Police News May 08.indd - New Zealand Police Association

The Voice of PoliceVOLUME 41 • NUMBER 4 • MAY 2008Boy racers: Social nuisanceor serious public threat?■ THE CODE OF CONDUCT AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOU■ POLICING BILL POSITIVE, BUT FUTURE UNCERTAIN■ CRUISING WITH THE BOY RACERS

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceThe Voice of PoliceVOLUME 41 • NUMBER 4 • MAY 200881OUR MEN IN THE FIELD88HOMETOWN RECRUITS90SAVING RACERS FROM THEMSELVES• Front page: Boy racers – they’re out there, in more waysthan one. They’re doing their ‘doughnuts’ and burnouts,spreading diesel on the road, and generally being nuisancevalue to the public and police alike. The police are out theretoo – pinging them for the excessive modification of theircars or other road policing infringements like speeding. Someboy racers have their cars impounded but like bad penniesthey keep coming back for more. Some are in debt for wheelsthat have been repossessed or impounded – debts they maycarry for the rest of their lives and which will haunt themin their ability to secure loans for housing when they finallygrow up. Often over-confident in their own driving ability,some end up wrapped around a lampost at high speed –killing themselves, their passengers or, in the occasionalcircumstance, some innocent bystander. Police, like thepublic, are divided on whether they are social nuisances orthe Devil’s spawn. See page 90.- Photo courtesy of The Dominion Post.NZ Police Association Police News is the magazine of theNew Zealand Police Association and incorporates the NewZealand Police Journal fi rst published in 1937.Editor: Steve PlowmanMay 2008, Vol. 41, No.4ISSN 1175-9445Deadline for next issue Thursday, May 15 2008.Published by the New Zealand Police AssociationP.O. Box 12344, Willbank House, 57 Willis Street, Wellington.Phone: (04) 496 6800, Facsmile: (04) 471 1309Email: editor@policeassn.org.nzWebsite: www.policeassn.org.nzPrinted by City Print Communications, Wgtn.Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of theAssociation.COPYRIGHT: NZPA Police News must not be reproduced inpart or as a whole without the formal consent of the copyrightholder - the New Zealand Police Association.ContentsFrom the President 79New organised crime agency must be “keyed into real policing” 79The Code of Conduct and how it affects your employment 80Field officers – our men who cover the country 81Policing Bill positive, but future uncertain 82Police Email – a timely reminder 83Pay round update – “What are we going for?” 84Two more Queenstown holiday homes 85Visible police the answer to NZ’s increasing levels of violence 86“Can I see Sergeant Murray please?” 87Invercargill recruits hit their hometown beat 88Memorial Wall 88The four stages of a police career 89Boy racers: Social nuisance or serious public threat? 90/95Glen Erskine – a man on a mission 96/97View from the bottom/Keen on wine 98Copper’s crossword 99Holiday home availability chart 99Sports News 100/104Letters to the Editor 105/106Wear your crash helmet! 107Useful information and contacts 107Police Health Plan – here to help 108The pay round: “So whatare we going for?” – p8478May 2008

New Zealand Police AssociationThe Police Association makes regularappearances before Parliamentary SelectCommittees. These committees are madeup of MPs who consider legislation whichis being introduced.Such legislation usually starts life as a pressrelease from a Minister with what mightseem like a good idea. It then goes intothe bureaucracy to turn those ideas intolegislation. This is where the real meat isput on the bones, and the further throughthe process it goes, the more difficult it isto make any changes. By the time it gets toselect committee, it’s difficult to significantlychange the Bill.That’s why it has been important to be inon the ground floor of the new Policing Bill.We brought together a group of experiencedsworn and non-sworn staff to look it overand comment on how it would affect theway we police.Generally, we have been happy but at selectcommittee we put a concerted effort intopersuading the members to make someimportant changes.The Bill proposes to allow the Commissionerof Police to grant limited coercive powersto different groups within Police. The mostobvious ones are those he gives to thecustody officers in places like Counties-Manukau and Rotorua where the processingand lockup work is carried out by limitedpowers officers.“We strongly advised the committee that strictcontrols must be placed on our increasinglycivilianised police administration to limit the extentto which limited coercive powers are granted tospecialised staff. We are becoming more and moresiloed and specialised in the Police.”We accept this makes sense as it frees uppolice officers for street work. The problemis the temptation for commissioners to hiremore and more limited powers staff, into alarge number of positions. Because they willhave never been trained as police officersand will never be available to be mobilisedinto general work when large numbers ofpolice are required.I recently walked into Gisborne PoliceStation at 11a.m. just as a call for all swornstaff to report to the watch house went up.Due to an extremely busy night which hadtied up available staff, it was only the youthaid officers and other sworn specialists whowere left to attend the emergency.This is not uncommon, especially insmaller stations, and is part of the essenceof policing: a significant ‘fire brigade’dimension. It is this dimension which isin danger of being overlooked if more andmore of our specialists cannot be mobilisedonto the frontline at short notice.We strongly advised the committee that strictcontrols must be placed on our increasinglycivilianised police administration to limit theextent to which limited coercive powers aregranted to specialised staff. We are becomingmore and more siloed and specialised in thePolice. There must be plenty of fully trainedpolice in those silos so we remain able torespond in emergencies and man specialoperations as required.If the committee doesn’t put the suggestedrestrictions in place, we may be very thin onthe ground for the next APEC, Springboktour, or foot and mouth scare. Notto mention royal tours, naturaldisasters and RugbyWorld Cups.New organised crime agency mustbe “keyed into real policing”The Police Association supports theestablishment of the new Organised andFinancial Crime Agency of New Zealand(OFCANZ), due to be launched on 1July, but warns it must be integrated witheveryday policing to succeed.The new agency, which will be hosted withinNZ Police, will work to combat seriousand organised crime, and will incorporatethe functions and resources of the SeriousFraud Office (SFO), including productionorders and examination orders.“Establishing the Organised and FinancialCrime Agency is encouraging because it isthe first sign that New Zealand is finallystarting to take organised crime seriously.Bringing the SFO under the umbrella willensure the expertise it has developed willbe able to be used in a co-ordinated way, tothe best possible effect,” Police AssociationPresident, Greg O’Connor said.OFCANZ will consist of a number ofspecialist taskforces to investigate differentaspects of organised crime. The PoliceCommissioner, taking into considerationcrime priorities at the time, will beresponsible for establishing the taskforces.OFCANZ will also work closely with borderagencies, financial authorities, governmentdepartments, and overseas intelligence andlaw enforcement agencies.Frontline intelligence crucialMr O’Connor said that while the PoliceAssociation supported the establishment ofOFCANZ, the agency must be “keyed intoday-to-day policing” because intelligencegathered on the frontline is crucial tobuilding a real picture of the breadth oforganised crime networks.“It must be two-way interaction. Theagency must be sharing intelligence and coordinatingwith district CIB staff on a dayto-daybasis.”A successful attack on organised crimeneeded to be sustained, co-ordinated, andmulti-layered, using every crime-fightingtool possible. “That means attacking theground-level gang and drug-distributionpresence as well as knocking the top off thepyramid,” Mr O’Connor said.Broad programmeJustice Minister, Annette King, announcedrecently that Cabinet had confirmed a broadprogramme of action, including a strategyand legislative reforms, to tackle organisedcrime.The initial strategy, a whole of governmentapproach to tackling organised crime, willextend to June 2009, and will focus onfour key areas – community, prevention,intelligence and enforcement. This will befollowed by a cycle of ongoing three-yearstrategies.Ms King said that legislative reforms wouldalso provide wider identity protection toundercover officers, who give evidence inorganised crime related trials.May 200879

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceThe new Police Code of Conductand how it affects your employmentBy Liz Gooch, AssociationSenior Legal OfficerThe new Code of Conduct for all NZ Police employees has been ineffect since 1 February 2008.It creates a new employment environment.The Association has been involved in the development of the Codeof Conduct as well as the new disciplinary processes that are now inplace. These processes reflect modern employment law principles.They are vastly different from the old regulations/tribunal processesfor sworn members and are more akin to the Code of Conductprocesses applied to non-sworn members in the past.Most districts now have Employee Practice Managers (EPM) inplace. They have been employed by Police and are experienced inemployment practices, and will assist in the transition from the oldsystem to the new one. They will have a very hands-on approach,working closely with the District Commanders, Human ResourcesManagers (HRM) and Professional Standards Managers (PSM)in each district, and will also work closely with Association FieldOfficers in ensuring the new processes are followed.Signing the Code of ConductThe Police Association is continuing to field questions frommembers who have yet to sign the Code of Conduct. The position ofthe Association remains unchanged:• The Association view is that you can sign the acknowledgementattached to the Code of Conduct booklet when you havereceived a copy of the Code, have had the opportunity to havethe Code explained to you, and are satisfied that you understandyour obligations under the Code. You should not sign theacknowledgement until all your questions and concerns have beenaddressed.• We do not consider that Police can compel or require anexisting employee to sign an acknowledgement about the Code.Your employer cannot penalise you if you decline to sign theacknowledgement, but you can be required to attend specifictraining. Police have assured us that this training will be takingplace in each district.• Police, as the employer, can rely on the Code to discipline you evenif you have not signed the acknowledgement, as employees arerequired through the Police Regulations and General Instructions toabide by the Code of Conduct. However, Police as your employer,has an obligation to ensure you are aware of the code and havehad the opportunity to ask questions or discuss your concerns.Upcoming training sessions will be provided in all districts andservice centres, which you may be required to attend.Disciplinary processIf there is a complaint or allegation suggesting you may have breachedthe Code, your supervisor should make an initial assessment. This onlyoutlines initial facts and will not require you to attend an interview.If it appears that the conduct may amount to criminal conduct, thenProfessional Standards will assess it. Unless you elect otherwise, thecriminal process will be completed before any employment mattersare considered.Where absolutely necessary, you may be required to stay away fromwork for a few days while this is considered. Your local Field Officershould be notified at this point if not already involved. If you areattending a criminal interview, we advise you to have representationwith you at the time.Working togetherWhere a matter is not to proceed with a criminal charge the EPM willwork along with the PSM and HRM to initially determine whetherthe matter should be looked at as either a performance issue, apotentially criminal matter or whether (if the conduct is established)it would more appropriately be a disciplinary matter. Suspensionwill be considered at this stage.Where it is going to be looked at as a disciplinary matter, you will beinvited to attend an investigation meeting. A notice of investigationmeeting will be sent to you. This will clearly outline the allegationsto be discussed at the meeting. The notice will advise you of yourright to representation.It is important you arrange proper representation. We anticipatethat each of the Employee Practice Managers will work closely withour Field Officers to ensure that members are well informed and areproperly represented at meetings.Investigation outcomesFollowing an investigation meeting a decision will be made as towhether the matter is to be dealt with as alleged misconduct, allegedserious misconduct, or if no further action is to be taken. If it isconsidered misconduct it is likely to be dealt with as a progressivedisciplinary matter (first warning, second warning, final warning).If it is serious misconduct the matter will proceed to a disciplinaryhearing.In those cases, a person independent of Police will conductthe hearing and will make findings of fact. That person will alsomake determinations as to the seriousness of the conduct and thecircumstances in which it occurred.The Commissioner will then make a decision as to the appropriateoutcome. That may include dismissal. The Commissioner mustmake a decision that a fair and reasonable employer would make inall the circumstances.Challenging employment decisionsIf you wish to challenge any employment decision you will haverecourse to the Employment Relations Authority and or theEmployment Court. If you believe you have been treated unjustlyduring the disciplinary process you may be entitled to raise anemployment relationship problem with Police. The Association willhappily discuss any concerns you have about how you have beentreated during any disciplinary process. We may assist you in raisingand pursuing an employment relationship problem depending onthe circumstances of your case.‘Grey’ areasThere will always be ‘grey’ areas associated with actions andbehaviours, and consequently whether the Code has been breached.The Association is well resourced to assist members as these ‘grey’areas are identified and progressively resolved.If it is alleged you have breached the Code you should first seekadvice from your Field Officer (or the Association National Officeif your Field Officer is unavailable) before responding to Police inany way.Please note also that where the alleged breach occurred prior to 1February 2008 you may have a right to elect whether you will bedealt with under the old system, or under the Code of Conduct.Please discuss this with your Field Officer before making anydecisions.80May 2008

New Zealand Police Association• NZ Police Association Field Officers from left to right: Graeme McKay (Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Eastern Districts), Steve Hawkins(Waitemata and Northland Districts), Jeff (JJ) Taylor (Central and Wellington Districts), Dave Steel (Southern District), Dave McKirdy(Tasman and Canterbury Districts) and Stewart Mills (Auckland and Counties-Manukau Districts).Field Officers – our men who cover the countryThe latest addition to our network of Field Officers commencedemployment in April. Graeme McKay was appointed as the FieldOfficer for Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Eastern Districts. Graemepreviously worked as a Regional Manager for the HospitalityAssociation of NZ (HANZ).to members. This covers a broad range of areas including adviceon performance management issues, restructuring, interpretingemployment agreements and assisting members through Code ofConduct matters. They also promote Welfare Fund and Police andFamilies Credit Union products and services.Graeme is a highly skilled employment relations practitioner withextensive experience in mediations, disciplinary procedures andthe interpretation and application of legislation specific to theemployment environment.Earlier this year, former Police Association Director, Steve Hawkins,was appointed as Field Officer for the Northland and WaitemataDistricts allowing Stew Mills to concentrate on Auckland City andCounties-Manukau Districts.Steve’s appointment recognises the significant growth in membersin the Auckland area.In total, we now have six Field Officers nationwide. JJ Taylorcovers Central and Wellington Districts; Dave McKirdy looks afterCanterbury and Tasman Districts whilst Dave Steel is employedthree days per week in the Southern Police District.All Field Officers are employees of the Police Association withtheir salaries funded through member subscriptions. A key focusin their work is to provide employment advice and representationCamera links thieves to carAn Alabama woman got the surprise of her life recently when shepicked up her snapshots from a local Wal-Mart and discovered apicture of a couple posing in her stolen SUV truck.The camera used to take the damning picture, was owned by thevictim and was stored in her SUV for use in the event of a trafficaccident, according to a report on nbconline. The car thieves tookcreative license with the camera during the four days the vehiclewas missing.The SUV was stolen from the victim’s driveway on December 26while the woman was on a family holiday in Florida. One or morepeople broke into her home, where they found the keys to theToyota 4Runner.Police recovered the vehicle on New Year’s Day and a variety of itemswere found left in the vehicle, including the disposable camera.The Field Officers work closely with local Association reps and are inregular contact with staff based at the Police Association’s NationalOffice in Wellington.Check out our low interestpersonal loans…As a Police and Families Credit Union member you are SPECIALand we want to help you achieve your financial goals.If your goal is one of the following, the Credit Union can help youget it, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.• Retire high interest credit card debt or repay financecompany HPs;• Buy a new or used motor vehicle;• Take that overseas holiday you always dreamed about;• Do those home improvements that you have been puttingoff;• Or any other purpose.Police and Families Lifestyle Personal Loans are affordable, andthe only loan you will ever need. All secured Credit Union loanshave a revolving credit feature.From 10.90% p.a. secured over GSF or PSSPolice and Families normal lending criteria apply.Give our lending staff a call now on 0800 285 626or download a loan application form atwww.policecu.org.nzMay 200881

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PolicePolicing Bill positive, but future uncertainBy Luke McMahon, CommunicationsManager/Strategic AdvisorThe Policing Bill, which will replace thecurrent Police Act 1958, moved a stepcloser to law in April as Parliament’s Lawand Order Committee heard submissionsfrom the Police Association.The Policing Bill modernises and futureproofsthe legislation that defines how policeare governed and led, what powers theyhave, and their industrial and employmentrights and protections. Its significance toAssociation members, and the public theyserve, is enormous.The Association has been closely involvedin the Bill’s development over the past twoyears. Constructive engagement with thePolice team leading the project has resultedin a Bill that, in most practical respects,reflects the positions advocated by theAssociation on behalf of members, andrepresents a significant improvement on thecurrent situation.ProvisionsMany of the Bill’s provisions, such as thegeneral extension of Employment RelationsAct provisions to cover police staff, willimprove employment rights and bring in amore ‘normalised’ industrial environment.The recently introduced Code of Conductis part of this shift.However, the Bill’s objective of ‘futureproofing’the Police organisation alsointroduces some serious risks about wherethat future might lead. Of greatest concernis the introduction of new ‘limited powers’police staff categories.Under the new law, roles that are oftencurrently performed by temporary andcasual constables are likely to be filled by‘authorised officers’. These are staff who arenot sworn as constables, but who will beauthorised by the Commissioner to performa certain designated role such as ‘PoliceJailer’ or ‘Police Guard’. Authorised officerswill be granted a set of limited powersunder the statute to allow them to performtheir role. Before authorising a member,the Commissioner will be required by lawto ensure they are adequately trained andcapable of performing the role.Authorised officer rolesThe authorised officer roles described inthe Bill will generally improve the currentsituation, by clarifying the rights andresponsibilities of the Commissioner andthe individuals doing these jobs. However,the Association is seriously concerned thatthe Bill, in its current form, allows forthe future creation of new or expandedauthorised officer roles with no consultationor debate.That means a future government could putlimited powers staff into frontline or nearfrontlinepolicing roles currently performedby sworn officers – as has been done inthe UK with Community Support Officers.Placing limited-powers staff in such roleswould dilute sworn numbers, and weakenthe flexibility of Police to respond to theday-to-day realities of policing, or a majorcrisis. It would put public and staff safety atrisk by potentially placing staff in situationsthat they are not trained, adequatelyempowered, or capable of dealing with.Ultimately, ‘blurring the lines’ in this waywould risk public confusion and a loss ofconfidence in Police.ConcernsThe Association has strongly voiced itsconcerns about the risks of such a futureto the parliamentary select committeeconsidering the Bill, and implored themto amend the Bill to impose a process forproper debate and consultation beforefurther limited-powers roles can be createdor expanded in future.The Association also highlighted to theCommittee its concerns that, under theBill, there will be no requirement for theCommissioner, Deputy Commissioners, orActing Commissioner, to be sworn officersor have any policing experience. Civilianstaff bring valuable skills and experienceto Police at all levels, from support staff,specialist investigators (such as electroniccrime and forensic accountancy), rightthrough to senior management. However,the Association believes Police leadershipmust be able to draw on operationalexperience, especially in times of crisiswhere decisive and authoritative commandand control of operations is needed.For example, making a civilian directlyresponsible and accountable for the Policeresponse to a major terrorism incidentwould be extremely risky and place anextraordinary and unfair burden on theindividual.Minor changesIn its submission, the Association alsoasked the select committee to make anumber of minor changes to the Bill toavoid unintended, but potentially seriousconsequences. These include the riskthat the Commissioner’s power to assign,transfer and locate staff becomes a ‘default’management tool for filling hard-to-fillposts, instead of being reserved for ‘specialcircumstances’ as it is currently.The Association also argued that any moveto make regulations under the new lawbanning members from involvement inlocal councils or community boards wouldbe an unjustified attack on the democraticrights of police to participate in theircommunities. Other individuals occupyingpublic roles do not face such restrictions,and the Association believes any specificconcerns that might arise can be managedthrough employment agreements and theCode of Conduct, as they are for publicservants.There are also some issues that fall withinthe scope of the Policing Bill, but whichare not addressed by it. These include theprovision of greater statutory protections forpolice officers who are targeted by frivolousand vexatious litigation.TrendThe Association is extremely concernedat the increasing trend for aggrievedindividuals to ‘hit back’ by filing privateprosecutions or civil claims against policewho have done nothing out of the ordinary,and have simply had the misfortune to becarrying out their duty in the wrong placeat the wrong time. The vast majority ofthese cases are totally without merit andultimately fail, but the costs to the officersinvolved in terms of money, personal stressand disruption are very serious. Yet thecosts to the litigant are virtually nil, and insome cases the courts even seem to go outof their way to ensure the claimant ‘has theirday in court’, regardless of the costs to thepolice officer.Whether the Policing Bill is amended toaddress this serious issue remains to beseen. The Association will continue topush for the best possible outcomes on allof the remaining areas of concern in theBill. Overall, though, the Association issatisfied that the new law should provide asolid foundation for Police and individualmembers well into the future.Editor’s Note: The Police Association’ssubmission can be viewed onwww.policeassn.org.nz• This article is the first in a series of two.82May 2008

New Zealand Police Association• Police Association President, Greg O’Connor (nearest camera), Communications Manager/Strategic Advisor, Luke McMahon (to Greg’s left) and Industrial Advocate, Greg Fleming(partially obscured) deliver the Association’s submission on the Policing Bill to the Law andOrder Committee, which heard submissions relating to the Policing Bill. Peter Harvey fromthe NZ Police Police Act review team sits across the table.Officers face damages claimThe U.S. Supreme Court has refused todismiss a lawsuit against two Bridgeport(Connecticut) police officers by a manimprisoned for a gas station robbery hedidn’t commit.The nation’s highest court has let standa lower court’s ruling that a trial shoulddecide whether police officers JeremyDePietro and Christopher Borona violatedChristopher Russo’s constitutional rightswhen they arrested him for the 2002 holdupeven though a surveillance videotapeof the crime apparently showed Russo wasnot the robber, according to a report in TheConnecticut Post.Russo’s lawyer, Burton Weinstein, said theSupreme Court’s ruling may have nationalsignificance because it would make everypolice officer individually liable for notpursuing evidence that could prove anarrestee’s innocence.He said Russo plans to pursue damagesagainst the officers.Lone gunmenAccording to court documents, a lonegunman held up an Amoco gas station.DePietro obtained the station’s surveillancetape and after using a video-photo machineto isolate still images of the robber, heprepared a selection of photos of men withsimilar appearance, including Russo.The gas station employee on duty at thetime of the heist picked Russo’s photoas the man who had robbed him. Russowas subsequently arrested for first-degreerobbery.He was held for seven months before aSuperior Court judge dismissed the chargesagainst him.Russo has prominent tattoos on hisforearms, hands, neck and legs that werePolice Email:a timelyannualreminderMembers are reminded that materialon the Police Email system is subject tostatutory requirements and Police policy(refer to General Instructions A400-406,C800-803, and S600-603).There is also a Police policy entitled“Acceptable use of technology” whichcovers use of Police computers.Given that it is the second anniversaryof a time when some staff were subjectto disciplinary action or had to attendAlternative Resolution Process workshopsbecause they were deemed to havebreached Police policy in regard toEmail usage, it is timely to remind allmembers that use of the Police computersystem and information contained on itis subject to review. There should be noexpectation of privacy of information andcommunications.The Commission of Inquiry into PoliceConduct made several recommendationsin relation to Email use of Policecomputers and Police require of their staffthat they do not use Police technologyfor unethical, objectionable, frivolouspersonal use or misrepresentationamongst other prohibitions.Remember, while you think that Emailthat came to you from an outside sourcemay be humourous and worth forwardingto your colleagues, be aware that Policepolicy may not share your sense ofhumour. Before you hit SEND rememberit could mean END - of your job.noted in the arresting officer’s report.However, the robber captured on the gasstation’s videotape was free of tattoos.Violation of rights allegedRusso subsequently sued the police officersfor violating his constitutional rights in U.S.District Court. A federal judge later threwout the suit, but last February that decisionwas overturned by the Second Circuit Courtof Appeals, which reinstated the lawsuit.“If a jury credits Russo’s evidence regardingDePietro’s and Borona’s conduct, and if itfinds that the videotape provided adequateverification of Russo’s innocence based onhis unique physical characteristics, thenRusso will have established that he wasunreasonably seized by DePietro and Barona,in violation of his Fourth Amendmentrights,” the appeals court ruled.The city then appealed the appeal court’sdecision to the Supreme Court, which has,to date, let the appeals decision stand.May 200883

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PolicePay roundWhat are we going for?Members regularly ask “what are we goingfor this time?” referring to the generalincrease figure that applies to everyone. It’sthe key issue in every pay round negotiatedeach year, irrespective of whether it’s Policeemployees, teachers, factory workers orscientists.Should a figure be put on the table and thenegotiators work towards achieving thator should the negotiators have a figure inmind and only share that as negotiationsdevelop?There are advantages and disadvantageswith each approach.A publicly announced figure informsmembers of the target and keeps them fullybriefed. It can, however, create a diversionfor the negotiators, with some membersbelieving we should be asking for more sowe can settle for a lower but still satisfactoryamount and others simply believing thefigure is not enough. Alternatively, if thefigure is obviously inflated the Department’snegotiators start to look at the claim as beingexcessive and become reluctant to engagein serious negotiations, and in turn makeunrealistic offers.We may eventually still get to a positiveoutcome and settle the pay round, butthrough the process some will have formedunhelpful views. Some members will arguethe Association has gone soft and shouldnever have backed down, forever believingthat having claimed a higher figure thatwe should have maintained this positioninstead of backing down. Others willharbour a view that the Police Departmentdoesn’t really care about their staff and theunrealistic initial offer is more concreteproof of that, and members will ignore anysubsequent offers.In negotiations both parties (theAssociation and Police Department) haveto be responsible. We have a mediator andarbitrator present. From our perspective,Zapper fictionYes, most of you (probably) guessed it – thestory in last month’s issue on the Zapperbeing introduced by Police on 1 April tocombat boy racers by immobilising theirvehicles with a revolutionary device wasfiction. An April Fool’s yarn in fact. Therewere a few clues – Mr Crisp of the gang, TheFireballs, was the guy who allegedly wentup in a fireball, Sergent Russell Emup (aspay negotiations are interest based, focusingon problem solving and achieving the bestpossible outcome for members.Pressure on budgetsSo what are the key factors influencing thesize of the general adjustment?Inflation is the obvious culprit. It is currently3.4% and predicted to rise to 4% later thisyear. Food, housing, petrol and power costsare all expected to continue rising. We arevery aware of the budgetary problems facedby sworn and non-sworn members. We arealso very aware of the dangers budgetaryproblems pose in the Police environment.There is no excuse whatsoever for graft andcorruption but the Police Department andgovernment do need to be cognisant of thisdanger as they consider what is an appropriateremuneration and remuneration adjustmentfor police employees going forward.Last year’s pay settlements for teachersand nurses provide for annual generaladjustments of 4% for each year, withadditional funding meeting other changesto their terms and conditions. However,inflation has since gone above the ReserveBanks 3% threshold and looks set toremain there for some time. We are alsomindful the work of police is becomingmore complex and is subject to even greaterindividual external scrutiny and risk. TheAssociation is hopeful that the governmenthas provided the Police Department withsufficient discretion and means to achieve aresponsible and fair settlement in 2008.For the upcoming negotiations, as withrecent negotiations, we do have a figurein mind and will work towards it. In theinterim, the environment may changerequiring us to review that figure up ordown. What is important is that memberswill always have the last word, with theultimate test of the acceptability of theoutcome of the negotiations being made bymembers through the ratification process.in rustle them up) and of course the date ofrelease – which just happened to be AprilFool’s Day. To those of you who picked it,well done, wipe your nose, take a bow andgo to the top of the class. To the division ofPolice who were all set to implement it andto the media reps who rang for the ‘scoop’– well, we’ve all been there at one time oranother.The more werepresent thebetter we canrepresentAs we head into another pay roundit is timely to encourage PoliceAssociation members into recruitingnon-members.The Police Association currentlyrepresents 8,042 sworn and 2,112non-sworn members. We representpolice employees right up to andincluding Assistant Commissionersand non-sworn equivalents.There are still a number of policeemployees, mostly non-sworn, whohave yet to consider Associationmembership. The more we representthe better we can represent.CollectivesPay increases are hard won andcollective agreements are the best wayof securing them. If you are aware ofnon-members, have a friendly chat tothem and point them in the directionof a Field Officer or local Associationrepresentative – as it might be all theencouragement they need to join up.Remember, that Police Associationmembership does not only ensurecollective agreement coverage andworkplace representation it alsoopens the door to the Police WelfareFund with 54 holiday homes availablefor just $50 per night per home. Itincludes a Health Plan owned andmanaged by the Fund that is the envyof many and life, home, contents,travel and vehicle insurance that will.in all likelihood, save you money.Have you moved recently?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.84May 2008

New Zealand Police AssociationTwo more Queenstownholiday homes now openPolice Welfare Fund members now have access to two more holidayhomes in Queenstown.The homes, situated in central Queenstown, were made available tomembers just in time for the April school holidays.Both homes have expansive living areas and will be a real assetto members visiting Queenstown. They have beautiful views overthe Frankton and Kingston Arms of Lake Wakatipu and are a shortwalking distance from town.Both homes are located down a small set of steps, so it isrecommended that members with mobility issues consider bookingunit one, as it has disability access.There are now a total of four holiday homes available in Queenstown,and 54 nationwide.• The outside of the two new Queenstown holiday home units.• The units provide a spacious dining and entertaining area.• A stunning vista awaits visitors at the two new holiday homes.Private use of police vehiclesa hot topic in LouisvilleSkyrocketing gas prices are biting deeparound the world and have been blamed foran unfair labour practices complaint beingbrought by the police union against the cityin Louisville, Kentucky.The complaint revolves around a policedepartment decision to charge policeofficers for using department cars for offdutywork. The union alleges it was neverconsulted about the decision to change theexisting policy.In February, the Louisville PoliceDepartment announced about 480 officerswho have taken home police vehicles willhave to pay $60 a month to use them foroff-duty jobs. The payment is meant tooffset the cost of gas, which is provided bythe department.$9.4 million deficitThe change in the take-home car policycame as part of the department’s effortsto help address an estimated $9.4 milliondeficit faced by the city. The monthlyreimbursements would save about$150,000 through to the end of the fiscalyear, according to a report carried by theCourier-Journal.The Police Department is also selling oneof two helicopters and cutting back onovertime pay, for a total budget reductionof $1.48 million.The Fraternal Order of Police sent a letter tothe Kentucky Department of Labor, sayingthat the monthly payment policy is an unfairlabour practice because the change shouldhave been negotiated with the union.“This is not about money. It’s not about gas,”the union’s President, John McGuire, said.Labor Department not interestedThe Kentucky Department of Labor saysthat it has no jurisdiction in the dispute andcannot hear the complaint.But McGuire said the main goal is to get thecity to sit down and negotiate the issue withunion leadership.Major Troy Riggs, the Louisville PoliceDepartment’s Chief of Staff, said thatrising gas prices meant the departmenthad to rethink the two-year-old policy,which allowed officers to take home policevehicles. He said that while the departmenthad considered suspending the programmeentirely or enforcing a fee for everyone, onlyassessing those who make additional moneyfrom the car’s use seemed to be the fairestway to handle things.“We thought that was probably the leastpainful,” Riggs said.The department maintained that becausethe issue had never been dealt with in theofficers’ contracts, it did not need to benegotiated with the union.“It has always been a decision that theadministration makes,” he said, adding thatthe plan would continue despite the union’scomplaint.NZ Police does not allow the use of policevehicles for private use.May 200885

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceVisible police the answer to NZ’sincreasing levels of violenceBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsNew Zealand is becoming a significantly more violent place.That is the clear message to be taken from the recently released crimestatistics, which covered the period to 31 December 2007.The answer to a burgeoning of violent crime, which resulted in a12.3% national increase last year, lies in getting police out frombehind desks and into frontline response positions as a “visibleface of policing”, according to Police Association President, GregO’Connor.Assault categoriesGrievous assaults were up 17.4%, serious assaults 16.3%, minorassaults 10.4%, intimidation and threats 11.2%, and groupassemblies 26%. In a disturbing trend, violence by youth aged 10-13was up 30% last year, from 926 offences to 1,201.Bay of Plenty had the biggest increase in violent crime of any policedistrict in the last year with a 22% rise, marginally ahead of Tasmanwith 20%, Counties-Manukau with 19%, Waikato with 16%,Southern with 15%, Eastern with 14%, Central, Northland andWaitemata increased by 12% and Wellington by 11%.Mr O’Connor said that recent public surveys indicated that “crimeand violence” were the major concern for most New Zealanders. Thelatest crime stats show that concern reflects the unfortunate realitythat New Zealanders are living in an increasingly violent society.Praise for police work“There is a lot of good work being done by police around the country,and excellent results being achieved in most areas. But violence isclearly our biggest problem, so primary response policing should beout biggest priority,” Mr O’Connor said.Mr O’Connor said that if frontline response policing problemswere not addressed then the 2008 crime statistics around violentoffending would record “New Zealand’s further slide into violenceand disorder”.While the number of homicides had decreased by 10.2% to 45 – thefewest for a decade – domestic violence had risen by 31% with themajority of the 6,000 extra violent offending cases being related tofamily violence. Forty-one of the 45 murders were resolved, whichmirrors police success in other areas where resolution rates acrossmost crime groups has remained high.The rise in domestic violence cases is probably a reflection ofheightened public awareness of the issues and a greater intolerance offamily violence by others, thanks to publicity and media campaignshighlighting the obvious damage it causes.ICVS surveyThe crime stats came shortly after the release of The InternationalCrime Victims Survey (ICVS), a global project, which seeks tocompare victimisation and related subjects through a sweep of 78countries, including New Zealand.More than 300,000 people were interviewed about their experiencesof being victims of crime. The analysis is conducted every fouryears. The latest available report covers data from the 2004-05survey and took in 30 countries and 33 capital or main cities andcompares results with those of earlier surveys. The ICVS is themost comprehensive study ever done of volume crimes, perceptionof crime and attitudes towards the criminal justice system from acomparative, international perspective.16% victims of crimeThe survey found that, on average, an estimated 16% of thepopulations of the 30 nations participating in the country levelsurveys have been a victim of at least one of any 10 common crimes.New Zealand ranked third overall in this particular section of thestudy.In terms of vehicle-related theft, New Zealand again figuresprominently with only England and Wales topping our rate. Burglaryvictimisation figures compiled in the study showed that Englandand Wales were again top, with New Zealand next-ahead of Mexicoand Denmark.Assault and threat (intimidation) is the most frequent of the threecontact crimes. Populations in main cities experience much higherrates of victimisation by violent crime than people living elsewherein the country. Johannesburg has victimisation rates for assault andthreats of over 10% per year. Northern Ireland, Iceland, Ireland,England and Wales, New Zealand and the Netherlands are thecountries with rates above 4%. The lowest rates are found inPortugal, Italy and Japan (below 1%).Levels of satisfactionAbout half of the victims who reported a crime were satisfied with theway the police treated their case, varying from over 70% in Denmark,Switzerland, Finland, Australia, Scotland and New Zealand to lessthan 30% in Estonia, Lima, Maputo (the capital of Mozambique,which was formerly known as Lourenço Marques), Greece, andMexico. In several countries where levels of satisfaction used to becomparatively high, the rates of satisfaction have decreased since2000. This group of countries includes the USA, Canada, Englandand Wales, Sweden and the Netherlands, countries where bettertreatment of victims is actively promoted.But while New Zealand has a bit of work to do in terms of its crimerankings across various areas, it stands out in the manner in which itresponds to the expressed needs of victims, ranking as the numberone performer in this sector. The proportions of victims of seriouscrimes with manifest support needs who were actually contacted byvictim support were the highest in New Zealand (47%) and the UK,with percentages of 40% in Scotland and 37% in Northern Ireland.Public satisfaction with the police, reporting rates of crime victimsand satisfaction of victims with how the Police deal with reportedcrimes were combined into a composite police performance measure.The police in Hong Kong, Finland, USA, Canada and New Zealandscored highest on this combined measure. The three large cities inthe southern part of Latin America (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro andBuenos Aires) score the least favourably.Police chaplains appointedMembers are advised that Father John Harrison has beenappointed as Police chaplain in the Southern District (Dunedin).Father Harrison took up his position on 20 April.Pastor Paul Makiha has also been appointed as the new PoliceChaplain in the Bay of Plenty District. Pastor Makiha took up hisposition on 11 April. He is based in Whakatane.86May 2008

New Zealand Police Association• Timaru double-act: Sergeant Murray I presume? Tristan Murray (left) and Dylan Murray (right) after they had both been successful inpassing their sergeant’s exams enabling them to take up two vacant positions in Timaru. - Photo courtesy of The Timaru Herald/Jess Parker“Can I see Sergeant Murrayplease?” “Sure, which one?”People asking for Sergeant Murray at the Timaru Police Station arelikely to end up a tad confused – there are two of them – brothersTristan and Dylan, who were promoted to the rank of sergeant onthe same day recently.The brothers, who were brought up in Timaru, had both appliedfor what they believed to be one vacancy and both got the job – orrather jobs – as they found out later that there were two vacancieson offer.The Timaru Herald reported that it is likely to be the first occasion inthe long history of the New Zealand Police that two brothers haveboth been promoted to the rank of sergeant on the same day.Icing on the cakeIn typical brotherly fashion, each admitted that they would havebeen just as happy for the other to get the job had there only beenone position available. The fact that they were both successful wasthe icing on the cake though.“I wouldn’t have minded if Dylan had got it because he’s a goodcop, but I would have been a bit dark if anyone else had,” youngerbrother Tristan said wryly.Dylan joined the Police in October 1993 and Tristan followed hisolder brother into the service four years later, incidentally, also inthe October intake. Dylan told the Herald that he joined because hehad had enough of the “scarfie” lifestyle.Solomons serviceDuring 2005, Dylan served six months in the Solomons working inthe CIB there. He has worked in his old hometown for the last eightyears while Tristan returned to serve there four years ago.Tristan admits he always had intentions of following his oldersibling into the service after originally joining the army and doing atour as part of the Sinai peacekeeping force. It was just a matter ofwaiting until he was old enough to get into Police College, Tristanexplained.Term Deposit interest rates3 and 4 months 8.60% p.a.5 and 6 months 8.80% p.a.9 months Special 9.00%pa12 months 8.90% p.a.18 months 8.60% p.a.24 months 8.50% p.a.Interest rates are subject to change without notice.Minimum deposit $500. Maximum all accounts $250,000All funds invested with Police and FamiliesCredit Union are only lent to members ofthe Credit UnionA copy of our Prospectus and Investment Statement is available on thePFCU website www.policecu.org.nzMay 200887

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Police• New recruits Constable Royden Muirhead and Darren Kidd have both returned to their hometown to start their career with Police.- Photo courtesy of The Southland TimesInvercargill recruits hittheir hometown beatTwo recruits posted to Invercargill as their first deployment are already well and truly familiarwith the territory. It’s home.New recruits, Constable Royden Muirhead and Darren Kidd, have both returned to theirhometown to start a career with the Police. They graduated from wing 247 at the Royal NewZealand Police College in Porirua on February 14. Both agree that the greatest challenge tobecoming a police officer was going back to study after more than 10 years out of school.Before joining the police, Mr Muirhead had been a registrar of electors for nine years and MrKidd, an electronics salesman for 15 years. Mr Kidd, who was born and raised in Invercargill,said he had wanted to join the Police when he was 19 but the recruitment officer told him toget some life experience first The Southland Times reported recently.Career change“At that time, I found a job selling electronics and stayed in that industry for 15 years beforeConstable McLean asked me to go for a 2.4 km run one weekend. The rest, as they say, ishistory,” he said.Mr Kidd said his first day on the job was exciting, but he is still trying to get his head aroundall the paperwork.“The first day was actually a night shift, so none of the induction process was done at thattime and it was straight out on the beat. It was excellent fun and quite rewarding, knowingthat the 20-odd weeks at the college had been worthwhile,” he said.Both men have already demonstrated that they have made the right career choice, with MrMuirhead winning a Police Association prize for section achievement - awarded for making thegreatest contribution to the success of the team - and Mr Kidd the driver-training award.Three new recruits have been posted to the Invercargill beat since the end of last year.Two differentdoctors’ officesTwo patients limp into two differentmedical clinics with the same complaint.Both have trouble walking and appear torequire a hip replacement.The first patient is examined within thehour, is X-rayed the same day and hasa time booked for surgery the followingweek.The second sees his family doctor afterwaiting three weeks for an appointment,then waits eight weeks to see a specialist,gets an X-ray, which isn’t reviewed foranother week, and finally has his surgeryscheduled for a month after that.Why the different treatment for the twopatients?Well the first patient is a golden retrieverand the second is a senior citizen.Next time take me to a vet!Note: If you aren’t already a member ofthe Police Health Plan, perhaps it’s timeto join?We remember… Who passed away…HANCOCK Geoffrey Pratt 24-Mar-08 Member Lower HuttBROUGHTON Alan 1-Apr-08 Spouse of member AucklandSTONE Stanley William John 7-Apr-08 Retired member RotoruaGOLDING John Albert 9-Apr-08 Retired member WhangaparaoaCLARK Kevin Albert 10-Apr-08 Retired member Gisborne88May 2008

The four stages of a police careerOf course this synopsis is not gospel (as all careers are different) and couldbe seen to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek but some of our readers may findaspects of each stage will ring bells. As the old adage goes: “Many a true wordspoken in jest.”Stage 1: Fascination stage(years 1-4):For most officers, this is their first timeoutside of the middle-class bubble. Theyhave never seen a dead body, never seenlife threatening injuries, never dealt witha family disturbance, never witnessed therubbish some people call “home life”, andnever really understood the phrase “man’sinhumanity to man” until now. Everythingis new to them.You can identify them by the amount offancy new equipment they carry. A tenbillion-candlelight power torch, pens thatwrite in the rain, a ballistic vest rated to stoptomahawk missiles, and an equipment baglarge enough to house a squad of marines.They love it; they show up early for theirshift. They work way past the end of theirshift without even considering an overtimeslip. They believe rank within the job isbased only on ability and those in the upperranks got there by knowledge and skill inpolice work only. They believe everyoneis competent; everyone is on the samepage and working towards the same highmindedgoals.When they finally go home to theirsignificant other, they tell them everythingthey did and saw. Some of the more “eatenup” purchase a police scanner so they canhear the radio calls while at home.Stage 2: Hostility stage(years 5-6):They now show up for work about twominutes before their shift, and they arehiding about 30 minutes before the endof the shift, writing reports so they canjust throw them in the sergeant’s in-boxand leave a.s.a.p. They have to get to theirsecond job to earn money to pay for thedivorce that is pending.They gripe about everything, drink to excess,and hate the public, politicians, media, etc.They feel they have more in common withthe hookers, thieves, druggies, etc. but hatethem too. Those pens that write in the rainare no longer needed. Writing traffic ticketscan be a lot more trouble than they areworth, even on a nice day. To write one, orto write anything while standing in the rain,is a sure sign of an insane person. Theirspouse is no longer interested in hearingabout all the gore and heartache. They getthe “you spend more time with the copsthan you do with me” speech.Stage 3: Superiority stage(years 7-15):This is when cops are at their best. Theyhave survived changes in administration,they know how the political game is played,both inside and outside the job and theyknow who they can and can’t trust. Theyhave select friends within the job and stayaway, as best they can, from the nuts andboot-lickers. They know the legal system,the judges, prosecutors, and defencesolicitors, etc. They know how to testify andput a good case together. They are usuallythe ones that the gaffers turn to when thereis some clandestine request or sensitiveoperation that needs to be done right.These cops are still physically fit and canhandle themselves on the street. They willstay around the station when needed, buthave other commitments, such as a secondspouse, a second girlfriend (sometimesboth), and most of their friends are not inthe job.Stage 4: Acceptance stage(year 16+):At this stage of their career, cops have asingle objective... retirement and pension.Nothing is going to come between them andtheir monthly payslip. The boss, the force,the idiots around the station, and the creepson the street can all go to Hell, because theycould come between them and “sitting onthe beach”. There is no topic of discussionthat can’t somehow lead back to retirementissues.These guys are usually sergeants, detectives,scene of crime officers, community cops, orin some other post where they will not be‘endangered’. They especially don’t wantsome young stupid cop getting them sued,fired, killed, or anything else causing themto lose their “beach time”. They spend a lotof time having coffee, hanging around thestation, and looking at brochures of thingsthey want to do in retirement.New Zealand Police AssociationSelf-incriminationdeserved a ‘pat’on the backA woman in Fox Lake, Wisconsin decided todrive home after a night at the bar. On theway, she called 911 to report she may betoo drunk to drive, according to a report fromCounton2.com.The woman, named Pat, ended up beingbooked for drunk driving.Here’s how Pat’s conversation with the 911operator went:Caller: I just want to know if somebody canfollow me home because somebody seems tothink I can’t drive home straight.911: OK, why is that?Caller: He seems to think I am too intoxicatedto drive.911: OK, and so you called 9-1-1 or he called9-1-1?Caller: Well, he wanted me to call 9-1-1‘cause he thinks I’m too drunk to drive.When asked what she thought would happenwhen she called 911, Pat said: “I’m not reallysure. I don’t really think I was thinking thatmuch at the time.”She gave such a good description that policefound her at her home and breathalyzed her.She was over the limit.Pat says she’s not sure if the drunk drivingticket was really fair. Afterall, by the time shegot the ticket, her car was parked right therein her garage.Pat said: “I was home already in my pyjamasgoing to bed.”Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls said Pat didthe right thing. “I think a judge will look at herand say you know what, you stepped up tothe plate. You did the right thing. I think it’scommendable.”She was even safety minded when she called911.Caller: I don’t like being on the phone whileI’m driving.911: OK. Well I can certainly let you go Pat. Idon’t want to cause you…Caller: I would appreciate that ‘cause I don’tlike driving on the phone.So would she drunk dial 911 again?Pat: “It’s good in a way, but if I’d thoughtabout it, it wasn’t good for my driving record.”May 200889

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceBoy racers: Social nuisanceor serious public threat?By Bex Shannon, AssociationCommunications Assistant• Friday and weekend nights bring the street racers out in Wellington, just like in many othertowns and cities throughout New Zealand.Photo courtesy of The Dominion Post/Rob Kitchin.From Christchurch, to Hamilton, to the Hutt and as far north as Manukau, illegal street racers, widelyreferred to as boy racers, torment local residents with their noise and anti-social behaviour, costingPolice and councils immense time and resources to control.Illegal street racers drive all models, makes,sizes and shapes of cars, usually modified insome way. They drag each other off at trafficlights, pour diesel on the road to do burnouts,exhibit anti-social behaviour when stationary,and generally make a nuisance of themselveswherever they go.Behind the wheelThe drivers themselves, some who aresimply car enthusiasts and get a bad rapfrom their association with the young hoons,range in age from 15 to 40. They can beyouths, parents, even grandparents, licensed,unlicensed, insured or uninsured, in their owncar, a friend’s car or a stolen car.Often the antics of illegal street racers resultin minimum harm and at worst a bit of roaddamage. But on the odd occasion, drivers ofhigh-powered vehicles lose control and causeserious injury or even death.In April 2007, an 18-year-old died and sevenothers were hospitalised, after an attempt toovertake another car at 100 kph in a 50kphzone went drastically wrong. The driver hada long list of previous convictions, includingdrink-driving, dangerous driving and twoconvictions under ‘boy racer’ legislation.On 19 March this year, two young men, aged18 and 23 died when their silver Mitsubishicrashed into a concrete barrier, before rollingat an intersection in Birkenhead. Police believethe pair were racing another car that fled thescene after the crash.During the same month, the inner streets ofChristchurch were bumper to bumper with boyracers attending the annual Fours and RotaryAutoshow. Hundreds of youths congregated oncity streets where they performed burnouts,yelled, honked their horns, tipped diesel overthe road, and showered bottles and abuse atpolice attending the scene, leaving residentssleepless and with a mess of broken glass andrubbish to clean up the next day.What the statistics sayIn 2006, drivers aged 15 to 24 were involvedin 129 fatal crashes and 813 serious injurycrashes, and were found to be at fault in77% of incidents. The road toll that yearwas 391. Thirty eight percent (38%) ofall fatal crashes involve a driver betweenthe ages of 15-24. The total cost of roadcrashes involving 15-24-year-olds in 2006was $1 billion. Drivers in this age rangeare six times more likely to crash (per 100million kilometres driven) than drivers inthe 45-49 year age group. Under the LandTransport (Unauthorised Street and DragRacing) Amendment Act 2003 or ‘boy racerlegislation’, seven convictions were forcausing death or injury during 2007.Christchurch and Hamilton top the countryfor offences under the ‘boy racer legislation’,which gives police the power to prosecutedrivers for participating in unauthorised streetor drag racing, for loss of traction, and forpouring substances on the road. Police canalso prosecute drivers for excessive noise andillegal vehicle modifications.Officer-in-charge of the Canterbury RoadPolicing Group, Senior Sergeant Trevor Pullen,who describes illegal street racers as “roadrodents” because they are “pests” on theroad, said that Christchurch has wide, straightavenues ideal for showing off.Mr Pullen said that if you talk to the averageChristchurch resident, they would say thatillegal street racers are one of the biggestproblems facing the city. In actual fact theyonly make up around 2% of crashes, whileconsuming a hefty 20% of road policingresources.Resource intensive“They don’t feature highly in drink-drivingstatistics either, so it’s a bit of a problembecause they’re very resource intensive froma road policing perspective. They’re way upthere in the nuisance value though,” he said.Canterbury police have several tried and true,but firm techniques to deal with boy racers.These measures have been adopted across90May 2008

the country and include high visibility policing,and quickly dispersing congregated vehicles.The Christchurch police run an average ofseven to eight illegal street racer operationseach year. These operations involve thecourts, which will seize and sell cars if aperson has outstanding fines. To avoid thishappening, a number of illegal street racersregister their car under a family member orfriend’s name. The registered owner can thenappeal the sale of the vehicle on the groundsthat he/she was unaware that it was beingused for boy racer activity.This loophole is an ongoing source offrustration for police, who say some parentsdon’t seem to care as long as their sons anddaughters are kept amused on weekendnights.“A lot of it is, I’m convinced, related tobehaviour and standards of behaviour thathave become acceptable, that should not be,”Mr Pullen said.He wants to see a holistic approach taken tocurb illegal street racer behaviour, includingparents paying more attention to what theirkids are up to.Expensive problemThe Christchurch City Council spends upwardsof $100,000 a year dealing with illegal streetracers, and Christchurch Mayor, Bob Parker,said they are beginning to put people offvisiting the city.Mr Parker said it is the government’sresponsibility to deal with the issue. He wouldlike to see legislation to increase the legaldriving age, with more onus put on registeredvehicle owners, and restricting the typesof cars that beginner drivers are allowed tocontrol.He believes that “90%” of the illegal streetracer problem is due to vehicle noise, butsaid the council can do very little except toimplement “quick and dirty” measures, suchas temporary road closures and permanenttraffic bans.Recently, a 42-year-old Dunedin man, fedup with noise made by a group of boy racersoutside his house, rammed one of theirvehicles causing minor injuries to a womaninside. The man was shortly after arrested.In 2007, Canterbury police issued 1,000‘noise’ tickets, out of 2,400 nationwide.Provisions in the Land Transport (VehicleEquipment) Amendment Act 2007 meanthat after 1 June this year, car exhausts inthe existing fleet must be no louder than 95decibels, and new imports must not exceed90 decibels.Exhaust noiseJonathan Gillard, co-founder of the Noise-OffCharitable Trust, would like to see all carspost-1985 restricted to 90 decibels, with theexception of cars that have already passedan international drive-by test and haven’t• Christchurch Mayor, Bob Parker, said thatboy racers are driving people away fromthe Garden City.• Constable Gareth Hartley, from the OtaraTraffic Unit, said it is frustrating dealingwith “a whole lot of idiots”, when thereare potentially more serious crimes thatneed attending.subsequently been modified.“The irony of it is if you’re on private propertyat night, it’s an offence to make a noise morethan 55 decibels,” Mr Gillard said.“I think if these people were driving aroundin their vehicles even in the early hours ofthe morning, but weren’t making such ahorrendous noise, then the concerns aboutthem would abate dramatically,” he said.The illegal street racer issue extends beyondNew Zealand Police AssociationChristchurch and is particularly bad in LowerHutt and Hamilton.Sergeant Tim Crum, Lower Hutt Road PolicingResponse Manager, said residents have hada “gutsful” of the noise, black marks on theroad, and intimidation caused by illegal streetracers.He said that some of the newer copswondered, “what’s the point?” in issuing morefines but they felt impounding cars showedthat there is actually a purpose to it all.Hamilton police have formed a boy raceraction team (BRAT), which has threeconstables permanently assigned to it.Potential for disasterInspector Leo Tooman, Waikato Road PolicingManager, said that boy racers are largely a“nuisance”, but there is always the “potential”for a serious or fatal crash.“Booze and drinking is probably putting peoplemore at risk, but of course it’s the nuisancevalue of the boy racers, the loud exhaust,the loud music, the congregation of a largenumber of people,” Mr Tooman said.“I think really at times we’re babysitting. Ithink what we’re doing is keeping a lid onthings, and if we didn’t do it, there would bethe potential for a really nasty road fatality andthen we’d be a lot worse off,” he said.Constable Gareth Hartley, from the OtaraTraffic Unit, agrees that police are not ontop of the problem, and said that OperationSniper, which involves marked cars tightlypatrolling in a radius of around 1-1.5km,operates every weekend to prevent the illegalstreet racing scene from spiralling out ofcontrol.“We’re trying to control it but it will never goaway.”Mr Hartley said that road safety and seriouscrimes within the boy racer community posea greater problem for South Auckland thannoise.Road safety issue“It’s a road safety issue: there’s the dieselon the road, the volume of cars, the illegalstreet racing, and pursuits. Then you’ve gotstolen cars, you’ve got known car thieves thatfollow the drag train to scope out cars to steal,you’ve got drug deals going on, you’ve gotbeer bottles and underage drinking, you’ve gottagging, and then the damage to the road,”Mr Hartley said.He said is it is frustrating dealing with “awhole lot of idiots”, when there are potentiallymore serious crimes that need attending.May 200891

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Police“The Police are stuck between a rock and ahard place, and they have to deal with the boyracer issue to the point that sometimes theyfeel like it is a waste of resources because ofall the other jobs that end up waiting,” he said.Boy Racers United spokesperson, TaniaWestaway-King, said it is the youngermodified car drivers who give the genuineenthusiasts a “bad rap”.Ms Westaway-King said she has been workingalongside private backers to try and set upa new complex for boy racers on leasedChristchurch City Council land, which wouldinclude a burnout pad, food stalls, and variousother facilities that would appeal to boy racers.Some options for boy racers“With laws becoming stricter, at least this“It’s a road safety issue: there’sthe diesel on the road, the volumeof cars, the illegal street racing,and pursuits. Then you’ve gotstolen cars, you’ve got known carthieves that follow the drag trainto scope out cars to steal, you’vegot drug deals going on, you’vegot beer bottles and underagedrinking, you’ve got tagging, andthen the damage to the road,” MrHartley said.- Constable Gareth Hartley, Otara Traffic Unit.gives the people an option and they can’tturn around and say they didn’t have analternative,” she said.Ms Westaway-King said she hoped thecomplex would be open within six months,and if successful, similar initiatives wouldbe established in other locations around thecountry.She hopes to lobby government for lawchanges that will prohibit people under the ageof 18 having access to turbo charged cars.She would also like to see stricter requirementsfor getting a car licence, as is the case withobtaining a motorcycle license.Police Association President, Greg O’Connor,said that while boy racers are “as much anuisance, as they are real crime”, complaintsfrom the public meant that taking the pressureoff is simply not an option.“It’s almost bloody bad manners this stuff.When middle New Zealand is in the centreof town they don’t necessarily see the realproblems – the kids hanging around in parksintoxicated, and the stabbings and violence –what they do see and hear is the boy racers.”• SPEED KILLS: When street racers get it terribly wrong and the consequences are fatal.- Photo courtesy of Fotopress/Kateshe McFadyen• In this crash four young people died when the vehicle they were in hit a power pole at highspeed in Hastings in July 2005.- Photo courtesy of Hawkes’s Bay Today.92May 2008

New Zealand Police AssociationPolice responsibility“The minute you take your foot off it will getworse. This shows the real need for us tohave good frontline capability out there – theboy racers will get sick of being fined beforewe stop fining them, and they will get sick ofhaving their cars towed before we stop towingthem,” he said.Inspector Carey Griffiths, Operations Managerof Road Policing Support, said that publictolerance for anti-social behaviours is steadilydeclining, and police justifiably pay closeattention to young driver behaviour as a result.Mr Griffiths said he is concerned that thepublic perceive boy racers to be ‘the’ roadsafety problem in New Zealand, when in factthey are only part of the road safety problem.“I think really at times we’rebabysitting. I think what we’redoing is keeping a lid onthings, and if we didn’t do it,there would be the potentialfor a really nasty road fatalityand then we’d be a lot worseoff,” he said.- Inspector Leo Tooman,Waikato Road Policing Manager.“What bothers me is that if society focusestoo much on boy racers, we miss the otherbehaviours that are leading to the volume ofcrashes. The volume of crashes are normalNew Zealanders speeding and not wearingseatbelts, and drink driving and you name it,it’s not just the kids,” he said.Some solutionsHe said Police and the Ministry of Transportwere working on a wide range of issues totarget drivers, which are currently beforeCabinet for consideration.These include changes to noise regulations,increased demerits and reduced fines forcertain offences, better alignment of demeritpoints to risk, and changes to the graduateddriver licence system. Other initiatives includegiving police the ability to order drivers offthe road for breach of licence conditions, andvehicle impoundment for repeat breaches, aswell as reducing the threshold for immediatelicence suspension.Once these matters have been through theparliamentary process, they will form part ofthe amendments to the Land Transport Actlater this year.• AND THEN THERE’S THE GRIEF: Friends and family gather at the site of a fatal streetracer crash.- Photos courtesy of the New Zealand Herald.Harry Duynhoven, Minister for TransportSafety, said the government was in theprocess of reviewing the power of the courtsto confiscate vehicles used in serious trafficoffences, with a decision expected later thisyear.“Another initiative that I am personally infavour of is compulsory third party insurance,which may make some young people thinktwice about their behaviour. I expect to bereleasing a discussion document on this issueshortly,” Mr Dunyhoven said.A Bill, which proposes raising the minimumdriving age from 15 to 16, has beenintroduced to Parliament and is currentlybefore the Transport and Industrial RelationsSelect Committee for consideration.Alienating young peopleGreg Newbold, Associate Professor at theCanterbury University School of Sociologyand Anthropology, said police ran therisk of further alienating young people byimplementing stricter laws.“By shadowing people and harassing peopleall you do is get their backs up. Out on theopen road where there are pretty much noother people or no other vehicles they shouldbe pretty much left alone,” Professor Newboldsaid.“No cop can tell me that cars today are moredangerous - they are safer. We didn’t havesafety belts in my day, we didn’t have airbags,we didn’t have anything,” he said.Mr Newbold said that youth were attracted tostreet racing for the risk, speed, machismo,and group belonging.• Inspector Carey Griffiths, OperationsManager of Road Policing Support,believes that the public’s tolerance foranti-social behaviours is reducing andpolice must respond accordingly to allaypublic concerns.“Boys like racing fast things and in the SecondWorld War everyone wanted to be a fighterpilot rather than a bomber pilot. Being in abig group of people who are like you and aremaking a lot of noise – it gives a sense ofpower and exhilaration,” he said.Professor Newbold said that one majorconcern he did hold for boy racers was thelife-destroying debt they often get themselvesinto.“Boy, that is a real problem. They’ve got carsthey’ve bought on high interest rates, theyhaven’t been able to insure them becausethey’re hotted up vehicles, they’ve crashed thevehicle and then they’re left with nothing buta massive debt. But that’s the credit economywe live in,” he said.May 200893

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceCruising with the boy racersAssociation Communications Assistant, Bex Shannon, recentlyinvestigated the boy racer phenomenon by accompanyingChristchurch police out on a Friday night road policing patrol.At 11 p.m. on a Friday night in Christchurch,the streets are only beginning to heat up withillegal street racers. Sergeant Peter Daly saysa ban on some popular streets on the outskirtsof the city – Hasketts Road, and McLeansIsland Road – has moved the boy racersback into town, where they congregate andcruise the streets until the early hours of themorning.For the more ambitious boy racers, the aimis to complete a seven-minute lap aroundthe four main avenues, Bealey, Fitzgerald,Moorehouse and Deans.The seven-minute lap“If they can do the lap in seven minutesthey’re ‘a legend’. It’s about cruising. It’sabout showing off to other people. Theremight be a series of mini stage races awayfrom traffic lights while they’re doing theirlap”, Mr Daly says.He says the illegal street racing scene iswell organised. A number of drivers havecheap scanners in their cars to pick up Policecommunications, and print their mobile phonenumber on the back windscreen to easilycommunicate with other boy racer vehiclesregarding police whereabouts – and of courseto “pick up chicks”.Need for secure comms“A lot of them are in touch through textmessaging and that buggers us, because ourcommunicationss aren’t secure. So we’ll go andset up a laser somewhere, but the minute wemention the location they know where we are.”Mr Daly says earlier in the evening he spotteda notorious lime green WRX, familiar to policebecause it has been owned and seized fromeach of four different owners in the past twoyears.“Having their cars taken away is a fairlyregular thing for these guys. Twenty-eightdays ‘oh well’, and then they go and get itback.”He says the introduction of cheap Japaneseimports has allowed young people easyaccess to high-performance “race cars”.Access to powerful cars“You go into the AA, sit a theory test andthey give you a licence to go and drive a car.You can get into a Subaru WRX or an Evo 7or an Evo 8 (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) ora Nissan Skyline, which are just race cars.You can’t ban Skylines, although God knowsit would be a good thing, but probably notacceptable.”Just five minutes later, Mr Daly’s scannerclocks a grey Skyline doing 68km in a 50kmzone. He flashes his lights and pulls over a28-year-old male driver. The driver declinesto talk to Police News, takes his speedingticket and drives off – along with his prostitutepassenger.Further down the road Mr Daly stops, alongwith several other police officers to setup a drink-driving checkpoint. One of his“A lot of them are in touchthrough text messaging andthat buggers us, becauseour communicationss aren’tsecure. So we’ll go and setup a laser somewhere, butthe minute we mention thelocation they know where weare.”- Sergeant Peter Daly, CanterburyRoad Policing.colleagues tells Police News that just 10minutes earlier, he attended a scene wheretens of cars had congregated near Wigramto start their night of cruising. The officersays he issued more than $1,000 worth offines to one female driver for extensive, illegalmodifications to her car, among other things.Around 1a.m. on the way back into the city,Mr Daly responds to an emergency radio call.A car has hit a youth. Arriving at the sceneshortly after an ambulance, we find a group ofyouths gathered around a boy who is lying onthe street with blood running from his temple.Boy racer or not boy racer?His friends explain to Police News that a blackand gold Toyota Caldina pulled out of a nearbydriveway, did a burnout and proceeded downthe street, before their friend – who believedthe passengers in the car were people he hadbeen fighting with earlier in the night – ran outand was clipped by the rear of the car.Asked if the driver of the vehicle could bedescribed as a boy racer, Mr Daly replies thatit is difficult to classify who is and who isn’t.By his book, if a person exhibits typical illegalstreet racing behaviour, including burnouts,loss of traction, and a noisy exhaust, then theyare.Mr Daly says he most frequently issues ticketsfor noise, speeding, and breach of licenceconditions, whereas drink driving is “notmuch” of an issue with the boy racers. Theyare no more represented than 35-year-oldmales that play golf, he says. However, thepublic perceive the boy racers as the biggestproblem in town.Media agenda“If you knock on this person’s door, or thatperson’s door and ask what’s the big issue insociety, they’ll say ‘well, bloody boy racers’.To a certain extent I think the media oftensets the agenda, but we have got a boy racerproblem, there’s no question of that.”Mr Daly says the amount of time andresources that go into policing boy racers can,at times, be “extremely frustrating”.“The majority of people getting killed on ourroads are Mr and Mrs Average who mightbe going a little bit fast, who might not bewearing their seatbelt, who might have had acouple of drinks. Every minute that we spendhaving to police these young guys for antisocialreasons, we’re not policing the problem- which is the road deaths.”Just after 1 a.m. we head down MoorehouseAve, one of the most popular avenues for boyracers to show off. The street is teeming withyouths in hotted up old cars, some have highlymodified cars worth $30,000-$40,000, andsome are in their Mum or Dad’s run-of-themill family cars, all with varying motives forcruising.Mr Daly pulls over a group of youths in a$7,500 modified car with a horrendously loudexhaust. As he checks the driver’s licence,other cars speed by yelling out “bloody boyracers”, as if condemning their comrades fortheir own emulated behaviour.Derogatory labelRichard Black, age 20, who is the owner ofthe vehicle, takes exception when asked if heconsiders himself a boy racer.“I wouldn’t say we’re boy racers. Boy racersare little shits causing trouble. I just drive.All these clowns doing burnouts and stuff on94May 2008

New Zealand Police Associationpublic streets, there are events for that stuffyou know. We’re just driving to have a lookat other cars. I wouldn’t waste bloody $150 atyre just to have a little bit of smoke, it’s notworth it.”Mr Black bought his car just three months ago,thanks to his well-paying job at the freezingworks, which enabled him to walk into a bankand borrow $7,000 to purchase the car.“I bought the car like this, I just loweredit at the back because it was uneven, butotherwise this car’s how I bought it. I boughtit because my other car was just basicallybroken down and I just liked the shape of thecar. I haven’t done anything to it, except Ipainted the wheels black because I don’t likewhite wheels.”Excessive noiseBut what about the noisy exhaust?“A loud exhaust means better performance.Some boy racers have just a tip, mine is apipe running straight to the manifold so it’sgot better airflow. I didn’t realise it’s that loudbecause I’m driving,” Mr Black says.Mr Black offers to open the boot of his carand show Mr Daly the exhaust silencer herecently bought, but has been unable to installbecause he doesn’t own an Allen key. MrDaly declines, but encourages him to get thenoise issue “sorted” immediately.“If one of them had crashed Iwould have been blamed forit. That’s the position they areputting us in weekend afterweekend.”- Sergeant Peter DalyMr Black says he plans to sell his car and buya Nissan Skyline anyway – but only becausehis current car is a two-door and he wants toupgrade to a four-door.“The Skyline’s a turbo yeah, but it hasn’t beenlowered, it hasn’t got big exhausts or anythingand I only like it because it’s a manual. Itwill be loud, but I’m definitely going to put asilencer in it to keep it quiet.”When Police News suggested that a Skyline isthe epitomy of boy racer cars, Mr Black wasvery quick to respond that not all modifiedturbo cars qualify as boy racer cars.“My mate’s got a car worth $30,000 andthat’s not a boy racer car, it’s an Evo.”Mr Daly interjects by reminding him: “It’sprobably not a family wagon either is it?”“Actually he can fit his kid’s child seat in theback,” Mr Black retorts.• Sergeant Peter Daly, Canterbury Road Policing, pulls over a youth for a boy racer relatedoffence.Richard Black and his carload of mates headdown Moorehouse Ave and out of sight tocontinue their night of “looking at other cars”.Wider social problemsMr Daly says even after years of experiencedealing with boy racers, he still isn’t surewhat, if any tactic, is the solution to curbingboy racer activity.“Crucifixion? I haven’t got one. I really don’thave one. This is a social problem that I don’tbelieve any degree of enforcing is going tosolve. It creates bigger social problems too,because all these young guys have got all thisdebt – all this personal debt and fines and hirepurchase. They can’t buy a house, they can’tsettle down, and they’re not having kids.“It is just creating long-term problems forthem but it doesn’t seem to worry them. Aslong as they can get in their car and do lapswith their mates it’s all good.”Later that night…Just 15 minutes after Police News left, Mr Dalywas involved in a high-speed pursuit of an Evoand WRX that were drag racing each other at106km down Bealey Ave – a 50km zone.“They both got away; basically because Iwasn’t prepared to take the ridiculous risksthe drivers were taking. The driving wastotally outrageous. They got away not throughskill, but through taking totally unjustifiedrisks, in a reckless and shocking manner.Underdeveloped frontal brain lobes, that’swhat it’s about.“If one of them had crashed I would have beenblamed for it. That’s the position they areputting us in weekend after weekend.”“The young guy – Richard Black - who saidEvos are family cars was either taking themickey or deluded.”Loophole frustrates car dealers/lendersPolice News inquiries show that it’s relativelyeasy for boy racers to obtain high levels offinance through finance companies linked tocar dealers. Under the Credit Contacts Actthe person being lent money has to be 18years of age.Some car dealers specialise in lending toboy racers but interest rates are usuallybetween 20-36% because of a range of riskfactors, not the least of which is possiblerepossession by the courts for unpaid fines.One car dealer said that often theDepartment of Courts repossessed vehicles,which were legally owned by the car dealerand the finance company. The dealers thenhad to go to court to get them back. “TheDepartment of Courts could easily registera boy racer’s unpaid fines with Baycorp (adebt collection agency used by car dealers tocheck outstanding debts) and save us all a lotof trouble. If they did that clearly we wouldn’tbe financing the cars to the racers in the firstplace given that some of these kids havemany thousands of dollars worth of unpaidfine debt and the risk would be too great forus. Talk about a no-brainer, “ he said.May 200895

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceGlen Erskine – a man on a missionBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsThe Persian philosopher Ali (600-661 A.D) iscredited with the phrase: “Whoever knockspersistently, ends by entering”. Nearly1400 years later Glen Erskine, a Scottishpolice officer, is successfully putting thatphilosophy into practice.Erskine is the first to admit that his job titleas Secretary, Grampian Joint Branch Board,Scottish Police Federation, might seem aslong as Scotland itself but he is a cannyoperator who is willing to embrace reform ifit will benefit his membership.Take his David and Goliath stand againstthe might of the UK Pay Negotiations Board,which has long negotiated the pay andconditions of police officers in England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland asjust one example. Erskine wants Scotland togo it alone, in much the same way as thecurrent Scottish Nationalist Governmentseeks independence from the UK.National bodyThe Scottish Police Federation (SPF), forit’s part, is a national body, which has eightbranches – one for each Police force. TheGrampian Joint Branch is one of those unionbranches.The Grampian Joint Branch Board is anindependent body as well as being part of theSPF. While it is autonomous on many issuesand officers have the same pay and powersnationwide, the Scottish Police Federation istied to a pay structure, which is negotiatedfor all police officers throughout the UnitedKingdom.Erskine’s small Grampian Joint Branchrepresents 98% of the 1,550 sworn policecovering the mountainous northeast ofScotland. There are 16,000 police inScotland. Erskine has a hunger for changein the pay negotiating structure even thoughthe UK and Wales have a 140,000 votingpool to Scotland’s 16,000. “In the last twopay negotiations Scotland has said one thingand England and Wales another and well,you could say, democracy has dwarfed us,”Erskine admits with a wry grin.Progress“We’re never going to get anywhere underthe present system,” he adds, saying thatScotland needs a separate Scottish Pay andConditions Negotiating Board that wouldallow the Scots to deal with “our uniqueissues north of the border.”One can’t help but think that the mountainthe Scots have to climb on this one is akin totheir own Everest rather than a bonny weestroll up Ben Nevis.William “Braveheart” Wallace would beproud.Erskine, who has been a police officer for 18years, has been with the Joint Branch for sixyears, latterly taking over as secretary afterincumbent Chris Methven fell seriously ill.Erskine had been Methven’s deputy prior tothat.SimilaritiesThe Grampian Joint Branch is very similarto the NZ Police Association in offering legalrepresentation, welfare support, insurances,and advice on employment matters, amongstother services. Scotland does not have anACC system but has insurance cover to topup wages in the event of ill health or injury.Erskine says he is in New Zealand to learnmore of what the NZ Police Associationoffers its members with a view to importingthem into Scotland. He is keen on settingup a mortgage loan scheme similar to ours– something he could make a good case forwith the Scottish Police Federation.One thing Erskine is especially proud of inhis own patch is the Grampian Joint Branch’srepresentation on the Force Executive Board(FEB) at the Chief Constable’s behest. FEBis the equivalent of our Police ExecutiveCommittee (PEC). The Chief Constable isthe equivalent of our Police Commissioner.Erskine’s is the only branch of the eightunions to have a seat at Police ExecutiveBoard level.ShockThe Chief Constable’s invitation came asa shock to many – including, as is turnedout, some of the Executive members, whowere not aware of the union’s new seat atthe table until Erskine’s attendance. “To• Glen Erskine, Secretary, Grampian Joint Branch Board, Scottish Police Federation.96May 2008

New Zealand Police Associationsay they were somewhat dumbfoundedis an understatement,” Erksine tells me,his smile conveying that he was delightedto accept the Chief Constable’s invite andhas obviously had no cause to regret hisdecision in the interim. The Chairman of theGrampian Joint Branch is the union’s rep atthe table, Erskine preferring to keep himselfat arm’s length from proceedings so he cancomment, as Secretary, on any issues thatmay arise. The branch is allowed to speakon any issue and to add agenda items butdoes not have voting rights.“The seat at that table is a massive help tous as an organisation and it has certainlybroken down the ‘them and us’ attitudes thatsometimes exist between Police managementand unions,” Erskine told Police News.RepresentationThe Grampian Joint Branch representsranks from constable to chief inspectorand Erskine says despite the difference inranks there is an awareness that they are allfighting for the same rights. Superintendentsand senior officers have separate bodies torepresent them.“By having a joint approach to negotiationsit means that inspectors will supportconstables on issues that affect them andvice versa. The system works well,” Erskinesaid.The strength in numbers philosophy applies.“If you have 98% of police officers saying‘please sort this issue out and they speakwith one voice’ then it’s a pretty strongvoice,” he said. ”Same problemsAs for policing issues, he says the problemsare the same nationwide. “Drugs and violencemainly,” he adds. In The Grampians, policehave to deal with wildlife poachers andpoisoners as well as any sudden deaths onoil rigs.There are similarities here too. While NewZealand had the Mt Erebus plane crashand a huge body recovery programme,Grampian police had a similarly horrifictask in 1988 when the Alpha Piper oil rigturned into an inferno. 167 of the 225 crewperished in the resulting fireball, which sentflames 350 feet into the air and spewedlethal toxic fumes throughout the rig. “It wasthe biggest incident we had to deal with interms of a body recovery mission,” Erskinesays ruefully.In November 1990, Lord Cullen’s reportinto the disaster severely criticised safetyprocedures on the rig owned by OccidentalOil.Police-to-population ratiosThe Grampian region has a police-topopulationratio of around 1:416 whichcompares favourably with England andWales at 1:480. Australia stands at onepolice officer to every 445 citizens while• MEMORIES: Family members, his former fiancee and police colleagues were amongstthose who laid a wreath at a memorial service held on Wellington’s south coast recentlyto commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Constable Greg Rowe, whodrowned on 1 April 1978. Mr Rowe’s leg became entangled in a rope on the Policelaunch, the Lady Elizabeth 11 and he was dragged overboard. The launch had beenresponding to a distress call from a yacht which was in trouble at Palliser Bay. Membersof the Rowe family also laid a stylised angel plaque on a boulder in a remote locationnear where Greg drowned. Pictured are Ian Rowe, Nicola Barrett (nee Rowe), StuartRowe, Kevin Rowe, Denise Rowe and Kay Rowe. - Photo courtesy of The Dominion Post.New Zealand is currently at 1 for every 525people.Erskine says that the “numbers game” is stilla big issue in Scotland. The governmentpromised 1,000 extra officers recently ofwhich 100 will end up policing the vastGrampians region.“We don’t struggle for recruits, it’s still apopular occupation,” Erskine said. Attritionis low.Non-sworn staffAnother idea from these shores, whichErskine is keen to implement, is therepresentation of the 800 support staff (nonsworn)in his patch. At present, 250 arerepresented by Unison, the public serviceunion, while others are sprinkled amongsta variety of smaller unions or are notrepresented at all. There is another wee BenNevis in the wind there too, as legislationwould have to change to allow the ScottishPolice Federation, which was establishedunder an Act of Parliament, to representsupport staff. Erskine thinks that one’s notinsurmountable either.Scottish police officers have Tasers availableif required. In a deployment system, whichmirrors England, senior officers can nowmake the M26 Taser available to authorisedfirearms officers as a less lethal alternative foruse in situations where a firearms authorityhas been granted. “The Taser is a valuabletool and while it has never been used inThe Grampians yet, I am pleased that ourofficers will have it available as it is a farbetter option than having to shoot someonewith a firearm,” Erskine said.May 200897

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceThis column is written by a frontlinepolice officer. It does not representthe views or policies of the PoliceAssociation.by Ricky CollinsAnd the madness spreadsI see the Dark Lord bit like a shark in the last Letters to the Editor and I alsosee some of the team agree with me. That’s what life is all about, raisingdebate and discussing all and sundry if it’s a worthy topic. Now, I was gonnalet the matter lie there but me mates in the Feds have advised me that evenmy own Garden City is not beyond some of the madness. In this case, theNational Intelligence Application (NIA) fiasco spread to having investigatorsworking on a high profile homicide being scrutinized for doing checks on themain suspect!I kid you not! If that’s not madness I don’t know what is! Thank the GoodLord that commonsense kicked in and the matter was somewhat squashed atthe upper management level. We breed ‘em hardy down here and we aren’tafraid to make decisions, especially when faced with the absurd!Waiting, waiting, waiting...It’s getting a bit like the stab proof vests saga waiting for the result on theTaser trial. This is another great piece of equipment to keep our boys andgirls safe along with the public. Come on boss, you know there is gonna beflak from some quarters, whatever the decision is, but surely commonsensemust prevail!Extra. Extra. Read all about itHow was my timing on the SOCANZ? Not bad me thinks. Though I see theyhave had a name change to OFCANZ, which evidently stands for the Organisedand Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand. Whether that changes theapproach will be discovered in time, I suppose. Me mates in Welly are a bitworried because if this great unit is to be based in Molesworth Street then the‘Cake Tinners’ are expecting to lose a few staff up the road, which will makeit interesting for them in the CIB recruiting and retention arena.Chin up fellas, as it might actually enhance your ability to recruit staff thatwant to eventually go to Molesworth Street but need the district experiencefirst. Again, time will tell. No Tui advert comments just yet.Hot potAunty Helen and Uncle Michael look set to flex their muscles against Big Johnand Bill in the coming election. Let’s hope its win-win with a pay rise - taxcuts! Hopefully, it’ll help me talk the boss (the one at home that is) into lettingme keep my Sky subscription up to date.There is only one Robbie Deans!You know it baby! How good are our boys looking this season? Sublime, asper usual! The mighty Red and Blacks are looking like adding more silverwareto the cabinet this year, which has gotta be good for the AB’s in the TriNations and when we sort out the touring Irish.I just hope that the NZRU keep an eye on our Robbie and entice him backbefore 2011 arrives.See ya!A match up ofGewürztraminersWhen we think of New Zealand white wines,Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris andRiesling immediately come to mind. After thatmost of us start to scratch our head. Thereality is there are quite a few less commonvarieties in the market. One that’s starting to make a resurgent impact isGewürztraminer.The Gewürztraminer grape originates from Italy, and is a mutation of theTraminer grape. It is a red-skinned variety that’s renowned for its fragrantaromas and spicy characteristics. It’s a difficult grape to grow, as it buds inearly spring and is prone to frost, and can be susceptible to vine infections. Itproduces a relatively small crop. While it is grown in many countries aroundthe globe, the best examples come from the Alsace region in France. I linedup two New Zealand examples of this variety alongside a couple of wellpricedGewürztraminers from Alsace, and here are my notes.Villa Maria East Coast Gewürztraminer 2007 RRP $18This readily available entry-level wine from the Villa stable has been a longstandingfavourite of mine. It’s an off-dry wine with enticing spicy aromas,lemon and musk flavours and a nice clean finish. It can often be found onspecial at Pak ‘n Save or Countdown, so stock up when you see it.Spy Valley Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2007 RRP $20Spy Valley has gained a very good name for its aromatic white wines, andthis Gewürztraminer will certainly support that reputation. It has a slightlyhigher alcohol level than the Villa, which gives it a more oily texture. Thereare Turkish Delight and grapefruit flavours with a hint of ginger in the mix,and a moderate level of sweetness. This is a pretty smart wine for theprice.Gustave Lorentz Reserve Gewürztraminer 2005 RRP $24The nose on this wine is amazing. It is unmistakably Gewürztraminer, withlychee and musk coming through strongly. On the palate it is more delicatein style, with ripe tropical fruit flavours. It’s a well-balanced wine with along dry finish.Domaines Schlumberger Les Princes Abbes 2005 RRP $28Interestingly, I tried this wine with a group of seasoned wine tasters and theyall felt it was New Zealand in style. It doesn’t have the big viscous texturethat many Alsatian wines do, but the Turkish Delight and floral aromas andfresh clean palate make it a very enjoyable wine. This is a good introductionto European Gewürztraminer from a highly regarded producer.98May 2008

New Zealand Police Association“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but notone bit simpler.”- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)“I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.”- Mae West.“The Bible tells us to love our neighbours, and also to loveour enemies; probably because they are generally thesame people.”- G. K. Chesterton.1 2 3 4 5 6 7Clues:Across:2. Rank (9)8. Route split to form old style (5)9. I blame a mixture for liking (7)10. Paper books used by collectors (10)12. Broken pictures? (1-4)14. Type of gas (shortened) (5)15. Sights used of rifles (10)18. Not anywhere (7)19. Desert (5)20. People averse to change (9)Down:1. Procedure by solicitors in courts (5,8)2. Inside (8)3. Piece of leather (5)4. Worked out in detail; highly finished (13)5. Widen (7)6. Adam had many? (4)7. Places for SOCOs to attend (6,2,5)11. Types of salaries (8)13. Source of thefts from motor vehicles (7)16. An Indian class (5)17. Type of vase (4)8 91012 13 1415 1611April answers:Across:1. Jail3. Sprinter9. Doodler10. Deals11. Cost of living13. Accuse15. Edgers17. Recapitalise20. Tenon21. Golfers22. Dreading23. StirDown:1. Judicial2. Icons4. Perils5. Individually6. Trainee7. Rose8. Bloodstained12. Assessor14. Cleanse16. Airgun18. Inert19. Stud1718 1920May June JulyWAIHEKE ISLAND ........................... 4-5,18 ...........................................................22............................................................................10,24,30-31PAIHIA............................................ 5,7-8,11-15,18-22,25-29 ..............................2-6,8-30..................................................................1-3,19-23,25-31STANMORE BAY ............................. 4-8,11-15,18-22,25-29 .................................1-7,10-30................................................................1-6,13,16-31AUCKLAND .................................... Fully booked ..................................................26,29-30 .................................................................22-24,29-30WHANGAMATA ............................... 5-8,11-12,19-21,24-31 .................................1-5,8-30..................................................................1-4,8-9,13-17,19-31MT MAUNGANUI ............................ 2-4,7-8,11-16,18-23,25-30 ..........................2,4-5,8,15-19,22-27,29-30.....................................1-4,9-10,14,20-24,28-30OHOPE ........................................... 4-7,11-15,19-30 ...........................................2-12,14-19,22-30 ...................................................1-3,13-15,18-31ROTORUA ...................................... 4-5,8,11-15,19-22,25-29 ..............................2-5,9-11,15-20,22-26,29-30 ..................................1-4,8,10,16,20-31TAUPO ........................................... 5-8,12,14-15,18-21,25-29 ............................2-12,15-19,22-30 ...................................................1-3,21-25,27-31TURANGI ........................................ 5-8,11-23,25-29 ...........................................2-5,7-27,29-30 .......................................................Winter ballotNAPIER .......................................... 9,11-15,18-19,22,24,26-29 ..........................3-5,8-12,15-19,22-26,29-30 ..................................1-3,13,20-24,28-31PARAPARAUMU .............................. 8,12-16,21-22,25-26 ....................................1-5,9-12,15-19,23-26,29-30 ..................................1-3,6,11,15-31GREYTOWN .................................... 7-8,14-15,19-22,25-30 .................................1-6,8-13,15-19,22-26,29-30 ..................................1-4,18,20,27-31WELLINGTON ................................. 5,11,21,26-27 ...............................................1,5,10,15,18,22-24,26-27,29-30 ............................8,28NELSON ......................................... 5,8,12-14,19-22,27-29 .................................1-3,8-10,12-30 .......................................................1-3,8-10,20-24,28-31HANMER SPRINGS ......................... 30 ..................................................................22,26.......................................................................3,6CHRISTCHURCH ............................. 21,27-29 .......................................................2-5,9-12,15-19,23-25,29-30 ..................................1-3,21-24,26-31TEKAPO ......................................... 8,21-22,27 ....................................................3,15-18 ...................................................................Winter BallotWANAKA ........................................ 7,11-13,16,18-23,25-31 ...............................6,9-13,17-19,22-26 ................................................Fully BookedCROMWELL ................................... 2,5-6,8,14-15,19-29 .....................................2-3,7-26,30.............................................................1-2QUEENSTOWN ............................... 1-31 ..............................................................1-19,23-25..............................................................1-4TE ANAU ........................................ 1-8,11-16,18-22,24-29 .................................3-30 ........................................................................1-6,8-18,26-31DUNEDIN ....................................... 4,15,18-19,22,25-29 .....................................3-6,8,11-12,17-19,22-26,28-30 .............................1-3,7,20-24,27-31To make a booking - Call one of our Customer Services representatives on 0800-500-122 or Ext 4446 or log on at www.policeassn.org.nz and use your Member IDand Login to make your own bookingMay 200899

POLICE COUNCIL OF SPORTTo contact the Police Council of Sport, call Alison Murray at the RNZPC. Ph: (04) 238-3139• GROUP WINNERS: (the top of each event - not of each category) - from left to right: Luke Vaughan, Graham Perkins, Nicky Spicer, NickyPettigrew, Reuben Boniface, Angelique Walker, Ben Cornelius, Matt Stone, Sarah Blair, James McKay, Lochie Cameron (almost obscured atback), Kirsty Hurnen, Geoff McGrath, and Allan Hallberg.Paulin and Blair shine atPolice Triathlon ChampionshipPicturesque Wanaka was the backdrop for the 2008 National Police TriathlonChampionships in mid-March.The event also incorporated the duathlon and multisport (kayak instead of aswim) championships. Ian Paulin and Sarah Blair were the respective winnersof the triathlon while Wellington visitors Angelique Walker and Ben Corneliuswon the duathlon event.Bruce McLean from Cromwell did a great job of organising the event, whichcentred in the areas around Lake Wanaka (with snow on the hills nearby). Theconditions on the day were perfect considering the lead up weather had beenblustery and wet. The recent snowfalls on Mount Aspiring meant the lake wasrather cool too but competitors soon warmed up on the cycle and run.OptionsThere were several options – the traditional triathlon (swim/cycle/run), aduathlon (run/cycle/run) and multisport (kayak/cycle/run). There was also theusual team option.Everyone started together – swim 750m, 4km kayak and 5km run, followedby the 20km cycle out to Glendhu Bay, taking in beautiful views, and then a5km run next to the lake. Although there were a few minor mishaps, everyonewho started completed the course.After matchThe Wanaka Police Station wasn’t quite large enough for the after matchfunction, so Bruce organised a great venue at the Bullock Pub. Somecompetitors tried their hand at the karaoke bar later that evening (after a fewbeers had plucked up a bit of courage).There was a fantastic turnout from the North Island, especially New Plymouth,Hawke’s Bay and Wellington. Next year’s event is in Nelson and organisersare keen to encourage more budding triathletes along. At this stage the eventis pencilled in for mid-February.Funding from the Police Council of Sport means travel and accommodationcan be subsidised.Results were:Duathlon Angelique Walker 01:20:20 1st female duathleteDuathlon Ben Cornelius 01:13:21 1st male duathleteDuathlon James McKay 01:23:27 2nd male duathleteDuathlon Allan Hallberg 01:23:40 3rd male duathleteMultisport Pippa Pettigrew 01:18:10 1st female multisportMultisport Donna Bower 01:32:27 2nd female multisportMultisport Luke Vaughan 01:04:26 1st male multisportMultisport Reuben Boniface 01:14:05 2nd male multisportTriathlon Sarah Blair 01:16:30 1st female triathleteTriathlon Nicky Spicer 01:17:53 2nd female triathleteTriathlon Kirsty Hurnen 01:20:23 3rd female triathleteTriathlon Ian Paulin 01:00:57 1st male triathleteTriathlon Jeff McGrath 01:02:29 2nd male triathleteTriathlon Lachie Cameron 01:03:15 3rd male triathleteVisit 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.100 May 2008

• ON YA BIKE: Angelique Walker from Wellington during thecycling section.• PAULIN AWAY: Ian Paulin was first home in the triathlon.Snowboarding Nationalsat Cardrona in SeptemberThe 2008 NZ Police Association and Council of Sport Snowboarding Nationalswill be held at Cardrona Alpine Resort, Queenstown from 17-19 Sept 2008.All boarders of intermediate ability and above are welcome. The event, heldover two days, consists of the infamous Cardrona Cannonball, followed by thehalfpipe, giant slalom and boardercross.For more information please contact Greg Murton on extension 36725,or Email Gregory Murton via Lotus Notes.Call for hockey playersThis year’s men’s and women’s New Zealand Police Hockey teams will becompeting at the National Senior Hockey Tournament which is to be heldbetween 29 September and 4 October.The tournament is being held in North Harbour, Auckland.All players who would like to be considered need to be available for the entireweek.This is the National senior hockey tournament, only one grade below theNational Hockey League, so players need to be of a reasonable level of abilityand fitness.The women will be defending their National title, which they won last year.For those interested, please send an Email outlining your hockey CV (i.e. teams/grades played, currently playing etc).Men forward details to:Ian.pengelly@police.govt.nzCounties-ManukauDDI: (09) 353 3727Ext: 91997Women forward details to:lynda.west@police.govt.nzPalmerston NorthDDI: 06 3513768Ext: 65768.New Zealand Police AssociationNZ Police rugby teamnamed for testagainst AussiesThe NZ Police rugby team has been named for a test match against thetouring Australian Police team in Auckland on 2 August this year.The history of Police rugby is long steeped with former All Blacks, All Blackcoaches, Junior All Blacks, NZ Colts and NZ Combined Services players.The Australian team will be out to defend their honour, which was completelydestroyed last year when the NZ team thrashed them in Australia. The NZPolice team contains nine players who played in that test last year.The NZ Police team is as follows: Leighton Hale (BOP), Ray Fa’ofo (Auckland),Matt Sheehan (Auckland), Reece Sirl (Captain, Auckland), Justin Robins(Canterbury), Henry Tofilau (Auckland), James Asekona (Auckland), OxSipu (Auckland), Ramaka Pohipi (BOP), Eru Haimona (BOP), Metu Egelani(Auckland), Keke Wilson (Auckland), Ben Poluleigaga (Counties-Manukau),Gerwin Roache (Auckland), Tuiono Ta’Ufo’ou (Counties-Manukau), PeterSerfontein (Counties-Manukau), Richard Thompson (Auckland), WalterTrevanius (BOP), Phil Wilkinson (BOP), Shaun Mortenson (Auckland), LorenzoBurgess (Counties-Manukau), Lou Perese (Auckland), and Michael Tanoi(Counties-Manukau).NZ Police Cross-countryChamps to be run inTauranga on 3 JuneThe NZ Police Cross-country Championships will be run this year at WaipunaPark, Welcome Bay, Tauranga, at 2pm on Tuesday 3 June.The course length for the men and veteran men is nine kilometres (9,000metres) while the women and veteran women’s distance is six kilometres(6,000 metres). There will also be a three-person relay, with each relay legrunner doing three kilometres (3,000 metres). The draught horse section (forrunners 95 kilograms or above) will be run over six kilometres.Entry is $10. The prizegiving and function will follow the racing at the TaurangaPolice Station bar. If you are intending to run or would like more details pleasesend an Email to either Tim Marsters (Tauranga) or Mark Chillingworth(Wanganui) via Lotus Notes.Sports contributionsIf you are a sports organiser or contributor with a sports tale to tell, someresults or an event you want advertised, please send them direct via Email asa Word document to editor@policeassn.org.nzIf you have photos to go with your article then please ensure they are sent withthe photo DPI at 300. Photos on lesser settings are not usually of publishablequality.Also, please do not, as some people have done in the past, send the articlesto other people within the Association, as this does not guarantee publication.The only way to ensure that is to send articles to the Editor direct.We endeavour to publish all sports results sent to us, but please understandspace is sometimes at a premium and your results may be held over until alater date. Please also tell us if you have sent the results or article to the TenOne magazine.Use of 0800 Ten Nine phone lineAssociation representatives maintain this telephone line(0800 8366 463) on a 24-hour basis.It is to be used ONLY for matters that cannot be deferred, such asPolice shootings, fatal pursuits or deaths in custody.Important and immediate industrial and legal advice can then bearranged through the Association networks.Please do not phone this line for non-urgent matters.May 2008101

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PolicePovey proves to be top gun atNational Pistol Biathlon champsThe inaugural Police Pistol Biathlon was held on Saturday, 3 March, in Auckland.The Biathlon combines the two sports of cross-country running with pistol shooting.Contestants run 1.6 kilometres, shoot 12 shots, run another 1.6 kilometres, shootanother 12 shots, and then run a final 1.6 kilometres.The event is timed, and the winner is the contestant with the fastest overall time.Missing the target during the shooting phase adds penalty time.Run too fast and risk interfering with your shooting. Spend too long shooting andadd to your overall time. The Biathlon is an event where the fastest runner or thebest shooter is not automatically the winner.Popular eventThe event is popular with police officers overseas and features at major internationalevents like the World Police and Fire Games.The tournament here is open to Police staff and their families. A current A-classfirearms license is required as well as familiarity with shooting the Glock semiautomatic pistol.An indoor shooting venue was used for this year’s competition. Contestantspounded the pavements down Victoria Street, around Victoria Park Market,past the Birdcage, and back up Cook Street. The run course involved some hillwork, negotiating traffic, and to cap it off after a week of fine weather there wastorrential rain on the day. On the bright side, it was warm, however this might havecontributed to the contestants safety glasses fogging during the shooting phases.Record timesDespite the conditions, first time contestants set some record times. Kelly Poveywas first overall woman narrowly beating out second place Kirstina Jamieson,and third place Briar Henderson. Kelly shot with a revolver, reloading betweeneach string by hand, this was costing her time in the shooting phase but obviously‘good things take time’ as she was the most accurate shot over the entire field ofmen and women.First overall male was Chadwick Cox. Chad’s combination of running and shootingability allowed him to rise to the top of the bunch. He narrowly beat out anexperienced shooter from the Police Pistol Nationals in Rashpal Singh with JohnRei taking third.Special mention goes to Gerry Wever of the Environmental Science and Research(ESR) for attending and turning in the fastest run time and to Tim Moody andJustin Allan for travelling from as far as Police National Headquarters (PNHQ) totake part.Age gradingThe Biathlon is graded by age, from the Open category (18-29 years), all theway up to Grandmaster D (65 years plus). Next year we would like to see someGrandmasters taking part, and some regional teams. The hastily arranged fourpersonTaranaki team took the team’s title and they have vowed to vigorouslydefend their title next year (overheard amongst cries of ‘Go the Naki!’). Overallwinner, Kelly Povey, was a member of the winning Taranaki quartet.The next Biathlon Nationals are to be held on Sunday, 1 March 2009. If you arekeen to take part or interested in getting your firearms license, contact the eventorganiser Cyrus Robinson via the Lotus Notes Email network.• The winning team from Taranaki: Mark Wilton, Kelly Povey,Michael Keller, and Paul Davidson.• Rashpal Singh (Auckland City) takes aim during the shootingphase.50 year reunion for members of the Walter Nash Cadet WingMembers from the Walter Nash Wing who commenced training at theTrentham Police Training School in 1958, gathered for a two-day reunion inRotorua recently.Twenty-seven of the original 39 cadets attended the reunion, and sharedstories of their days in training almost 50 years after graduation.Of the Wing, 26 had obtained promotion to Sergeant or above, one becameAssistant Commissioner, and 13 received 35-year long-service clasps.• Back row: Robin Loader, Anthony Hunter, Adrian Mowatt-Wilson,Tony Tremewan, Tony Allum, Bernie Rowe, Rod Whitaker, KeithWrigley. Middle row: John Lahmert, Kim Workman, Bert Hill,Duncan McGill, Gerard Marks, Jim Rossiter, Terry Cullen, KevinSchwass, Kevin Holland, Barry Lahmert. Front row: Paul Mears,Ken Drake, Roy Aberhart, Don McConnell, Ian Beattie, LindsayHunter, Bruce Scott.102May 2008

New Zealand Police Association• More than 160 competitors, in 14 teams, participated in the inaugural NZ Police Mixed Touch Tournament, held in Masterton in lateFebruary.NZ Police mixed Touch Tournament a successThe New Zealand Mixed Police Touch Tournamentwas held in late February in Masterton, with morethan 160 players participating.The NZ Police Undercover Brothers, withassistance from Wairarapa Police staff and theirfamilies, hosted the tournament.Fourteen teams from stations across the North andSouth Islands competed, as well as a Smokefreecelebrity team, which included MP Ron Mark,world superbike and motorsport legend, AaronSlight, former NZ Kiwi League captain, JohnLomax, Sky Sports commentator, Ken Laban,former Manu Samoa rugby international, EarlVa’a, and former world cup winning Black Fern,Regina Sheck.North Island victoriesSome exciting play over 32 games saw GisbornePolice take out the overall championships, beatingWanganui in a closely contested final.Lower Hutt Police were the plate champions,defeating the South Island champions, BlenheimPolice. The Tararua Tigers won the “Team Spirit”award sponsored by the NZ Police Association.Each team nominated a player to compete in thekicking contest held during the tournament lunchbreak. The champion kicker was Anaru ‘SugarFoot’ Pewhairangi from the Lower Hutt Storm.The tournament was capped off with an ‘islandnight’ prizegiving function held at the MastertonPolice Club, with tall stories being told ofmagnificent try-scoring feats well into the earlyhours.“We couldn’t have asked for a better day tohave for the inaugural event. We wanted tocreate something special that was more thanjust the day’s touch. We appreciated havingso many teams attend, which included eightfrom the Wellington region including the PoliceAssociation,” tournament organiser, Neil Foote,saidMr Foote thanked the Police Association and theNZ Police Council of Sport for their support inenabling the event to go ahead.Next year’s event will be held in Masterton on 13February.• WEAR YOUR CRASH HELMET! A truck was travelling down the highway at around oneo'clock in the morning near Tulsa, Oklahoma. A motorcyclist travelling behind the truckstruck the back of the moving semi-truck (below) at a speed of 120 kph. Unfortunatelyfor the motorcyclist his crash helmet became wedged in the back of the truck and he wasdragged for 400 metres before the driver of the truck could pull the rig to a standstill. Thebike was totalled (right) and the driver found the cyclist still embedded in the back of thetruck (pictured).- Photos courtesy of Oklahoma Police.May 2008103

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceDo you want either of these cowboys to win?Special OfferSix months free Home InsuranceBuying a new home or refinancing canbe an expensive process, especially withtoday’s interest rates. To make it easier onPolice Welfare Fund members’ pockets, thosedrawing down a new Police Home Loan from1 March to 30 June 2008, will be eligible for sixmonths free home insurance through the WelfareFund’s Police Fire & General Insurance*.Members should contact our Member ServicesCentre on 0800 500 122, with a copy of your loandocument from The National Bank.New Police Home LoanPackageSports Awards 2007Whether it’s the Coast-to-Coast, Ironman, or at a New Zealand or regional representativelevel; if you know someone that competes, organises or referees at or around these levels,nominate them for the Police Council of Sport Sporting Awards.Three categories are competed for yearly:• Sports Official of the Year – referee or umpire;• Administrator of the Year – any coaches, managers.…and the ultimate award, the…• Police Association Sportsperson of the Year.Previous winners in each field have come from a wide variety of different sports such asshooting, Ironman, wheelchair basketball, and even rugby, netball and cricket!Whether it’s a mate, boss or colleague that you’re covering for while they’re away,nominate them, or nominate yourself. The successful Police Association Sportsperson willhave a function in their district where they can thank all their workmates, friends and familyfor the support they have been given.For a nomination form see www.policesport.org.nz.Nominations need to be in by 23rd May 2008. Please send your nomination toAlison Murray, Council of Sport, Private Bag 50906, Porirua.Coroner’s report highlightslack of detox facilitiesA Coroner’s report into the deaths of two mentaken into Police custody highlights the failureof the health system to provide detoxificationcentres under the Alcoholism and Drug AddictionAct 1966.“This is another example of police becomingthe service of last resort – the last remainingnationwide 24-7 social service in New Zealand,”NZ Police Association President, Greg O’Connor,said.“The 1966 Act envisages drunks being takenhome, or to detox centres, and only to police cellsas a last resort. But detox centres have neverbeen prioritised for funding, and so the last resorthas become the first resort.Problems“People who are too intoxicated to properlycommunicate, and who can’t alert staff if they arehaving a genuine medical problem, shouldn’t bein Police cells. Police do what they can, but theyare not doctors, and they are not in a position tobe providing full time care and attention to theheavily intoxicated,” Mr O’Connor said.“The Policing Bill will introduce mandatorydoctor’s assessments before a drunk is detainedbeyond 12 hours. That’s good because it shiftsthe responsibility for making a medical judgmentonto a health professional. It’s also another set oftasks and responsibilities for police staff to complywith that, simply, should not be their job.“The Coroner’s report is clear. The Health Ministryhas a responsibility to provide proper facilities forthese people, and it’s time they stopped expectingPolice to provide a free health service they are notequipped to perform,” Mr O’Connor said.The Police Home Loan package providesattractive benefits to Police Welfare Fundmembers and their immediate family, like:• No Home Loan application fee• 0.50% p.a. off the standard National BankFloating and Flexible Home Loan interest rates• The lowest possible rate on fixed interest rateloans without having to negotiate and regardlessof your loan size• A contribution of $500 towards legal fees• A small fee of $100 for a top-up on an existingloan• Discount on Low Equity Premium fees if yourloan is between 80% to 95% of the propertyvalue.Our Police Home Loan package is highlycompetitive and flexible.For more information or to apply for the PoliceHome Loan package visit www.policeassn.org.nz,call The National Bank lending specialists on0800 800 808, email direct@nbnz.co.nz or visitany branch of The National Bank.Protection to cover yourHome Loan repaymentsThe loss or critical illness of someone in the familycan impact dramatically on your ability to cover yourregular outgoings, mortgage payments and livingexpenses. Police Welfare Fund Group Life andSupplementary Life Insurance* policies providea very affordable solution for members to protectthemselves from financial hardship, should a deathor critical illness strike.Call our Insurance Services team on 0800 500 122, oremail them at: insurances@policeassn.org.nzThe National Bank’s lending criteria, terms, conditions and fees apply.For borrowing over 80% of a property’s value, a low equity premium ona graduated scale will apply. Eligibility to apply for a Police Home Loanpackage is at the discretion of the Police Welfare Fund Limited andapplicants must be current members of the Fund. This home loan offer isnot available for loans approved through a broker and details of the offer aresubject to change. For a copy of The National Bank Disclosure Statementand full details (including terms and conditions) contact any branch ofThe National Bank of New Zealand (part of ANZ National Bank Limited).*The insurance options mentioned are subject to the standard underwritingterms and conditions and are provided through the Police Welfare Fund notby The National Bank. Members are eligible for one period of six monthsfree Police Fire & General Home Insurance premium only, per member,regardless of the term of Police Home Loan taken. Police Fire & GeneralInsurance is underwritten by Lumley General Insurance (NZ) Limited.The Police Welfare Fund Group Life and Supplementary Life insuranceis underwritten by AIG Life.To find the full range of benefitsavailable to members visitwww.policeassn.org.nz104May 2008

New Zealand Police AssociationWrite 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.Go for a decent core wage increaseHaving read the pay round update in the lastissue of Police News, I am stunned to read thatwe are not focusing on the core wage. Have wenot learnt anything from the nurses?We worry about the extras and not the basicpay. The nurses argued the basic wage and gotthe popular vote from the public, in turn givingthem the upper hand.Let us make the rules not management.Greg Stone(Palmerston North)Time for TOIL to be abolishedI have just finished reading the April PoliceNews pay round update entitled ‘The big ticketitems’. I was annoyed to read point 2: “We willcontinue our push for the five hour time off inlieu (TOIL) rule to be reduced”. In the last nineyears the Association has managed to get theTOIL rule reduced from seven to five hours. Atthis rate, the TOIL rule will be gone by 2040.Police pay rates long ago stopped reflecting anyremuneration for this stand down. Everyoneknows that the nature of the job means thereare times when you have to work past the endof your shift, but to receive nothing for workingtill 9 p.m. when your shift ended at 4 p.m.other than a meal allowance, is ridiculous.Surely, we have reached the point whereovertime should be rewarded; I am notsuggesting that necessarily be in financial termsbut just an extra hour worked as an extra hourof TOIL received.The Association should be pushing for theabolition of the TOIL rule in this pay round notyet another small reduction.Greg MappManukauA job well done by great staffOn the 17th of February this year, a lightplane and a helicopter collided in the air overParaparaumu. Two young men in their teensand another young man died as a result.This crash happened at about 11.15 a.m. ona sunny Sunday morning. The helicopter,containing two of the men, crashed through theroof of the busy Placemakers hardware storeinto the dry timber area. The light plane fell intoa quiet suburban cul de sac, parts of the motorcrashing into the hallway of a neighbouringhouse. That no one on the ground was killed inthis incident was a minor miracle in itself.This was a terrible tragedy that claimed the livesof those fine young men. Many local peoplewatched the crash in horror and the PoliceComms Centre was flooded with 111 calls.These calls initiated a large Police operation(called Operation Post).Many police officers on duty throughout theWellington District responded to the call, somefrom as far away as Masterton. Many off-dutypolice officers in Paraparaumu respondedimmediately as well. Staff (not all local)inundated the Kapiti Police Station asking whatthey could do to help.As the operation commander, I would like topass on my thanks to all those staff involvedand the absolute professionalism they showedas the operation and the tragedy unfolded.There is no doubt in my mind that a similarresponse would happen in any police operationthroughout New Zealand. We are blessedwith a fine organisation, which can respond totragedies and emergencies nationwide with theutmost skill and ability.The Central Comms operator, Gary McLean,was cool and composed throughout the initialchaotic period. His composure was reassuringto all staff attending both scenes.The liaison with other services through theCIMS (Co-ordinated Incident ManagementSystem) model went off without a hitch. The NZFire Service showed again what a professionalorganisation they are. The local mayor, JennyRowan, became heavily involved and attendedthe initial and subsequent police briefings. OurMedia Liaison Officer, Kaye Calder, handledthe media expertly. The STU Sergeant, RonWalker, quickly established traffic control.Senior Sergeant Alasdair Macmillan, O/Cstation, was on the scene very early on.The O/C Kapiti Mana CIB, Detective SeniorSergeant Mike Oxnam quickly became involvedand initially the operation was run along thelines of a homicide inquiry. The expertise of ourCIB staff made the TAIC (Transport AccidentInvestigation Commission) investigator’s jobeasy. Victim support, led by Donna Demenech,swung into operation to support the grievingfamilies and also people who witnessed thetragedy. Experienced community constablesbecame part of the investigation team as well.Non-sworn staff swung in behind the team tolend their support.The Disaster Victim Identification team, led bySergeant Jo Holden, which cleared the scene atPlacemakers, were consummate professionalsand their contribution should especially berecognised.The District Commander, Superintendent PieriMunro, arrived early to lend support to theteam and Deputy Commissioner Lyn Provostattended the first evening briefing.And our heartfelt thanks go to those membersof the public who offered support in manyforms to our staff who attended at both scenes(including the numerous offers of tea, sconesand biscuits!).In summary, this became a textbook operation.It made my job so much easier.The main reason I make these comments is notonly to thank all those members who took partin this operation but also to recognise all ourstaff that participate in major operations andtragedies across New Zealand on a day-to-daybasis, often in tough and trying circumstances.I know that the Police News goes out internallyand externally. So I not only want our ownpolice staff to read this but for other peopleoutside our organisation to know it as well.John Spence(Area Commander, Kapiti-Mana Police)Minimum standards“English may have to be included as part ofPolice training”. The March edition of PoliceNews made light of what is in fact a seriousissue. We may be a laughing stock, but weshould not be laughing at ourselves!The standard of English literacy displayed bya large number of Police graduates is woeful atbest.We must be honest about it; sworn (and nonswornfor that matter) members of police mustbe able to display proficient competence inboth written and verbal communication of theEnglish language.It’s all very well to be employing staff that bringa variety of languages to the organisation, but ifEnglish is not one of them, we’re in trouble.Let me give you a recent example. I receiveda school arson file for investigation. The 258report stated the door of 19 classrooms hadbeen damaged by fire. I queried the reportand discovered that in fact it was the door ofclassroom 19 that had been damaged by fire.One door versus 19 doors, one charge of arsonversus 19 perhaps? You do the maths.I’ve seen Summary of Facts that have beencopied and pasted from other summariesthat make no sense whatsoever. Dates,times, locations, a defendant’s details, eventhe ingredients of the offence(s) that don’tmatch. Clearly, the officer didn’t proof readthe document, or simply didn’t recognise theerrors. Computer spell checkers won’t writethe summary for you. If police officers can’tdifferentiate between where/were/wear/we’re,or beer/bare/bear then the summary can beseriously flawed. I read about a drug offenderthe other day who was “waisted”. Was he really?We can all make mistakes, but this lack of Englishcompetence is amateurish and embarassing.What do the Judges think about the Police whenthey’re reading a summary that appears to havebeen written by a five-year-old?English may be one of the most difficultlanguages in the world to learn. So what?NZ Police must have a minimum standard ofEnglish comprehension and literacy with noexceptions, no matter one’s ethnicity. I suggestwe need to raise the bar. Unless it is, how canwe argue that there is no “thick blue line”?Perhaps Lynne Truss’s publication “Eats,Shoots and Leaves” should be made mandatoryreading for every member who enters the RoyalNew Zealand Police College (read the doubleentendre).Keith Olsen(South Auckland)May 2008105

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceThe problem with South AucklandI see South Auckland is in the spotlight again forall the wrong reasons. Last month it was streetgangs, this month it will be child abuse and themonth after that…well, take your pick.Unfortunately, there are those out there whosubscribe to the myth that if the Counties-Manukau Police simply worked harder,South Auckland would become a law abidingupstanding place to live. Perhaps these are thesame people who when looking in the mirrorsee a striking, fit young athlete but fail to seethe double chin and Michelin tyre around themiddle. Whatever the case, here’s just a few ofthe reasons why South Auckland is what it is:1. Benefits: So long as the government continuesto treat a large proportion of the inhabitantsof South Auckland like a three-legged twotailedSumatran Rhino, something of immenserarity and value, the problem will only worsenwith time. Unlimited, unconditional, welfarehandouts and exceptions help no one.2. Education: The predominately Polynesianculture that is the real South Auckland appearsto place very little emphasis on education.This is illustrated in numerous ways but frommy point view no more so than by the largenumber of youths who voluntarily drop out ofschool early and subsequently sign up to theeasier option of courses. With little requirementto attend and no sign of employment at thecompletion, the outcome is obvious.3. Gang culture: The media are mesmerizedby the term. A gang is usually a collection ofbored unemployed male Polynesian thugs agedbetween 14-24 years of age and named afterthe closest street or rap group. He may be amember of multiple gangs on Monday andnone by Friday. Whether he’s a member of the“Killer Beez” or any other gang that’s here todayand gone tomorrow, this will have no effecton his rate of offending. Whether the offencescommitted are stand overs, vehicle crime or thecurrent flavour of the moment - bag snatching- the bush telegraph dares and educates therest of them to reach the next level. So let’snot get flustered over whether the number of“gang members” is increasing or decreasing asthis figure has no bearing on the actual level ofcrime.The reality is that the parents of these thugsare powerless to curtail their kids’ ways andnormally have little grasp of the magnitude ofthe offending. The parents generally prefer topass the responsibility on to one of the manyservices provided than deal with it themselves.I’m never sure whether it’s out of laziness orwhether the stop domestic violence theme isactually having an effect.4. Violence: When third world culturecomes face to face with first world rules andregulations, as is the case in South Auckland,there is inevitably fallout. No amount of courtappearances or other inter-agency initiatives willchange attitudes that have been indoctrinatedand accepted into a way of life established overhundreds of years. Then add to the mix allthe other accelerants, alcohol, drugs boredometc and you have South Auckland or for thatmatter, many other island nations or thirdworld societies.5. Unemployment: It’s all very well forthe government to claim a three percentunemployment rate but until unemployedmeans not contributing financially we willalways be deluding ourselves about the realpicture. Renaming the unemployed as sicknessbeneficiaries, students or home executivesdoesn’t cut it or fool anyone. Forcing capablepersons to work sounds like the answer. Iused the term capable versus able-bodied forthe simple reason that plenty of traditionallytermed non able- bodied persons work, just notin South Auckland.6. Citizenship: The government, through theManukau City Council, could consider slowingdown on the frequency of the citizenshipceremonies. They’re handing out citizenshipsto every undeserving Tom Dick and Harry asif it were an invitation to the Otara flea market.Perhaps becoming a New Zealander shouldrequire a probationary period of 10 yearsof good behavior. If you are convicted of anoffence carrying a sentence of three months ormore in prison it’s bye bye for good. This maywell result in the “Robert Muldoon IQ effect”throughout the Pacific.7. Immigration: When is an overstayer notan overstayer? When he doesn’t want to gohome and someone in government is preparedto accommodate his/her pathetic pleas forleniency. The partner of a violent criminaloverstayer recently avoided deportation for herman after giving some of the following excuses,according to a report carried by The NZ Herald:“It’s too violent in the islands, my skin will burnand I don’t like taro.” An offender will struggleto victimize law-abiding tax paying citizensresiding in New Zealand when he/she is 2,500kilometres away. In my humble opinion, aperson who is not contributing to New Zealandin a positive manner needs to leave.8. The Justice and Corrections Departments:The Manukau District Court has not servedthe victims of South Auckland well. Is it anywonder our victims routinely fail to show upand criticize the officer-in-charge when thecourt is continuously adjourning cases up tothree times to either accommodate some dodgylawyer’s appeal for no disclosure, change ofcounsel on the day of the hearing or simplybecause 30 cases don’t fit into a court day thatcommences at 10.00 a.m. and folds normallyno later then 4.00 p.m. If the Manukau DistrictCourt was a non-state funded organisation itwould be out of business by Wednesday.When are those promised prisons coming online? We love recycling in this country. Sadly,that includes our offenders. South Auckland isriddled with hardened criminals that need tobe removed from society but due to lenientsentences such vermin routinely resurface torevictimize at will.9. Liquor outlets: I’m told that there are some500 liquor outlets within South Auckland. Is itany wonder there’s a problem there? Until placeslike Otara have wholesale restrictions on thesale and consumption of liquor (something thatis not likely to happen in my lifetime) alcoholwill remain perhaps the single biggest hurdle inthe quest to clean up South Auckland.10. Religion: South Auckland has alwayscried poverty, but every Sunday of every weekthousands of dollars are further depleted fromthe family coffers in the name of donations (10%of annual income in some cases). Meanwhile,the likes of Destiny Church’s Bishop BrianTamaki are riding around on $50,000 Harleysand living in multimillion- dollar waterfronthouses while their “flock” wallows in selfinflictedpoverty. If such donations can bemade, perhaps it would be timely to suggestthat the donators could perhaps start payingtheir heavily subsidised rent, or the annualschool fees, or their traffic fines. But of coursethere are always more excuses and exceptions.These are only a few of the issues that SouthAuckland has created. However, they are allintertwined. Solve one issue and you mightvery well solve them all. A lot of services, Policeincluded, have spent a huge amount of time,money and effort trying to change the statusquo in South Auckland but with little success.These issues can be addressed but not untilthere is a wholesale change in attitude from thecommunity. South Auckland needs to wakeup from its 30-year-old hangover and takeownership of its own problems.“Myth buster”(Name and address with held)People in glass houses…I was saddened but not surprised by the letterfrom Mr Annan in the March issue regardingdoing the right thing. There is an old saying:“Managers are people who do things right,leaders are people who do the right thing”.There is also another old saying: “People wholive in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”.I Am Keen’s column ‘A View from the bottom’is a well-written piece of satire, which takesreal problems and puts a funny spin on them.Whilst I do not advocate checking people outon NIA for the hell of it, sometimes good copshave a feeling for things and NIA checks canhelp verify these. Then again I suppose thatis something Mr Annan, a civilian employeewould not know anything about. If I found mystaff misusing the system for their own benefitI would be the first in line to put them in theirplace but if it is for a valid reason and they canexplain their “gut feeling” to me then I’ll backthem. I have been recently advised that I amone of the lucky random ones to be chosen forone of these audits. I’m not worried, as I havenothing to hide.As far as Mr Annan’s referral to the Police CoreCompetencies is concerned, perhaps he and hisfellow “castle dwellers” should read it and thenlook up the definitions themselves. They seempretty quick to quote this when it suits themand ignore it when it doesn’t. If you want topreach honesty and integrity to the rest of usthen lead by example.He also says that: “Police will continue to holdmembers accountable for their performance”.Does this mean that managers like him will alsobe held accountable for their performance andfailures? Faith in the Police hierarchy is beingdamaged by the actions of a few.There are many cases where management hasfailed to keep its word and has breached the‘good employer’ obligation. I always thoughtthat a commissioned officer’s word was hisbond (same for a non-sworn manager), but thisis obviously not the case anymore. When I givemy staff my word I will do something then I doit. If I can’t guarantee the outcome they seek Itell them that I will do what I can, but just thatand that I cannot guarantee as the final decisionis out of my hands.As stated earlier, perhaps some of the castledwellers should read, understand and live bythese core values. It should then make it easierto preach to the rest of us.Jim Currie(Christchurch)106May 2008

I write in response to Mr Wayne Annan’s letterregarding “I Am Keen’s” views on NationalIntelligence Application (NIA) access. What isit that spurred Mr Annan into putting pen topaper? Was it the nasty jibe about Mr Annansuffering paper cuts? Why did he choose torespond to a fairly innocuous opinion piecewhen he ignores serious issues raised in thePolice News?Mr Annan’s comment “When a police memberaccesses NIA without needing to resolve a situationI struggle with the access being acceptable” justdemonstrates how little he knows about policework. Good police work is about knowingwho is in your town, where they are and whothey are associating with. Most police staffcall it intelligence gathering, Mr Annan callsit satisfying curiosity. What ever you call itNIA is a tool that assists in finding out thatinformation, to suggest that NIA can only beused to “resolve a situation” is ridiculous. Isuggest Mr Annan would be better off sortingout his own office instead of interfering withmy work.Matt Preece(Dunedin)The use of the NIA system to check a heinouscriminal may or may not be justified. WayneAnnan may correctly hold the view that in thiscase it was unjustified. Each case would haveto be judged on its own merits. I can’t reallycomment further about this, as I do not havethe details.However, Mr Annan’s response to I Am Keen’scolumn is a vitriolic attack on Keen’s integrity,professionalism and respect using the corevalues and competencies followed by thereference to the “Code of Conduct”.Does Mr Annan actually know who Keen is? Idon’t, but I enjoy his often humorous, cheekyand irreverent comments on policing. It’smost important that we don’t lose the abilityto laugh at each other and be big enough toaccept that occasionally we may be the buttof someone else’s humour, even if there is amessage behind that humour.We learn in the schoolyard that if you fightback you end up being the big loser. It’s apity that Mr Annan didn’t count to 10 beforelaunching into print.The next thing that needs saying is that HRpeople should stick to their area of expertiseand leave issues regarding the use of theintelligence system, which is a crime fightingtool developed over decades as an investigativeand frontline policing aid, to the thief takersout here or even up there.One can get into definitions as much as onelikes and someone else’s definition of “toresolve a situation” may actually be viewedwider than Mr Annan’s narrow interpretation.“To resolve” are the operative words and thereal issue.The copper with a gut instinct and the gutsto use it is a very valuable commodity andthankfully we have plenty of them in thePolice.Our leaders seem to have lost sight of the factthat the vast majority of the men and womenin the Police are honest, professional peopleof integrity who can be trusted to do the rightthing. The current environment of Codes ofConduct, and witch-hunts might also be seenas a knee jerk reaction to the unfortunateactions of a few people in and around Rotoruaduring the 1980s.If you dig deep enough, you will find somedirt. That doesn’t mean the organisation isdirty.When I joined the Police 30-odd years ago Iwas told I was joining one of the best Policeforces in the world with a record of honesty,integrity and one free of corruption. I believedwhat I was told then and have worked with agreat number of people over the years, noneof which have changed my opinion of theorganisation.Letters like Wayne Annan’s are damaging tothe NZ Police in that he identifies a supposedproblem in an unnecessarily public forum. Idon’t know about public confidence in thePolice but it does raise the question of Policeconfidence in Mr Annan.Dan Foley(Napier)New Zealand Police AssociationA note of thanksI was a police officer with 12 years service,resigned for two years and returned as a nonswornWatch House Assistant at HendersonPolice Station. In July 2007 I was diagnosedwith breast cancer and underwent extensivesurgery and treatment.When first diagnosed it was a very stressfultime and through the help of a large numberof people, friends, family, colleagues and Policeadministration we were able to cope with it.My husband Kevin and I would like to thankthe staff welfare officers, Robyn Lorenzen andRhys Cantwell of Waitemata and AMCOSdistricts (Kevin was a serving officer withAMCOS). Their help and knowledge was ofgreat assistance, not only emotionally, but alsowith financial guidance. Kevin and I would alsolike to thank Mary Maude and Christine Bryan-Wells from HR.Due to the government only fundingone series of treatment of chemotherapy,through the Association we were able toget assistance, allowing us to access Kevin’sPolice Superannuation Scheme (PSS) funds.This allowed us to pay for the second courseof treatment, greatly increasing the chance ofthe cancer not returning. A big thank you toGreg Fleming and his fellow trustees for theirhelp with this and also to the staff of the PoliceHealth Plan, especially Sue Pearce, for making itso easy with surgery approvals, specialist visits,scans and helping as much as possible with thepayment for the chemotherapy.We would also like to thank Viv Rickards,Area Commander for Waitemata, for allowingme compassionate leave and for allowingme to work part-time when necessary whilebeing treated. A big thank you to the staff atHenderson Watch House and other staff forputting up with my intermittent work presence,and also to the Surveillance Squad for allowingKevin time off when needed.The above people are just a small portion of thepeople that we would like to thank, as they aretoo numerous to name personally. We’re sorryto those that we have not named, but you arenot forgotten, again, thank you.Hilary and Kevin Wallace(Auckland)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 Orewa (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 9418May 2008107

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