict so heinous they can be equated withpolice corruption? Does Inspector Flower reallybelieve that road policing must be conductednot with an iron fist in a velvet glove but an ironfist in an iron glove?He claims that it is “…well documented ininternational literature that warnings don’twork…” Oh, really? If that is the case, whydoes the NZPD continue with its much-vauntedPolice Diversion Scheme? If that’s not a“warning” then I don’t know what is.Road policing in Tasman needs less of the“iron” and a bit more of the “velvet.” After all, ifsomeone has a blameless driving record what’swrong with giving them a one-only warning?In that regard I’m with Sir Robert, Bill Bratton –and Police Minister Judith Collins.Trevor Morley(Wellington)Tolerance and discretionmay be victims of thezero tolerance mentalityInspector Hugh Flowers wrote in his letter inthe June issue of Police News: “.... that warningsdon’t work, and that a consistent zero toleranceapproach is the most effective way of changingbehaviour on the roads.”What worries me, as a Police Association member,is that this departmental policy of zero tolerancemay be engendering an attitude or state of mindin the enforcement officers (fellow members)that may override the application of tolerance,sound judgement, discretion and commonsense.Recently in ‘his place’ one enforcement officerwas sentenced to 100 hours of community workand disqualified from driving for 12 months andordered to pay two motor cyclists $30,000 eachwithin two months – as a result of two charges ofdangerous driving causing injury.A colleague discussed this matter recently andwas of the opinion that this occurred in the courseof employment and therefore the costs should beborne by the employer. If zero tolerance was notpolicy then the thought processes of the officerinvolved may have been such that this “grosserror” of judgement may not have occurred.A week after the aforementioned court case, asecond officer in ‘his place’ now faces a carelessdriving charge for doing a U-turn, again on StateHighway 6.Wikipedia describes zero tolerance as the conceptof compelling persons in positions of authority,who might otherwise exercise their discretionin making subjective judgments regardingthe severity of a given offence, to impose predeterminedpunishment regardless of individualculpability or “extenuating circumstances”.The ability to endorse a ticket with the word“warned” and have it recorded may just createan attitudinal change by both the enforcer andthe receiver and still have the effect of changingbehaviour on the roads.The reason why there is only 18% of ex-Ministryof Transport personnel on the Highway Patrol,TAG (Traffic Alcohol Group) and STU (StrategicTraffic Unit) traffic units may be for the reasonthat their ability to apply discretion has beenremoved from them by policy.The reason why 82% of ex-GDB personnel are onthose units may be the hours of duty and perhapsit is less challenging to issue a ticket than to take amatter through to a High Court trial.Maybe it is also because of that policy that manyof my colleagues are no longer open to disclosingthat they are policemen when socialising.John Fittock(Christchurch)Police putting the bootinto safety footwear?I write asking a question of our employer. Whenwill the New Zealand Police recognise theirresponsibilities under the Health and Safety inEmployment Act in regard to the provision ofsafety footwear? Briefly, Section 6 and Section10 of the Act state that your employer is notallowed to expose you to any hazard, which maycause you harm or serious harm. If they cannotstop the exposure they must take all practicablesteps to minimise the effect of it. This includesthe issue and use of protective clothing andequipment.Since the 24th of May 2002, I have been lobbyingour employer to come to the party with somesuitable footwear for all our frontline troops,who are exposed to hazards of slips, trips andfalls, which safety footwear would minimise.This is a legal requirement of an employer.However, to date, I have not had a yes, they willor a, no they won’t, response.St John Ambulance staff approached me sometime after I started lobbying for the issue of safetyfootwear. Within two years they had recognisedthe issue as major and had taken steps toissue all their frontline staff with footwear. AllDepartment of Labour (OSH) investigators areissued with safety footwear. Fire Service staff areissued with safety footwear.The New Zealand Police have moved aheadin leaps and bounds with certain things. Wenow have stab resistant body armour afterthe Association highlighted the issue throughPolice News several years ago. We now have theBushmaster M4, which is another great tool forus to use and hopefully by 2010 all frontlinestaff will be issued with a Tazer.So when will NZ Police take the basic step ofissuing an item of protective equipment thatrequires no training, no licence, no certificationand is of minimal cost? (A decent pair of locally186August 2009

New Zealand Police Associationmade safety boots is available for approximately$110. These boots are the same as those issuedto the NZ Fire Service).I have spent hundreds of hours in the last sevenyears pushing this issue. I have had the supportof a number of people from the AssociationNational Office and other staff locally as well.I just want an answer. Will the New ZealandPolice come to the party and honour their legalobligation?Doug Peach(Association North Shore CommitteeChairman/Health and Safety rep)Insufficient firearms trainingThe cardinal rules of firearms safety arefundamental (and internationally recognised)principles. Any person who legitimately ownsor has cause to use a firearm is bound to strictlyfollow this doctrine, so as to avoid the risk ofserious injury and unintentional loss of life.However, across the world, hunters shooteach other, soldiers shoot each other and theinnocent, and so do cops. Why? The answer istoo little training. Training that is not sufficientin duration and intensity for the operator toperform exactly when the need arises. There is alot to consider, before sending the bullet downthe barrel, particularly when death is the likelyresult.Men, who were older, more worldly and wise,taught me skill at arms. These war veterans madeabsolutely sure that I was trained properly, to beinstinctive and to be exact in my mission. I havepracticed weapon and battle drills to the pointwhere I was considered to be very good - thatwas their standard.As a Police Firearms Instructor I do not getto teach to the same standard. I do not havethe time or resources to establish, let alonemaintain, skill at arms. I do not get to leave aneverlasting impression on those I am responsiblefor training. I worry for our cops - who mustaccomplish their missions, against dangerousoffenders, without enough firearms training.There is an ancient Samurai adage: "The steel forthe finest swords is thrust into the fire ten thousandtimes."Nick Hall(Staff Safety Tactical Training, Auckland)Police GSF pensionissues raise concernThe Human Rights Act affects all New Zealandworkers as it effectively means they no longerhave to retire on reaching a certain age.This applies to sworn police officers, who priorto the HR Act, had to retire at 55 years, with a fewexceptions. Unfortunately, nothing was done tobring the Police Government SuperannuationFund pension scheme into line with this newlegislation.This effectively means that members of thatscheme who now no longer have to compulsorilyretire at age 55 are able to continue workingbut are not able to draw the pension due to thefact that they have not retired. A double-edgedsword?Police members have loyally continued workingbeyond age 55, and in some cases by doing sohave forfeited in excess of $250,000 in pensionentitlements.Derek Lawford (now retired) placed a motion (TheLawford Clause) before the Police Association’sNational Conference for two successive yearsasking that the Police Association take someurgent action to resolve the issue.The Police Association took up the cudgels andtasked Greg Fleming with the job.The Association set up a "GSF Information" areain the “Members Only” section of the website andloaded in various correspondence in relation tothe issues in order to keep members up to datewith progress.This has not been updated since PresidentGreg O'Connor wrote a very compellingletter (12 March 2008) to the then Minister ofPolice, Annette King, trying to prompt someGovernment action in line with the legal opinionthe Association obtained from Mr Hugh RennieQC.I suggest members open and read the articles inthis area of the website to fully understand theissues.What has happened since then? Who knows?Interested members are constantly having theirrequests for updates ignored by those whoshould be advocating this issue on their behalfand any resolution appears to be no closer than itwas when Greg O’Connor wrote his March 2008letter.Police Commissioner Howard Broad (at thePolice Association Conference) initially showedsupport for allowing the affected members todraw their pensions and continue working. Hehas now done an about-face on that issue. Justlike other senior police officers, he is affected bythis issue.I know the current NZ Police administration donot support changing their policies (in line withMr Rennie's legal opinion) to allow those GSFpension scheme members to access their pensionwhilst continuing to work.I would have expected that the Police Associationwould really have given this issue a push andwould not have shied away at the first brick wallput up by NZ Police.I know regional delegates have recently asked forthis issue to be tabled in the upcoming payround.Has it been and if so why not?I suggest that if the Association staff who arecurrently charged with this issue, are unable toadvance it then consideration should be givento appointing someone who can. If there is noone suitable within the organisation, why notlook outside of it? What about Mr Rennie QC?What about taking the issue to the EmploymentCourt?Where to from here? I don't have the answers;but I did think that our experts in our AssociationExecutive would have them.Come on Association - give us an update. Whathas happened since Greg O’Connor’s letter inMarch of last year? Did he get a reply? We haveso many questions. Give us some answers.Steve Hughes.(Upper Hutt – 55+ GSF pension schemeand still working)Greg O’Connor, President of the NZ PoliceAssociation replies: The Association has beenadvocating for this issue. However, it requiresNZ Police co-operation to become a reality.In subsequent discussions with NZ Police theytell us they would consider it if the Associationagreed to lateral entry. By this they mean whenany position in Police is advertised, irrespectiveof the rank, any person could apply and beappointed at that rank irrespective of whetherthey are a current employee or not. This wouldresult in the Government SuperannuationFund (GSF) member (who has retired andcommenced his/her GSF pension) competingfor any vacant position along with existingmembers and other former members of the NZPolice or overseas Police Forces, armed servicespersonnel or any other external applicant withrelevant experience. We see this as too higha price and would limit the career options ofexisting officers.Our legal advice to date has been that thereis no legal impediment and that it is a policyissue. We cannot force Police to change theirpolicy if they are unwilling to do so. Equally,we can’t agree to a change in policy that weconsider detrimental to the interests of allmembers.In relation to the current payround, we havenot included any claims that would complicateor delay a settlement or arbitration. Even ifthe GSF issue had been included in our claimit would not be able to be arbitrated. Thepayround has been our number one focus in2009 and will continue to be so until after thearbitration hearing scheduled for mid to lateAugust.You have mentioned the Commissioner’sabout face on this issue. That has been amajor disappointment to us given his earlierenthusiasm, including comments about howhe thought it was such a good idea that he hadsuggested it to the Australian Commissionersand then being told that many of them werealready doing it within their jurisdictions.More recently, the Commissioner has informedthe Law and Order Select Committee a majorproblem facing the NZ Police is an ageingworkforce with increasing numbers stayingon beyond retirement age and that Police areactively seeking younger recruits. Discussionswith Police have revealed they anticipateallowing access to the GSF pension andcontinuing in ongoing employment with Policewill only exacerbate this problem for them.Notwithstanding all the complicating factorsaround this matter, we are, however, workingat the fringes of this issue and will be assistinganother GSF member over the coming monthswith a possible case of discrimination underthe Human Rights Act.We are still of the view that allowing membersto draw their pension and continue workingcan be a win-win scenario for members andthe NZ Police.Use of 0800 Ten Ninephone lineAssociation representatives maintain thistelephone line (0800 8366 463) on a 24-hour basis.It is to be used ONLY for matters that cannotbe deferred, such as Police shootings, fatalpursuits or deaths in custody.Important and immediate industrial and legaladvice can then be arranged through theAssociation networks.Please do not phone this line for nonurgentmatters.August 2009187

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