Police News May - New Zealand Police Association

NEW ZEALANDpoliceassociationVolume 37, Number 4, May 2004• Comms centres - the engine room of police operations. (Photo courtesy of the NZ Herald)■ Commission of Inquiry has its second hearing ................. page 68■ Association goes to bat for a principle ................................. page 69■ The new Holidays Act and you ............................................... page 73■ Comms staff shortages - a special investigation................. page 76

May 2004 Police News The Voice of Police■Industrial newsWing 187 settlement ........................................................................ 67PCA Amendment Bill seeks to remove secrecy provisions .................. 69Employment Relations Law Reform Bill submissions .......................... 70How the new Holidays Act affects you .............................................. 7370HERO WORSHIP■General newsTrial of body armour ......................................................................... 67Commission of Inquiry meets again .................................................. 68Bronze merit award winner is Georgia’s hero .................................... 70A legend of the East Coast dies ......................................................... 72Drug-recognition policy aims at making our roads safer.................... 74Performance outshines images.......................................................... 82■Special featureCommunications centres under pressure .....................................76/8272A LEGEND PASSES ON■■ColumnsFrom the President ........................................................................... 67Keen on wine ................................................................................... 71Living with high interest rates (Spicers)............................................. 75Pain lingers over detective’s bombing death ..................................... 88Letters to the Editor .....................................................................85/87View from the bottom ...................................................................... 88Sport/EntertainmentIt’s a Bob’s Life (cartoon)................................................................... 71Copper’s Crossword.......................................................................... 74Sports News ................................................................................83/84■WelfareHoliday Home availability chart......................................................... 73Memorial Wall .................................................................................. 8776COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWNNZ Police AssociationPolice News is thenewsletter of theNew Zealand PoliceAssociation andincorporates the NewZealand Police Journalfirst published in 1937.Editor: Steve PlowmanMay 2004, Vol. 37, No.4ISSN 1175-9445Deadline for next issue May 19, 2004.Published by the New Zealand PoliceAssociation P.O. Box 12344, Willbank House,57 Willis Street, Wgtn.Phone: (04) 496 6800, Facsmile: (04) 471 1309Email: editor@policeassn.org.nzWebsite: www.policeassn.org.nzPrinted by City Print Communications, Wgtn.Opinions expressed are not necessarilythose of the Association.COPYRIGHT: NZPA Police News must not bereproduced in part or as a whole without theformal consent of the copyright holder - NewZealand Police Association.Useful Information & ContactsAssociation and Police Welfare Fund:Police Network 44446 Website www.policeassn.org.nzFreephone 0800 500 122 Police Home Loans 0800 800 808Police Health Plan/Staffpac Insurance Police Credit Union 0800 429 000Quotes & Information 0800 500 122 or (04) 472 9645or fax (04) 496 6819 Credit Union www.policecu.org.nzStaffpac Claims 0800 110 088 GSF Information 0800 654 731All enquiries (04) 496 6800 PSS Information 0800 777 243Vice PresidentsGeoff Smith (027) 268 9417Richard Middleton (027) 268 9411Field OfficersNorthland and Auckland Districts: Stewart Mills (027) 268 9407Waikato, BOP and Eastern Districts: Eric Newman (027) 268 9408Central and Wellington Districts: JJ Taylor (027) 268 9409Tasman, Canterbury and Southern Districts: Dave McKirdy (027) 268 9410Regional DirectorsRegion One Steve Hawkins Whangaparoa (027) 268 9419Region Two Mark Leys Papatoetoe (027) 268 9413Region Three Mel Ridley Tauranga (027) 268 9414Region Four Logan Alderson Napier (027) 268 9415Region Five Stuart Mills Office of Com (027) 268 9416Region Six Craig Prior Sumner (027) 268 9412Region Seven Dave Steel North Dunedin (027) 268 941866

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004PCA Amendment Bill seeks to remove secrecy provisionsIn late March, under urgencyprovisions, the Governmentintroduced an amendment to thePolice Complaints Authority Actthat would retrospectively removethe secrecy provisions that covercommunications to the PCA.The purpose of this legislation is toallow the Commission of Inquiryaccess to PCA (Police ComplaintsAuthority) files, which had previouslybeen confidential under the PCA Act(1988).On April 21 the Police Associationpresented both written and oralsubmissions to The Law and OrderSelect Committee opposing the scopeof these changes.“Effectively, the legislation means thatthe government has trampled down aconstitutional fence, when in essenceall it needed to do was open a gate,”Police Association President, GregO’Connor said.• Greg O’Connor addresses the SelectCommittee.Media coverage?The concern for individuals, whohave previously given evidence tothe PCA, under the understandingthat their testimony would remainconfidential, is that their statementscould now end up in the publicdomain.The principle involved is important,not only in terms of protecting therights of those who were guaranteedconfidentiality when dealing withthe PCA previously, but also in termsof the retrospective nature of thelegislation and the constitutionalissues which arise as a result.Perhaps the last word on the issuecould be left to the Minister incharge of Privacy matters, AssociateMinister of Justice, Lianne Dalziel,who made reference to the PrivacyAct at a Privacy Forum meeting inMarch last year: “Some critics appearto misunderstand the key focusof the Act. Namely that it is aboutindividuals being able to access toinformation about themselves, andto have some say over the flow ofinformation about themselves toothers.”The new legislation effectivelyeradicates the latter protection.• Association President, Greg O’Connor (middle) makes a point to the committee. Counsel Susan Hughes (left) andIndustrial Officer, Simon Feltham (right) also represented members.Be in quick - only 15copies leftThere are now only 15 copies left of the “Police inSport” book written by Ray Read and Joe Franklin.This book is an excellent reference book, coveringover 25 different sports and numerous sportingevents. The book features many coloured and blackand white photos of past and present police officers,in their chosen sport.This book has been purchased by many librariesaround New Zealand due to it’s factual contentand easy to read style. It is also a good walk downmemory lane, for members, both past and present.The price of a copy is $59.95 and orders can beplaced with Alison Murray - (04) 238 3139.Sport:Basketball trialThe NZ Police basketball season is to begin in June atthe RNZPC.Men’s and women’s players are invited to attend a trialand training at the college during the weekend 11-13June, 2004. Games against the NZ Defence Forces men’sand women’s teams will be hosted during the weekend.Players must be sworn members of Police.Accommodation will be at the RNZPC. Players will haveto arrange their own travel.October 10 - 16 2004 is the annual tournament againstthe Australian Police and is being hosted by the FederalPolice in Canberra. Travel and accommodation costs willhave to met by individual players.Contact Gordon Meyer on 03-379 3999 (Sydenham).69

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceBronze merit award winnera hero in Georgia’s eyesFour-year-old Georgia Raynes thinks her Dad is prettyspecial and she’s right.Her Dad, Constable Mark Raynes of Gore, was recentlyawarded a NZ Police bronze merit award for his actionsin apprehending a drunk offender, who had kidnappedanother person and was making his getaway in a stolenbread van.The incident happened in May last year.Quick thinking and actions saw Constable Raynes jumpon to the truck’s running board and eventually he disabledthe vehicle by turning the ignition off. The drunken driverhad earlier avoided being stopped between Waikaia andGore despite the combined efforts of two pursuing policevehicles.Officer took controlAs the truck slowed to around 20 kmh near GlenarayStation, Constable Raynes saw an opportunity to takecontrol of the situation and did so.Constable Raynes, who has been in the job for four years,was modest in the extreme in accepting the award, sayingthat the driver had not put up much resistance due tohis level of intoxication. “The driver had his windowdown, which was really good,” Constable Raynes told theSouthland Times.A Gore man was later charged with kidnapping a 14-yearoldboy, unlawfully taking a bread truck, driving whiledisqualified, dangerous driving, failing to stop for policeand driving with an excess blood alcohol limit of 667mcg.He was sentenced to 2 1 / 2 years jail.• “Say cheese, Dad”...Georgia Raynes captures a specialmoment with her father, Constable Mark Raynes. - (Photocourtesy of The Southland Times/Barry Harcourt).Association makessubmissions regardingEmployment RelationsLaw Reform BillBy Leann Peden, Association Industrial OfficerRecently the Police Association made submissions on theEmployment Relations Law Reform Bill, which proposeskey changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000.The changes are designed to strengthen that Act’s keyobjectives of promoting:• Good faith;• Collective bargaining; and• The effective resolution of employment relationship problems.Proposed changes also protect employees in situationswhere there is a change of employer caused by the sale,transfer or contracting out of a business.This Bill will have little impact on sworn members becausetheir employment terms and conditions are set out in thePolice Act.Non-sworn affectedThe proposed changes will, however, apply to non-swornmembers, as they come under the Employment RelationsAct 2000.The Association informed MPs that the EmploymentRelations Act does not apply to sworn members as swornmembers are still covered by a system, which is unfairlyloaded and restricts their ability to negotiate basic terms andconditions of employment (i.e. redundancy, breaks etc).Other groups of employees take this right to negotiate forgranted.The Association’s submission suggested changes, whichwould mean that the Employment Relations Act andany amendments apply to sworn members of Police. Inparticular, the Association sought changes that wouldallow it to negotiate all basic terms and conditions ofemployment, rather than being restricted to pay andallowance issues.The Association sought changes to the arbitrationframework, which would level the playing field by allowingit to take all employment-related issues to arbitration.Currently, the Association can only do this with theagreement of the Commissioner.The Association’s submission supported the changes, asit would mean that the Employment Relations Act couldachieve its objectives more effectively.Too busy waiting for the jackpotIt’s sad but it’s true...the operators of Casino Niagara (Niagara Falls, Ontario) told a local newspaper that customersurinating around slot machines had become a serious problem. Customers who believed a slot machine would soonpay off were afraid to leave the machines and either wore adult diapers, urinated into the plastic coin cups or simplyon the floor next to the machines.It’s sadder but it’s true...67-seven-year-old Arthur Mooney died of a heart attack in the Spirit Mountain Casinoin Oregon. No, he had not won the jackpot. But while Mr Mooney’s body lay on the floor for an hour, the othercustomers continued to play the slot machines.70

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004Keen On Wineby Ricky CollinsPinot Noir: New Zealand’sLatest Rising Star?New Zealand has built a highly regarded reputation on theinternational wine scene over the last 20 years, primarily basedaround its world-renowned Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.For a small country that produces a tiny fraction of the world’swine, we have certainly made our mark.In the last few years, a significant shift has been happeningin vineyards throughout the country, with Pinot Noir nowfirmly established as the fastest growing variety currently beingplanted in New Zealand. This variety, which originates fromthe vineyards of the Burgundy region in France, is regardedby many as the mystery wine of the world. It has gainedthat reputation on several fronts. Firstly, the variety is suitedto growing conditions that exist in only a few regions ofthe world. Secondly, it’s a very temperamental variety thatwinemakers either love or hate to work with. And finally, it hastraditionally only been fully appreciated by a small proportionof the world’s wine drinkers.ChallengesSo what has persuaded the winemakers and vineyard ownersof this country to begin planting this variety at levels farhigher than any other variety? I personally believe there are anumber of reasons. The personal makeup of New Zealanderssees us striving for a challenge. Our winemakers have becomea little bored with producing Sauvignon Blanc, which is prettyfoolproof, when you have the quality of Sauvignon Blanc fruitwe produce. Pinot Noir, on the other hand, is a different beastthat will test the best of winemakers. There has been a prettygood success rate with the variety so far, predominantly in theMartinborough region, and more recently in Central Otago.Feedback from the international wine media on these regionshas been encouraging, although they are not yet fully sold onIT’S A BOB’S LIFE…By Rohan Staceour product. Finally, the lure of a high return is there if wecan produce world class Pinot Noir. Current good examplesof our Pinot Noir retail for in excess of $40 per bottle,compared to approximately $20 for Sauvignon Blanc.QualitiesWorld class Pinot Noir is based around a number of soughtafterqualities. It should be a beautifully fragrant andflavorsome wine that, when young, displays notes of a wholerange of red fruits including cherries, redcurrants, raspberries,strawberries and plums. As the wine ages it should alsodisplay secondary fragrances and flavours that are slightlygamey in character. These multi-layered fragrances andflavours, together with a fine structure based around thewine’s acidity, and finally good length, are essential traits ifPinot Noir is to be highly regarded.While Martinborough and Central Otago plantings ofPinot Noir continue to increase, they hardly register whencompared to the plantings now happening in Marlborough.This region will soon become a major player in world terms,with Montana set to become the largest single producerof the variety in the world. Unfortunately, I personally findthat most Pinot Noir produced in the Marlborough region isanything but world class. The flavours and fragrances of mostexamples appear to me to be simple and one-dimensional.While Marlborough Pinot Noir generally sells for significantlyless than Martinborough or Central Otago Pinot, I personallywould rather spend $25 on a good example of anothervariety. Marlborough is our largest wine region, and inSauvignon Blanc it has a world-renowned product. Myadvice, for what it’s worth, to the wine producers of thisregion, is stick to your knitting.Wine of the MonthHelmet cams on the way for British policeIn a world of miniature cameras it had to happen sooneror later. British police are to get helmet cams.Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper recently reported thatBritish police officers are to have miniature video camerasmounted on their helmets.Cooper’s Creek Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2003 RRP$16A classic Marlborough Sauvignon, with plenty of gooseberryand citrus flavours and excellent length. This one is value formoney and an excellent example of Sauvignon Blanc thatthe world has come to know and love.The devices will be used to provide evidence to secureconvictions, as well as protect members working one-up.A lens the size of a pinhead, hidden in the police officer’shelmet badge, will record images. A transmission aerialin the helmet will beam pictures back to mobile units.71

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceObituary:Lou Dolman was a legend on the East CoastLouis (Lou) Irvine Dolman was a legend around the LakeWaikaremoana area - for two reasons - he spent 29 years asthe sole-charge police officer at Tuia and his contribution tolocal conservation efforts was outstanding.Lou died suddenly at his Onepoto home on 27 March. Hewas 78.Lou was born at Ngatapa. He worked as a shepherd inHawke’s Bay before joining the Police in 1947. He workedat Ruatoria before going to Tuai in 1956 and was therecipient of many police citations and awards in his career,among them the QPM and BEM medals.During his time at Tuia he was involved in many searchand rescue operations and his knowledge of the ruggedlocal bush was invaluable. He retired in 1985 and moved toOnepoto.ConservationistMr Dolman was a President of the Friends of Te UreweraNational Park from 1971 to 1989. Cherry Metz, who iscompiling a book on the Friends of Te Urewera NationalPark, said Mr Dolman was an outstanding President, andthe Friends accomplished many significant things duringthis time, especially with submissions to park managementplans regarding the acquisition of extra lands within thepark boundary.“He was a tireless worker over many years with park friendsand staff in tracking areas of the park and marking trackswhere people were likely to be lost,” she said.Mr Dolman was also a prime mover in establishing aprogramme for taking school parties to Camp Kaitawa,leading them up the Ngamoko Trig track, Pukenui Trig,through the Onepoto Caves and teaching them bushcraftskills.“There are children all over Hawke’s Bay who wouldremember being led by Lou through the Onepoto caves,”Mrs Metz said.Straight to the pointThe Kern County Sheriff’sDepartment, which was formed in1866, is the oldest law enforcementagency in the county of Bakersfield,California. Would-be criminals knowthe score in Kern County becausethe Sheriff and his deputies aren’tbackward in coming forward aboutgetting their message across (as canbe seen by the photo to the right) viaa rather blunt decal strip on the sideof their patrol cars.Kern County has 1,050 sworn, nonsworn,and civilian employees. The452 authorized sworn (peace officer)positions are deployed as deputies inthe Bakersfield Metropolitan Patrol,14 substations, detentions, detectivesand other support positions.Track carries his nameMr Dolman established thetrack through the caves. And hismemory will live on through Lou’sTrack, as it is known.“His slide presentations to schoolparties at Camp Kaitawa werebrilliant, and much appreciatedby the children and teachers,” MrsMetz said.He was also a keen photographer and his archive ofpictures of the park gave him the foundation for someinteresting presentations for the park holiday programmefor several years.“His collection was amazing, he also collected a lot ofhistorical black and white photographs, which he thendonated to the park,” Mrs Metz said.The photos were from a variety of sources and coveredmany historical events in the development of the area, suchas road-making, hydro development, and the settlementsthemselves.Memento• Lou Dolman. (Photocourtesy of the Wairoa Star).A police officer who visited Lou’s home many years ago,recalled that Lou had a mounted bullet on the mantelpiece.When asked what the significance of the miniature ‘trophy’was he was told it was one that had narrowly missed Louwhen an offender had shot at him with a rifle.Many of his police colleagues, fellow conservationists andlocals, all of whom had the good fortune to know him, willmiss Lou Dolman.His partner Gill Alexander, daughter Carol, son Keith andgrandchildren Shelley, Daniel, Julie, Jerome and Kashisurvive him.(Sources: Wairoa Star, Peter Hayes and Steve Plowman).• There’s a clear message for criminals from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department- and it’s on the side of this patrol car.72

New Zealand Police AssociationHow the new Holidays Act affects youBy Leeann Peden, AssociationIndustrial OfficerThe new Holidays Act 2003 cameinto force on 1 April, 2004. The Actapplies to all members of Police.The purpose of the Act is to promotebalance between work and personalleisure time and to provide minimumstatutory entitlements to:• annual leave;• public holidays;• sick leave; and• bereavement leave.Leave entitlementsThe way in which Police manageleave has changed. This change isdue to the separation of sworn leavein the pay-round along with the newHolidays Act entitlements.Leave entitlements have not changed -but the way that leave is accrued has.SwornSworn members are entitled to 33days leave a year - 20 days annualleave, 11 public holidays and twoCommissioner’s holidays. However,these days used to be treated as oneblock of leave. Now they are accruedfortnightly, with public holidays andCommissioner’s holidays being addedto your leave balance when theyactually occur.Non-swornNon-sworn are entitled to 29 days leaveper year - comprising 15 days annualleave (20 days after 7 years service),11 public holidays and the threeCommissioner’s holidays. This totalentitlement increases to 33 days afterseven years service. These days arenow accrued in the same way as forsworn members from 1 April 2007 allnon-sworn members will be entitledto 20 days annual leave irrespective oftheir length of service.Working on a public holidayPolice, like any other employer,have the right (and have always hadthe right) to determine what theiroperational requirements are onpublic holidays. Therefore, Police maytell members whether or not they arerequired to work on a public holiday.In the Association’s view, Policeneed to give at least 14 days noticeof whether a member is required towork on a public holiday.Rostered shift workers should not seeany change to their roster (e.g. if youare rostered to work, this should notchange).Time and a half paymentsOne of the big changes under the newAct is that employees who work onany part of a public holiday (unless itwas not your normal working day) areentitled to:i. be paid at the rate of time and a half;andii. an alternative holiday.May 2004MediationThe issue of the payment of time and ahalf for working on a public holiday iscurrently a matter of dispute between thePolice Association and NZ Police.Under the new Act, employers haveto pay time and a half unless they canprove that this payment is already partof the employee’s salary. Police think thisis the case. The Association thinks that,over time, changes have eliminated thepayment that had been part of a member’ssalary.This matter is now the subject of amediation process. The Associationand Police met, with the assistance ofarbitrator Colleen Hicks, on Wednesday,7 April. Police asked for extra timeto consider the matters raised by theAssociation. The next mediation hearing isscheduled for early May.An unsuccessful mediation would meanColleen Hicks would make a decision,which would be binding on both parties.This decision would be effective from 1April, 2004.This means that if the independentarbitrator decides that members do nothave time and half for public holidaysbuilt into their salaries, members willreceive back pay for those days if theyworked them.The Association will keep membersadvised on progress. In the meantimeplease refer to the Association’s websiteat: www.policeassn.org.nz for furtherinformation.HOLIDAY HOME AVAILABILITY– for bookings see: www.policeassn.org.nzMay June JulyPaihia 9, 16, 19, 21, 24-28, 31 1-4, 8-10, 12-24, 28-30 1-3, 8, 17, 24-31Stanmore Bay 10-13, 17-21, 23-27, 30-31 1-3, 7-30 1-2, 4-31Whangamata 9-13, 18-20, 24, 30-31 1-3, 8-10, 14-18, 20-30 1-7, 11, 17-31Mt Maunganui 9, 13, 24-27, 30-31 1-3, 7-10, 13-17, 22-24, 27-30 1-3, 17-29Ohope 10-20, 24-31 1-3, 7-30 1-25, 29-31Rotorua 9-13, 16-20, 23-27, 30-31 1-3, 7-10, 13-17, 20-27, 2, 4, 6-8, 18-31Taupo 10, 16-20, 23, 25-27, 30-31 1-3, 7-10, 20-24, 27-30 1, 5-6, 12, 18-22, 25-30Turangi 11-13, 16-21, 23-27, 30-31 1-3, 7-10, 13-24, 27-30 1, 12, 19-22, 25, 28-29Napier 10-14, 16-18, 26-27, 30-31 1-3, 7-10, 13-15, 17, 23-25, 30 1, 7-8, 13-14, 18-19, 21-22, 25-29Paraparaumu 10-13,16, 23, 30 1-3, 7-10, 13-15, 20-24, 29-30 1-2, 19-31Wellington 9-10, 18, 20, 23, 31 1-3, 14, 22-24, 30 1, 5, 19-23, 25-29Nelson 9-12, 16-20, 23-31 1-2, 4, 7-17, 20-24, 27-30 1-7, 16-22, 25-31Hanmer Springs 27, 30-31 No Dates Available No Dates AvailableChristchurch 18-19, 24-26, 7-9, 15-17, 20-21, 23-25, 29 2, 19-22, 25-28Tekapo 9-10, 27, 31 1-3, 10, 14-18, 23-24, 27-30 1, 25Wanaka 12-13, 17, 20, 24-25, 29 1, 10, 15-17, 23-24, 27-30 1, 28Cromwell 10-11, 13-18, 21, 23-30 7-9, 14-24, 29-30 8, 19, 26Queenstown 9, 13 No Dates Available 25Te Anau 9-13, 16-20, 24-31 1-3, 7-17, 20-30 1-2, 9, 16-31Dunedin 18, 30 23-24 21-22, 25-2873

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceDrug-recognition training aimed at keepingimpaired drivers off the nation’s roadsBy Police News Editor, Steve PlowmanThe Police Department is investigating arange of initiatives to keep drug-affecteddrivers off the nation’s roads.Saul Jeavons, Group Manager of theTRL (Transport Research Laboratory)in the United Kingdom, recently visitedNew Zealand to discuss tactical optionsfor combating the problem.Mr Jeavons has had a wide range ofexperience in many aspects of roadsafety education, training and publicity.He has carried out research work withPolice forces and Fire Service authoritiesworldwide, as well as developingresources in the education, health andpublic sectors.SpecialistHe specialises in communications issuesrelated to safety management and multidisciplinaryapproaches to road safetyproblems, which involves presentationsto conferences and professionalmeetings and the provision of trainingto road safety practitioners.TRL has analysed thousands of crashsites and several years of statistics,built up through analysing the factorsinfluencing crashes, and thesehave beenused to formulate initiatives in road safety.Unlike New Zealand, the UnitedKingdom does not allow randombreath testing. In the UK blood alcoholtesting can be required if a police officerhas good reason to suspect a driveris alcohol impaired. This assessmentis usually done as a result of stops forchecking licences and registration etc.Detection trainingCopper’s CrosswordBy Constable CunningThe proposed roadside testing regimehere would involve police officers beingtrained to detect drivers who may beunder the influence of illicit drugs.Overseas police forces use a five-stepprocess revolving around specifictasks from an amended Romberg test.(Editor’s note: the Romberg test isused by nurses and doctors to detectunsteadiness in patients).The roadside tests are likely to involvetasks such as the driver being requiredto walk along a straight line or executea one leg stand; touching his/her nose;use of a Pupilometer (to measuredilation or enlargement of the pupil),a counting test and a Nystagnus test(a test used by doctors/neurologists tosee the movement of the eye is alignedwith the corresponding movement ofthe head).Inspector Dave Parsons, NationalAdvisor of the Road Safety andTraining Group (OoC) told PoliceNews that work was presently beingundertaken to amend current law toreplace the word “incapable” withthe word“impaired” - inrelation to adriver’s ability• Saul Jeavonsto be in chargeof a motor vehicle.Crossover benefitIn Victoria, roadside impairment testsare already the norm. “The drugrecognitiontraining is useful in theireveryday work, not only within theroad safety sector,” Inspector Parsonssaid. “For instance, if they are calledto a domestic or some other incident,through this training they may be ableto recognise that a person is under theinfluence of illicit drugs and that couldinfluence the manner in which theydeal with the situation,” he added.Victorian Police are currently workingon a roadside saliva test to detect arange of illicit drugs and hope to havethe program up and running by July.Other Police jurisdictions in Australiaand New Zealand will be watchingthose results with great interest.(Editor’s note: Since the announcementabout the introduction of roadside drugtests, Australian National Drug andAlcohol Research Centre spokesmanAdam Winstock has warned Policethat drug testing may lead to what hetermed “a legal minefield”).1 2 3 4 5 6 78May clues:Across:1. Type of note (4)3. Fiend C.O. meet for secretsdisclosed (8)9. Sceptre reassembled to showeveryone (7)10. Injures badly (5)11. A good holiday could providethis from restless fire (6,6)13. Conviction questioned? (6)15. Sea sick, for example (6)17. North or South location.Certainly helps most race cardrivers (4-8)20. Rugby or league stoppage (5)21. Serve O.E. and then return tomanagerial role (7)22. Continually beat (8)23. Police dog’s friends (4)Down:1. AOS Sniper’s perhaps? (8)2. Emirs split up the money but stillstingy (5)4. The public have one when there iswrong doing (6)5. Misfire alias broken so as to becomeknown (12)6. Golfers or bus companies need goodones (7)7. Work it out (slang) (4)8. Delivery boys or media employees(12)12. Does the washing or simply hides themoney (8)14. All for the small weights but stick toone when necessary (7)16. One of a band of soldiers perhaps (6)18. Give out uniform, for example (5)19. Second hand car (4)9 101113 14 151617 181920 2122 2312April answers:Across:2. Occupancy8. Steam9. Ejector10. Recyclable12. Combs14. Solve15. Concurrent18. Uptight19. Sewer20. ResidencyDown:1. District Court2. Overcome3. Comic4. Prefabricated5. Needles6. Yeti7. Northwesterley11. Alleyway13. Sponges16. Resin17. Stir74

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004Performanceoutshines imagesBy Joe FranklinAn old friend and I were recently sharinga beer in a Kapiti Coast bar whenhe spoke in glowing terms of policeworking in Auckland. He is a JP andI was impressed enough with whathe said that I asked him to go on therecord for Police News.Our discussion centred on thenegative publicity following historicrape allegations and alleged shoddyinvestigations involving senior staffand former Rotorua members. Thatmorning’s Dominion Post cartoon,depicted an embarrassed copstumbling across group sex in a policecar involving a woman, NCOs andcommissioned officers. It was rightalongside an editorial advocating anindependent inquiry into the rapeallegations. We had also both heardthe stories of police in the field beingabused about the allegations, as theywent about their business.Then the JP, who does not wish to benamed, is called out by police in theMt Wellington/Glenn Innes areas as a‘nominated person’ under the CYPFA,to be present when people under-17 areinterviewed, either orally or on videotape.Skills and dedicationHe said he saw almost without exception,skills and dedication going far beyondthese most recent images. “Police, menand women, mostly young, show greatsensitivity and dedication in dealing withyoung people who clearly need assistanceand guidance if they are to be turned froma life of crime,” he said.“I see police going well beyond what Iwould have reasonably expected whenI first came into the JP’s job. They arethere, all hours of the night and day,always firm but also professional. I willgo as far as to say I feel both humbledand buoyed that such young and skilfulpeople are the front-end administratorsand practitioners and are doing such agrand job,” he said.(In the past the JP served in the Middle-East with the RAF, held commissionsin the Hong Kong Police and theRNZAF and was a senior NCO in theNew Zealand Territorial Army. Thisexperience, along with 30 years insecondary teaching, makes him wellable to judge excellence in the deliveryof services.)Living with rising interest ratesIt’s well-known that New Zealand hasone of the highest rates of owneroccupationof houses in the worldand with it a pronounced leaningto home ownership for investmentpurposes.That explains why media coverage ofmovements in interest rates inevitablyfocuses on the impact onborrowers. When rates fall,it’s good news. When they rise,as they have lately, it’s not.In reality, there are plenty of peoplefor whom the standard formuladoesn’t work. As well asborrowers there are lenders,depositors,investors invarious assets andpeople who simplyneed liquidity at times. Each is affecteddifferently when interest rates move.An upward trend?We have seen what might be the startof an upward trend in interest ratesover the past few months, with theReserve Bank increasing its OfficialCash Rate 0.25 percent in late January.The consensus has been that rates willrise further, but perhaps in a narrowerrange than over the past couple ofdecades.So what is practical advice for thetimes?If you are a borrower, higher interestrates raise the cost of debt andtherefore the total you pay in dollars toservice it. If you can’t, or don’t want tocarry a heavier load, there are at leasttwo ways of lightening it:• Reduce the amount you owe...byusing any uncommitted cash, orperhaps the proceeds from sellingan asset.• Restructure the debt to a longertimeframe, reducing the principalcomponent of your repayments.Think carefully before adopting thelatter strategy, as lengthening yourdebt profile may or may not be in yourlong-term financial interests.Factors to considerIf you are a depositor, a rise in interestrates is to your benefit, but there aretwo things to take into account:• If the rise is linked to a movementupwards in inflation the benefit islargely illusionary. Your real returnis calculated after inflation, i.e.if the interest rate is six percentand inflation is two percent, thecalculation might be 6 - 2 (incometax) - 2 (inflation) = 2 percent.• If you are convinced that interestrates could rise further than theyalready have, it might be sensible tostay liquid, i.e. keep with short-termdeposits so you can lock in higherrates later.For members ofthe GovernmentSuperannuation Fund(GSF), any movementin interestrates will notdirectly affectyour entitlement.However, if you are a member of thePolice Superannuation Scheme (PSS),any significant movement in interestrates could influence returns earned bythe scheme.As a generalisation, company sharestend to fall in value when interest ratesrise significantly. If you think that’s likelyyou would take it into account in anybuying or selling decisions. The same istrue of property. Given that investmentproperty is generally highly debtfunded,rising interest rates increasethe cost of ownership, lowering yourreturn. This will generally lead to a fallin prices, as new investors will pay alower price to achieve the same levelof return.As you can see from the above, risinginterest rates can affect the value of awide range of assets. It is importantto note that, like all other assets,interest rates move in cycles - so ifyou are a long-term investor youshould not become overly concernedabout short-term movements. If youhave debt, it is important that youhave the ability to cope with increasesin interest rates without being forcedto sell assets. Inevitably, the issuetends to arise when prices are at theirlowest.The golden rule with any responseto interest rate movement - as withany other investment decision - is tothink before you leap. To speak with aSpicers financial planner today pleasecall the Police Financial PlanningEnquiry Line on 0800 ON BEAT(0800 66 2328).75

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceCommunication centres under pressureStaff at the three Police Communications centres say they have had enough of the stressesbrought on by continued understaffing. They say high staff turnover, significant increases incall volumes and the regular linking of channels to cover staff shortages is putting lives at risk.Police News Editor, Steve Plowman investigated those claims and the following series of articleshighlights staff concerns.Staff and public safety compromisedby inadequate staffing levelsBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsCommunications centre staff, who answer111 calls and dispatch units accordingly,are like jugglers. Often they work in anatmosphere of constant pressure.Serious staffing shortages are compromisingthe health and safety ofComms staff, frontline police officersand members of the public.In the last five years, emergency callsto Police have increased by 50% whilestaffing has decreased by 2.11%. Policeexpect an 8% increase in calls this year.Some staff say the resultant workloadsand stress make them feel as if they are“playing Russian Roulette” with people’slives.One worker said the centres can be agood place to work when fully staffed,then added: “But I’ve been there severalyears and they haven’t got it right yet.”Stressful environmentThe communicators (call takers) anddispatchers, who are at the forefrontof emergency situations, do a great jobin an extremely stressful environment.Their every move is scrutinised closelyand lives depend on their split seconddecisions. Communicators face thestress of dealing with the public and allthat entails. Dispatchers send availableunits to jobs. The welfare of street staffis foremost in their minds.They have to prioritise jobs as diverse asarmed robberies and missing children.They are to the Police what air trafficcontrollers are to the aviation industry.Comms staff are predominantly femaleand most are non-sworn. Eighty percentwork fulltime, 20 percent part-time.Comms centres operate year round.One dispatcher told Police News thatstaff feared becoming de-sensitized insuch a pressure-cooker environment.When 111 calls are queued, severalblue lights on the ceiling flash and a redlight flashes on each communicator/dispatcher’s desk. Dispatchers areconstantly being asked by team leadersto answer 111 calls when these lightsflash. “The problem is that people areso busy and so stressed that they getto the stage where they run the risk ofnot caring anymore about that queuedcalls...people are getting to the pointwhere they are thinking ‘bugger it Ican’t be bothered’, and that’s not healthyin an emergency response centre,” thedispatcher said.They say the problem is that Commsis being run as a ‘lean machine’.“Basically, there is no fat in the system,”an experienced dispatcher told PoliceNews. “We all know it’s hard to plan foremergency situations but we are facedwith the same staffing crisis year in andyear out and it all comes back to shortstaffing. There is very little training forthe new sworn staff. They are fasttrackedto dispatching and it shouldn’tbe considered a given that becauseyou’re a sworn staff member you’resuddenly going to be able to pick upthat role,” the dispatcher said. “Traineedispatchers are often thrown in at thedeep end and there is little back-upavailable from experienced dispatchersbecause they are often running linkedchannels.”• Northern Comms handles over 750,000 calls per year. (Photo courtesy of the NZ Herald).76

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004Staff percentages decreaseThere are three Comms centresnationwide - North (Auckland),Central (Wellington) and South(Christchurch). Nationwide there are324 staff, according to figures Ministerof Police, George Hawkins, produced inParliament last year (down 7.95% fromofficial Police Department figures of 352a year earlier).According to the Police Department’swebsite, Comms centres handleapproximately 1, 140,000 calls per year.But inquiries by Police News indicate theactual figure from 1 June, 2002 to 31May, 2003 was 1,405,968 (a differenceof 265,968).The busiest of the centres is NorthernComms (from Cape Reinga in the northto Turangi in the south). It covers apopulation of 2 millionpeople and receivesapproximately 53.38%of all calls. CentralComms covers fromTaumarunui and EastCape in the north toWellington in the south. It servicesa population of 1 million people.Southern Comms, which covers theentire South Island plus Stewart Island,services a population of 900,000people. These two centres each receiveapproximately 23.31% of all calls peryear. The management of all threecentres is based in Wellington.The Police Department has consistentlyresponded to Police Associationconcerns about Comms staffinglevels with the stock answer that thethree centres are currently at “targetnumbers”. It is the Association’s positionthat staffing levels need urgent revisionin light of the above figures and theconsequent stress on Comms staff.There are other issues.If a 111 call is not answered within 70seconds, it is transferred to one of theother two Centres.Operational risksIncreasingly, operators say they areoverseeing more than one channel. Thisprocess is known as linking channels.According to staff, linking is beingused to cover staff shortages. It shouldonly be used as a last resort, whenan unexpected situation occurs. Aninternal Police hazard report addressedto an OSH Manager, viewed by PoliceNews recently, said that the linkingof channels presented not only an“operational risk” but that linking“should not be employed as a matterof course in an effort to address a staffshortfall”.The official Police line is that linkingoccurs “occasionally”. Staff say thisis not the reality they know. Oneformer dispatcher told Police News thatlinking channels presented staff with anightmare scenario in which they wentfrom “being responsible for 40 staff oneminute to suddenly being responsiblefor 80 staff the next.”A March 8, 2004 hazard report, issuedby a North Comms staff member, statesthat “police channels were linked fora third day in a row” and that Commshad been “unable to co-ordinate arolling block to protect a member fromhighway traffic.”The Association is of the opinion that the Governmentmust provide additional funding towards dealing with thisoverflow effect and address short-staffing by ‘tagging’money from the budget, which is due to be presented on 27May, for Comm centres.An incident last year highlights thedangers street staff face when linkingbecomes commonplace. An offenderpulled a knife on a police officer in theCentral districts and, after overpoweringthe offender, the officer found hecould not call for back-up because theGisborne and New Plymouth channelshad been constantly linked.A police officer in Taranaki told PoliceNews that staff there were “continuallyfrustrated” by the linking of theGisborne and Taranaki channels andafter raising concerns they had beentold that the channels would bereconfigured so as this would not occur.They are still waiting as this issue goesto press. The officer said that staff wereparticularly concerned that de-linkinghad not occurred during seriousincidents. “It’s not Comms staff fault,we understand that, but the staffinglevels there impact on what’s happeningoperationally,” the officer said.Acknowledging problemsThe Commissioner of Police, RobRobinson, has previously acknowledgedstaffing pressures in the Commscentres. At the Police Association’sAnnual Conference last October, PoliceAssociation Director, Craig Prior,highlighted staff concerns at SouthernComms. He said there had been a 32%increase in workloads and that some200 calls had been missed as a result.Commissioner Robinson respondedby saying: “We are certainly aware ofthe pressure points and the numberand growth in call volumes are exactlyso. I sit down with Comms centremanagement and we tease those outfrequently.” Commissisoner Robinsonsaid that some thought was being givento partitioning of emergency calls fromgeneral calls, as happens in New SouthWales. He said this was a “possibleapproach” to overloading problemsbut that, “in the great school of thingsin the last couple of years - and we areengaged on it - we have seen higherpriorities for financing and these havebeen Auckland-based.” He also said hewas looking at getting extra fundingfrom outside agencies in order toaddress the problem.Funding is a key issue.In 2001, at the behestof Minister of Police,George Hawkins, theLTSA (Land TransportSafety Authority)was provided withextra fundingtagged at supplying an additional 240highway patrol staff. While this wascommendable in terms of the driveto bring down the road toll, it tookno account of the other operationalpressures it would bring for othersectors of Police, especially Comms.The Association is of the opinion thatthe Government must target additionalfunding towards dealing with thisoverflow effect by ‘tagging’ moneyfrom the Budget, which is due to bepresented on 27 May, for Commscentres.ContradictionsBut recent correspondence from DeputyCommissioner Steve Long, whileacknowledging what he calls “tensions”in Comms, states that: “Comms centresare not short-staffed in so far as theygenerally meet or exceed their staffingtargets.”Police News investigations suggest thatthose ‘targets’ have been unrealisticallylow since the inception of the Commscentre network in February 1997and are being further eroded by staffturnovers.Internal Police Department documentsindicate that Comms has the largestturnover of staff of any section withinPolice - averaging a 12.5% staff turnoverrate per year nationwide. In the threeyears to June 2003, 122 staff resigned77

May 2004 Police News The Voice of Police(24 sworn and 98 non-sworn) - 37.5%of the total workforce in the centres.This is compounded by a failure toreplace staff promptly.So, not only is understaffing a seriousissue, the actual retention of staff isequally in need of addressing.Staffing shortagesThe lack of staff is historical and goesback to the first operating days ofComms as a national network. Opusand Telecom made recommendationsabout the original setup of Commscentres and the staffing levels needed tooperate them. Police decided to reducethe recommended staffing level. Thecompounding effect of that decision,coupled with an increase in population(especially in Auckland), has led to thestaffing shortages that are evident today.A Police Business Plan for the fiscal year2003-04 identifies a significant increasein call volumes, stating: “This factalone quantifies the need for additionalstaff...” The report clearly identifies theneed for forward planning. It goes on tosay: “This also highlights an additionalproblem that we would need to meettwo years’ worth of increases in order tomeet service level targets in the future.”This clearly indicates that a significantinjection of staff was being mooted.A Police internal memo relating tothe staffing models for the 2002-03financial year identifies a “shortfall of31.3 dispatch staff” in the three CommsCentres in order to maintain 29 groupson a 24-hour seven-day-a-week roster.The memo also says this shortfall doesnot factor in what it calls “consequencesof sickness or resignations”.All Comms Centre managers have putforward business cases for more staff.This has resulted in the secondmentof sworn staff for three and six monthterms. National Comms centre manager,Superintendent Athol Soper, recently toldthe Dominion Post newspaper: “Staffing isnot an issue.” Mr Soper said the shortageswould be filled with officers from otherareas, and their vacancies could beplugged with recruits.Association President, Greg O’Connorresponded by saying that sworn staffwere of more use on the street and thatthe plan was “like moving deck chairsaround on the Titanic”.Staff goodwillThe Police Department’s AnnualReport for 2003 points to an apparenteffectiveness in responding to calls.Those statistics suggest that 87.1% of allcalls to the three 111 CommunicationsCentres are answered within 10seconds. Several sworn and non-swornstaff spoken to by Police News say thefigures don’t mirror their reality. Theysay the Communications network isoperating solely on the goodwill of staff.That goodwill is being abused and isstarting to run very thin, given that staffratios have not increased in relation tothe volume of calls.Staff in Northern Comms (Auckland)and Central Comms (Wellington) pointto the high volume of calls receivedfrom outside their region - saying thatthis puts the Department’s claims of an87.1 answer rate within 10 seconds indoubt.North Comms staff have issued hazardreports as a result of the stress beingendured due to understaffing. At NorthComms there are 12-dispatch ‘pods’ butstaff report that they are regularly up tofive short on a shift.Section 6 of the HSE Act (Health andSafety in Employment Act) appliesto all workplaces and states that anemployer “must take all practicablesteps to ensure the health and safety ofemployees”.ResponsibilitiesThe practical step in this case is toprovide more staff to reduce theworkload. If Police do not address thehazard situation, they are in breachof the HSE Act and the matter can behanded on to OSH (Occupational Safetyand Health) or the ERS (EmploymentRelations Service). Other avenues opento staff are to pursue prosecution underthe Crown Organisation CriminalLiability Act.Police News inquiries have revealedthat in May last year, OSH(Occupational Safety and Health)Inspector, Dennis Elliott wrote toPolice Commissioner, Rob Robinson,expressing his concern over what hetermed “significant hazards” at CentralComms. In that correspondence,Mr Elliott alluded to a meeting inDecember 2002 between himself,fellow OSH Health and SafetyInspector, Bruce Taplin, and Policehealth and safety reps aimed ataddressing the issues. In May of2003 the OSH Inspectors met withPolice at a follow-up meeting andMr Elliott told the Commissioner:“No significant change had occurredduring this five month period”.Annual call loadings - 2000-03 (actual)2004 (anticipated) - South Comms500,000CALLS OFFERED400,000300,000200,000100,00002000 2001 2002 2003 2004YEAR78

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004Increase in total call volumes – Central Comms405,000400,000395,000390,000385,000380,000375,000370,000365,000360,0002002 – 2003 2003 – 2004Comms and the legacy of INCISThe current problems with Commscentres are a legacy of the failedINCIS (Integrated National CrimeInformation System) programme ofthe mid-late 1990s.INCIS was seen originally as astand-alone system, which wouldultimately incorporate a nationalCommunications network, along thelines of what exists today.By 1996, there were movesafoot to change the way Policecommunications operated. This wasaround the time the INCIS euphoriawas at its height and the model beingmooted was to do away with theprovincially-based CAD (ComputerAssisted Dispatch) model and move,as INCIS went on line, to a regionalsystem.Intergraph systemThe NZ Police Department lookedat the Australian Intergraph system,which was being run in Melbourneat the time, and decided it could beimported here. Unfortunately, it wasrun city-wide not nationwide, and tothis day it has never been able to beintegrated with the Victorian system.This led to other problems. TheNew Zealand model was based oncall centre models from the bankingsector, rather than as an emergencyresponse system, and the problemswith it have been endemic ever since.Eventually, INCIS got well behind inits roll-out date while work on theIntergraph model gathered pace. Itsoon became clear that integrationof the two systems presented furthercomplexities.Operating systemsThose flaws revolved around adecision by Police to change, at alate stage of development, from thespecificality of the IBM operatingsystem (OS2) to Microsoft’s NT.This required the building of a newinterface, at considerable extra cost.Additionally, time frames were tightand with computer technicians wellMisunderstandings result in tensionsPolice News has learned that staffshortages have created some tensionsbetween Comms centre workers andstreet staff.A former Hamilton officer said frictionarose for two main reasons: “If you’venever worked in Comms, which wasthe norm for one in every 10 weekswhile I was working in Hamilton,you fail to have any understandingof what sort of pressure Comms staffwork under. That’s the first thing.The second issue is that Comms isnow largely staffed by very competentnon-sworn people who, in turn, havenever had that operational street-levelinvolvement either...and that’s wherethe misunderstanding takes place abouteach other’s respective roles.”Dispatchers and communicators spokento by Police News said that frictionsarose when street staff on traffic duties,repeatedly requested vehicle checks ata time when Comms staff were flat outdealing with burglaries, vicious assaultsand domestic incidents.ahead of schedule, the training timefor staff around the districts wasminimal.Iteration 1 (the first stage of INCIS)was due to launch at the end of 1996but this target was not met.Central Comms (Wellington) wasone of the first to go online andencountered problems with themapping system, which was not asrobust as anticipated. This resultedin the Wairarapa area being droppedfor a period, leaving staff in the southwondering what they were in forwhen Southern Comms went live.The new CARD (Computer AssistedResponse Dispatch) Communicationcentres in Christchurch, Wellingtonand Auckland took over all emergencycommunications in June 1998, whilethe districts retained their local calls.The Fire Service moved theiremergency control rooms/Commscentres into the same premiseswithin 18 months and have workedalongside Police ever since.Comms centre staff say that greaterinteraction between staff in the centresand frontline staff would facilitate abetter understanding of each other’sroles.“It’s an understanding thing. Theyhave no concept of what its like inComms and it would be a really goodidea if Police management made itmandatory for all staff to spend sometime observing how Comms actuallyoperates,” one dispatcher said.79

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceThe trouble with Comms...Here’s what Police News found from itsinvestigation and from interviewing staff atthe three Comms centres:• Staff at all three centres expressedconcerns over mounting workloadsand stress due to under-staffing. Thisis particularly exacerbated at times ofheavy workloads or absenteeism, due tosick or annual leave provisions, and isadversely affecting morale.• Dispatchers have been answering111 calls, because of insufficientcommunicators on shifts. “If dispatchersare answering calls and a 10-10(emergency call) goes up and we’ve gotsomeone yelling in our ear because ofa violent domestic, and we don’t hearthat 10-10 and none of the other streetstaff hear it thenyou have a serioussituation wheresomeone couldget seriously hurtor killed,” onedispatcher toldPolice News.• An experienced Northern dispatcherfound the unrelenting pressureuntenable recently and, with theprospect of not being able to take abreak, walked off the channel. A seniorsworn officer, who had come in froma day off because of work pressuresaround his own job, had to take overthe channel.• Staff are being required to apply forleave up to a year in advance becauseonly two staff are allowed to take leaveat the same time.• On February 21 at North Comms, thereshould have been 15 calltakers on dutybut only seven were rostered for periodson the shift.• A dispatcher, who was on sick leavebecause of the stress involved in the job,was asked back from sick leave to fill infor a staffing shortage.• Centres often work at minimum staffinglevels because there is no in-builtflexibility to cover absences for sickleave, annual leave or training.• An internal Police Department memo inJanuary highlighted the fact that SouthComms had a deficit of 12 FTEs (fulltime equivalents) in communicatorroles. Based on the call loading at thetime, the full complement should havebeen 33 staff.• 84% of staff surveyed in a soon to bereleased Police Association “WorkingLife Survey” identified “relief cover” asbeing either “not adequate” or “not veryadequate”.• The problems are not common onlyto calltakers and dispatchers either;they have a flow on effect to all staff.Some team leaders, shift managers andsupervisors have expressed concernto the Police Association about theirworkloads having doubled in somecases, because they are having to fill infor staff on sick/annual leave or to allowothers to take breaks.• Staff coming to work even though theyare sick, because they do not want tolet their group down. Even so, SouthComms staff, from June till December,“There is a genuine concern amongst staff that sooner,rather than later a member will be seriously hurt (or worse),as a result of channel linking and the subsequent radiotraffic congestion.” - Police Department memo.2003 ran up 6300 hours of sick leave,compared with the previous full yeartotal of 7780 hours. Other centres arealso seeing rises in sick leave.• Staff have reported an unusually largenumber of urinary tract infections. TheirGPs are ascribing these to staff beingunable to take ‘comfort’ breaks in atimely fashion.• Roster changes (usually within the 14days’ notice required) are causing majordisruptions to communicator FEO(flexible employment option) workersand impacting upon their ability tobalance their work and personal lives.• The linking of channels is a majorconcern for dispatchers and streetstaff. Dispatchers say this places addedstress on them while street staff saythey are much more vulnerable whendispatchers are linked and may be‘tied up’ on the phone dealing with anincident in an outside district.• Linking of channels frequently occursduring the evening when there are morepatrols working and so the channelusage is actually at a higher level ratherthan a lower level - further impacting onstaff workloads.• At Northern Comms, on one recentweekend, there were just sevendispatchers on duty to cover 12 radiochannels. This meant that virtuallyevery channel had to be linked. Onestaffer told Police News that dispatcherstaffing levels had been as low as five onoccasions.• Police News has seen an internal PoliceDepartment memo from an Inspector,which says: “There is a genuine concernamongst staff that sooner, rather thanlater a member will be seriously hurt(or worse), as a result of channellinking and the subsequent radio trafficcongestion.”• In June last year one operator wasleft in charge of the Whakatane,Tauranga, Taupo and Rotorua areas. Theoperator was tasked with simultaneousdispatches regarding burglaries inTauranga and Rotorua and a robbery inTaupo.• Failures to de-link when seriousincidents have occurred.• Callers abandoned116,804 queued calls lastyear. Of these, 55,045were abandoned before theservice time expired (10seconds for 111 calls and30 seconds for general calls).• In mid-February at North Comms thenumber of experienced communicatorshad dropped by half. Only 25% of 111calls were answered within the Police’starget time.• South Comms is consistently running15-17% lower in its service levelsrequired for both emergency andnon-emergency calls. Staff say that thisservice level is likely to improve only ifthe call demand decreases, which seemshighly unlikely.• A frontline officer told Police News thathe knew of situations where street staffhad to wait outside violent domesticincidents because they could not get intouch with a Comms operator.• Police News has sighted an internalPolice memo, which states that theworkload in South Comms has“increased by 30% over the last threeyears”. Time constraints within theworkload add to the pressure (e.g.dealing with staff doing traffic stops cantake up to 15 minutes).• Dispatchers having to tell street staffto “standby” several times because ofqueued jobs.• Staff have to ‘bid’ (i.e. literally put theirhand up) for someone to take over theirterminal or to link the channel so theycan have a comfort/toilet break.80

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004Comms staff express concern:“It’s not a matter of if a tragedy willhappen, it’s a matter of when”The idea of centralising the Commsnetwork and having the ability to linkchannels at times of peak call demand,in order to service emergency calls fromany part of the country, seemed like agood idea at the time of its inception.For instance, an Auckland dispatcher,via this centralised base, could dispatchChristchurch police units in response toan incident in Aranui.That was the theory. Inpractice it has problems.Unfamiliarity with localgeography is one and thiscan cost valuable time.Time is of the essence whenstreet staff find themselvesin dangerous situationsrequiring back up.An Auckland dispatchermay not, for example,know the roads aroundAranui, whereas aChristchurch dispatcheris likely to have first-handknowledge of the area.The risk is compoundedin an atmosphere wherecommunicators anddispatchers are under heavy workloads.Technological differences in phonenetworks can also add to the time ittakes to dispatch units in emergencysituations. Phones linked to the Telecomnetwork can be easily verified to anaddress but, should the caller be usingthe Saturn network, a prepaid phone orcellphone, then the only way to verifydetails is from the caller relaying themto the communicator first-hand.“If there are difficulties with somethinglike a violent domestic then this createsextra problems, but that’s the same forall Comms centres,” one staffer toldPolice News.LinkingWhere there are insufficient dispatchersavailable, linking of channels is thenorm. One dispatcher explained toPolice News: “That’s where problemsarise. You then get a dispatcher lookingafter two channels and then on top ofthat communicators or dispatchers maybe required to pick up the overload of111 calls and AES (allied emergencyservice) calls (Ambulance, Coast Guard).”This is where a combination of humanerror and some degree of technologicalinadequacy (e.g. poor radio reception)could combine with devastating results.An incident in Auckland highlightedthe potential for a serious mistake. Anoperator, who answered a 111 call,missed part of the caller’s reference tothere being a firearm involved. Unitswere dispatched without the officers• Comms staff do a great job in stressful circumstances. (Photocourtesy of the NZ Herald).heading to the incident being awareof this all-important fact. Luckily,someone else queried the allegedoffender’s name, recognized him ashaving access to firearms and a historyof violence against police officers andthe unit was stood down. The AOS(Armed Offenders’ Squad) resolved thesituation.In July 2002, the Police Departmentgave assurances that it was “workingvery hard to resolve these issues”(linking channels). At that time,the issue of linking resulted in theDepartment saying that it was looking at“new radio channel configuration plansbeing developed by each centre in aneffort to maximise the use of dispatcherresources (and) in an effort to limit thenumber of linkings that occur.”The Police Department told thePolice Association that some linkingswould still occur, however, only whencentres experienced what it referredto as “unscheduled absences dueto illness or where they needed toprovide rostered breaks for dispatchstaff”.Comms staff told Police Newsthat linking of channels is nowcommonplace and they believe it isbeing used to cover staffing shortages.PressuresThe Police Association is extremelyconcerned that both sworn and nonswornstaff are being asked to work insuch stressful situations.In Central Comms(Wellington), staff shortagesoften lead to dispatchersanswering both general and111 calls. This is the normon night shift from Sundaythrough to Thursday whencommunicators go off shift atmidnight, leaving dispatchersto handle these calls for thenext seven hours. At CentralComms, staff say they are 10staff down.The frustration felt by staff inall three centres is palpable.Some feel managementdoesn’t have an ear fortheir concerns. Anecdotalevidence suggests they arecorrect. In a recent incidentin North Comms, a dispatcher went tothe ‘break-out room’ for time out afterbecoming seriously stressed. Otherstaff saw the team leader follow thestaffer into the room and thought thatthe team leader was inquiring as to thewelfare of the stressed operator. Notso. As it transpired, the team leaderwas inquiring when the staffer couldbe back on the floor. “Staff find thissort of attitude very disappointing andinsensitive,” one worker told Police News.They are concerned, not only for theirown health and welfare but for that oftheir colleagues, frontline police andthe public. They say they have givengoodwill in abundance. They say theyhave gone the extra mile on numerousoccasions and continue to do so.They say it is time the administrationacknowledged the goodwill they havegiven over years. And they say it ishigh time staffing levels were raisedconsiderably; in order to alleviatean untenable situation, which couldvery easily, given the wrong set ofcircumstances, end in a tragedy.81

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceThe history of an ongoing problemThe Police Association first raised issuesrelating to understaffing in Comms in1997. These specifically related to:• Increased workplace stress due tolinking channels, taking 111 calls andstaff turnover.• Difficulty in taking toilet breaks.• Difficulty in obtaining annual leave.• Insufficient debriefing.• Communicators being used too earlyas dispatchers.• Low staff morale.• Staff not having their concernseffectively addressed.• Unnecessary friction being causedbetween street and Comms staff.The Association understands that Policeundertook a survey about stressorsin Central Comms (Wellington) in2003 and in this staff raised similarconcerns.Comms centre management havemade some changes, e.g. implementeda new roster system, put systems inplace to try and ensure that staff getbreaks and seconded some staff toComms centres to lessen the effect ofstaff shortages.The Department gave various undertakingsto address these issues (e.g.limiting the crossover activity betweendispatchers and communicators; workingon providing debriefs and endeavouringto operate a single channel per dispatcheroperation during peak periods). It hasacknowledged previously that staffmorale has been low.An overview of initial findings of the2001 Working Life Survey identified aseries of ongoing problems.• 54% of staff surveyed described theirwork environment as “poor” or “onlyfair”.• 76% of staff felt the stress level ofthe job was either “intermittently” or“constantly” high.• 82% identified their current workloadas being “intermittently” or “constantly”high.• Tellingly, they saw staffing levels forcommunicators (77%) and dispatchers(81%), as “seemingly too low”.• 61% of staff said that they got a breakeither “only in a meal break” or “only inrostered tea/coffee/meal breaks”.Staff say the situation around takingbreaks has improved in the interimbut despite a Department-institutedenforcement regime, some 30%of staff either never take breaks ortake them only occasionally. Somestaff told Police News that they “feltguilty” about taking breaks within anenvironment where staff levels hadnever been optimal.In February 2004, Deputy Commissionerof Operations, Steve Long, in responseto a letter from the Police Association,said: “My experience, and that of staffI have advising me on the tensionsbeing experienced in NorthernCommunications, suggest that Policeare moving in the right direction inregard to the issues you raise.”Mr Long made reference to “thelengths that Comms staff go to, toensure that the dispatch channels aremanaged properly and I know fromfirst hand experience that the safety offront line staff is a key concern”.Mr Long is right on a couple of counts.Firstly, the channels are managedbut under duress and only throughthe overwhelming goodwill of staff.Secondly, he is correct when he saysthat Comms Centre staff have a keyconcern around the safety of frontlinestaff. As one Southern Comms Centrestaff member told Police News, theproblem is two-fold. “It’s aboutstaffing levels, but not only withinComms, it’s also a factor for the guysand girls on the street as well. Therearen’t enough units outside to dealwith the jobs that are going and therearen’t sufficient staff inside Comms todeal with the calls that we get.”Mr Long has given assurances thathe is working on these issues andsays the “effective operation of theCommunication centres is a priority”.The Police Association wants to seea strong case made to Governmentfor additional staff to make thisoperational phase of policing moreeffective, in order to deliver the servicefrontline police and the public deserve.“A fine balancing act” - North Comms ManagerSuperintendent John Lyall, Manager of North Comms, is the first toadmit that Comms centre staff do a great job. “The staff are extremelydedicated and I take my hat off to them every day of the week. Theyhave to put up with all sorts of things and their efficiency is secondto-none,”he said.“Call volumes are increasing in each Communications centre butwe’re keeping a pretty good watch on it. For example, South Commslast year showed in excess of a 10% increase in call volume. Last yearin North Comms, before we actually dropped in staff numbers, wewere reaching our service levels every week. Once you plateau yourstaffing and get your ultimate staffing you don’t get these rejectedand abandoned calls, which all add to our failure to provide theservice. One of the big problems has been that it has taken us about12 months to get back to where we should have been staffing wise.North Comms dropped down to 20 under strength at June last year.We put through [recruited] about 60 staff last year but of course youget attrition with that and we’re talking 12 to 14%, so we expect that’sgoing to be the case and we look ahead to deal with that.”“We haven’t got an abundance of staff and I’d gladly welcome somemore if I was offered them,” Superintendent Lyall said. “In fact thePolice Executive gave temporary funding to the CommunicationsCentres to assist with staffing in the last quarter of this financial year.This was welcomed.”“…we’re looking at a workforce management package, which givesus greater ability to roster staff at the right times using a scientificformula and also it will help us in regulating our breaks. So all thosethings are improvements we’re looking at and we’re looking atimprovements for our own internal systems,” Superintendent Lyallsaid.Superintendent Lyall said Police are continually looking at “efficienciesin the way calls are handled”.“We’re trying to get a call handling time of 180 seconds. We workwith the staff to see if they can manage their calls better, because themore calls they can answer then the less impact there is onstaffing,” he told Police News.Superintendent Lyall said that finding a balance was thekey in Comms centres. “When we get new staff, theircall handling time initially might be 280 to 300 secondson average, but we work with the staff through training anddevelopment to reduce this and to keep the quality of the calls aswell. We’re trying to balance the needs of the staff with the needsof the public and the Department and it can be a bit of a jugglingact.”“Until we can go back and prove [to the Police Executive] that we areoperating as efficiently as we can with our processes and call handling,then we can’t really put our hands up too far for extra staff,” he said.82

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004POLICE COUNCIL OF SPORTSPORTS NEWSTo contact the Police Council of Sport, call Alison Murray at the RNZPC. Ph: (04) 238 3139• Members of the Police team which won 30 gold, eight silver and 11 bronze medals at the NZ Masters Games.Fine medal haul at NZ Masters GamesThe New Zealand Masters Games are held every twoyears, alternating between Wanganui and Dunedin. Thisyear it was Dunedin’s turn.Some events are competitive and others of a socialnature.A total of 30 gold medals, eight silver medals and 11bronze medals were won by police sportsmen andwomen.Some notable achievements were:• Heather Wyllie (Queenstown) won five gold and asilver medal in the swimming.• Shelly Richardson (Dunedin) won four gold and a silvermedal in the swimming.Wild Moa event presented lots of challengesThe Wild Moa is a multi-sport event,which was held in mid-February, inRotorua.The event begins with a 4km runthrough the bush around the OkatainaLodge, then a 7km kayak across LakeOkataina, a 1km kayak carry throughthe bush and a 9km kayak across LakeTarawera.Gale force winds made for an eventfulpaddle with various paddlers unableto finish. At one stage, one of thepolice participants, Tom Sawyer, sawan empty kayak float past him andhe told Police News he wasn’t toosure whether he’d be looking for abody later in the day until he saw theunfortunate kayaker clinging to a rockoutcrop, awaiting pickup by the rescueboat.After the kayaking, it was on to themountain bikes for a 32km ride throughfantastic native bush. By this stagecontestants were coated in mud, whichthey attempted to shake off on the finalleg, which consisted of a 17km runthrough the Whakarewarewa Forest.Tom Sawyer crossed the finish line in21st place and his Rotorua colleague,Glen Burrell finished 26th. Bothfinished in just over seven hours. Then,as if to top off a good day’s work, Glenand Tom managed to pick up spotprizes at the prize giving.• Jan Craig (Dunedin) won four gold medals in track andfield.• Lachie Cameron (Dunedin) won three gold medals inthe multi sports.• Liz Forde (Dunedin) won two gold medals in roadraces and a silver medal in cross- country doghandling.It was especially good to see some staff, who are notused to competitive events, getting into the spirit of theoccasion and taking part. There were a few stiff and sorebodies around the district after the Games. The feedbackfrom staff was positive and it is expected that there will bemany more competitors participating in 2006 when theGames return to Dunedin.• Glen Burrell (left) and Tom Sawyer(right) endured the Wild Moa event.Visit www.policeassn.org.nz for updated contact details for thePolice Council of Sport management committee, District Sports Officers and the latest schedule of events.83

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PoliceKapi-Mana Enduro:Local knowledge and some fine individualefforts see Porirua home at the head of the fieldThe Kapi-Mana Enduro, a multi-sport event encompassingsix individual legs, turned into a ‘horses-for-courses’escapade for the local Porirua team when they ran outconvincing winners from a game Wellington Central squadwith Kapiti third. The NZ Police Association team, cobbledtogether at the 11th hour, was a meritorious fourth.It was a concerted team effort from the winners, aidedconsiderably by strong individual winning performancesfrom Shayne Rongonui, who showed a clean pair of heels tohis rivals in the 5km road race, and Glen Turner who was 53seconds clear of his nearest rival in the 15km road cycling leg.Wellington Central’s Jonathan Davies showed finetechnique to narrowly take fastest time in the 1 km canoeevent while team-mates Warrick McKee and Jason McLarenchimed in with strong placed efforts on their respective legs.Outstanding effortOne of the most outstanding efforts of the day camefrom Kapiti’s Craig Eddie, who was in superb form in themountain bike event. Eddie’s performance lifted Kapiti from7th to 3rd at the end of his leg.One of the highlights of the day was the 500m swim,run in two heats. The first was taken out by NZ PoliceAssociation representative Amanda Sutherland, who swama perfectly timed race to cut down the tearaway leader overthe last 200 metres, to give her 5th fastest time overall.The second heat, the fastest of the day, resulted in a titanicstruggle between Amie Robertson (Porirua Section 1) andDavid Jones (Porirua CCU). They turned together for some18 lengths of the pool before Robertson kicked clear toscore in 5.56, six seconds to the better of Jones.Perfect conditionsThe event was run in perfect weather with some debateabout how precise some of the distances were in thevarious sports. Some very tired mountain bikers were of theopinion that organiser Mike Oxnam’s idea of an “alleged3km course” may have been closer to 6 kms. Mike wasn’tcomplaining though as he rode a particularly strong leg tobeat home some of the ‘youngsters’.Hastings Triathlon proves to bea resounding successThe Hastings Police Triathlon was run recently and over40 police officers from Hastings, as well as their familymembers, competed in the event.All competitors received spot prizes with the NZ PoliceAssociation-sponsored drink bottles proving popular withmembers’ children. The local Council of Sport made theday an excellent family affair, where the emphasis was onhaving the competition in a fun atmosphere.Results were:1st man: Wayne Middlemiss.1st woman: Deb Potter.1st mixed team: Meryn Hinton and Bryan Smith.1st men’s team: The Tutus - (Darren Pritchard, Alan(‘Arthur’) Daly and Brad Clark.1st women’s team: PMT - Meryn Hinton, Paula Lobb andSue Robinson.Most entertaining: Tom (‘Elvis’) Romans.84Wellington turned on a fantastic afternoon and somespirited and good-natured competition made the eventan outstanding success. Organiser Mike Oxnam, with ableassistance from a band of helpers, did a sterling job as usualand the Porirua Police club’s after-match hospitality wassecond to none.Results (individual placings on times inparenthesis):1st - Porirua; Overall time of 1.34.31Mark Buttar (6th 2.37)500 metre runShane Rongonui (1st 14.00) 5 km runJacquie Muir (3rd 6.49) 1 km canoeGlen Turner (1st 32.43) 15 km cycleJames McKay (3rd 30.00) 3 km mountain bikeLance Herring (8th 8.22) 500 metre swim2nd - Wellington Central - Group 2; Overall time of1.36.08Warrick McKee (2nd 2.18) 500 metre runMatthew Wasson (4th 15.18) 5 km runJonathan Davies (1st 6.42) 1 km canoeAndy Gilbert (2nd 33.36) 15 km cycleJason McLaren (2nd 29.55) 3 km mountain bikeBlair Hickey (7th 8.19)500 metre swim3rd - Kapiti (NBG); Overall time of 1.39.59Wayne Hassell (7th 2.38) 500 metre runSam Wright (7th 17.42) 5 km runAllan Hallberg (5th 34.43) 15 km cycleIan Osland (9th 8.40)1 km canoeCraig Eddie (1st 29.11)3 km mountain bikeKevin Brown (4th 7.05) 500 metre swim4th - NZ Police Association (1st ‘outside’ team); Overalltime of 1.50.19Prue Wilson (11th 2.53) 500 metre runSteve Plowman (2nd 14.21) 5km runGreg Fleming (7th 38.23) 15 km cycleGreg O’Connor (4th 7.32) 1 km canoeSimon Feltham (4th 39.09) 3km mountain bikeAmanda Sutherland (5th 8.01) 500 metre swimSports award nominationsDue to queries about late nominations, the deadlinefor the 2004 sports awards nominations has beenextended. Last year’s winner Shane Bond is nolonger a police officer, but there are many talentedsports people still in the Police that have representedNew Zealand in their chosen code.The categories are Administrator, Official andSportsperson of the year. These nominations are forthe period from 1 December, 2002 to 30 November,2003.Now is the time to nominate that person thattirelessly gets on with the job of organising,officiating or training for their sport.If you wish to nominate such a worthy recipient,please contact Ally Murray on extn 43139 or027 230 2847.

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004Letters to the Editor Write 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 willbe published unless there is a good reason for anonymity. The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge ordecline letters without explanation. Write to: editor@policeassn.org.nz or post it to the Editor atPO Box 12344, Wellington. Letters under 350 words are preferred.Judge responds toyouth justice featureI welcome any focus on youth justice(Police News, January-February), but alsobelieve the subject could have been givenmore balanced and informed treatment inyour special feature.You quote police officers as saying: “Theyouth justice system is in disarray”.(Which police officers? Your specialfeature did not include comment fromeither Inspector Chris Graveson, theHead of Police Youth Aid, who is vastlyexperienced, nor from SuperintendentSteve Christian, the Head of PoliceServices, who later issued a correctivepress statement in response to yourarticle.) I cannot accept your claim madeabove reflects the true position. Considerthe following statistics:• Youth offending has remained a stable22% of total offending over the last 10years.• The apprehension rate for 14 to16-year-olds increased significantly in thefirst part of the last decade but hasremained relatively unchanged since.So too, the apprehension rate for 10 to13-year-olds.• Only a small percentage of offendingby under-17-year-olds is “serious”offending.• Violent offending by under-17-yearoldshas remained relatively stable inthe last five years. (It may be that thedegree of violence is becoming morepronounced and is being committedat a younger age - we simply have nostatistics on that important point.)• The number of charges processed inthe Youth Court has remained relativelyconstant in the last five years anddecreased slightly in the last two years.The number of offenders in the YouthCourt has been stable in recent years.Whatever conclusions we might chooseto draw from those statistics, they wouldnot be that the youth justice system is indisarray. Youth offending is certainly noworse than patterns of overall offending,and following the increases in the earlierpart of the 1990s (when offending almostdoubled) youth offending rates havestabilised in the last eight years.Some of the other claims in the specialfeature are way off the mark. For instance,the youth justice system is described“as a system which treats victims asmere bystanders.” Not true. Under theprovisions of the legislation, victims mustbe specially acknowledged and consideredin all decision making. Victims are invitedto Family Group Conferences (FGCs) andfrequently play a pivotal role. At FGC’s,Police provide support to victims andassist in making sure their perspective isunderstood.New Zealand’s youth justice systemis hailed internationally as givingunparalleled recognition to the rights ofvictims. Victims are more involved in thehearing of youth offending issues thanin any other part of the New Zealandcriminal justice system. That there areinstances when the system miscarries atthe victim’s expense can hardly make theargument that the system reduces victimsto the role of bystanders.Many of the deficiencies in the youthjustice system that are identified in yourarticle are now well rehearsed. Thereis no disagreement with many of theobservations made by Sergeant Roper.- There is an ongoing crisis ofunavailability of residential beds for youngoffenders, and the level of police cellremands is unacceptable.- The supervision with residence sentence,the most serious that can be imposed bythe Youth Court, needs to be longer, andmust be better managed and practised.- The monitoring of FGC plans issometimes inadequate and patchy.Consequently, cases take too long tofinalise.(These and other criticisms were clearlyidentified by the Ministerial Taskforce onYouth Offending. It is concerning theyhave not been resolved.)It is also quite correct to identify asmall group of offenders who have adisproportionate effect on the youthjustice system. This group generally sharesthe following common characteristics:• 70-80% have a drug and/or alcoholaddiction.• 70% are not at school - many are noteven enrolled at a secondary school.• Most experience family dysfunction,with a lack of a positive male rolemodel.• Most have a borderline psychologicalor psychiatric problem, and displaylittle remorse, let alone victim empathy.• At least 50% are Maori and in someYouth Courts the Maori appearancerate is 90%.• Many have an institutional background(care and protection).This small group of young offenders isproblematic for every Western country,and presents a challenge for any youthjustice system. They represent 5-15%of young offenders but commit 55-70%of all offences. But it is quite wrong tosuggest these young offenders are not heldto account.It does your article no credit to refer tounnamed Police officers who criticise “softjudges” or “judges who differ widely inthe manner in which they treat the sameoffences”. In fact the majority of decisionsabout young offenders are made at anFGC and are unanimous. Police are alwaysrepresented at such conferences. Judgescan hardly be criticised for accepting theunanimous recommendations of FGC’sin which Police have participated. Wherethe offending is much more serious, thereis a provision to impose “top end “YouthCourt sentences or to convict youngoffenders and transfer them to the DistrictCourt. There are clear statutory guidelinesfor the imposition of these sentences.If the Police believe Judges have madewrong or inappropriate decisions then theavenue of appeal is always open and, inthe interests of the community, should bepursued to correct any perceived injustice.The example given of a computer for anoffender who apparently failed to liveup to the agreement of her FGC is veryconcerning. If the Police were aware ofthis case, it should have been brought tothe Court’s attention so that it was clearthere was a breach of the offender’s FGCPlan. If a formal order had been made anapplication for review could have beenfiled.It is important that the valuable work ofthe Police Youth Aid division is properlyappreciated. Police Youth Aid providescreative diversion programmes whichhold young people to account but assistthem not to re-offend. About 80% of allyouth offending is dealt with this way.While the Police may be doing the bestthey can with the resources they have,the argument can be made that PoliceYouth Aid needs more resources. Thereare insufficient officers. There is a lack ofa clearly defined career structure. Thereare insufficient senior Youth Aid officers.Supervision for new officers is sometimes85

May 2004 Police News The Voice of Policeinadequate, carried out by non-Youth Aidtrained Sergeants. These are all concernsidentified by the Ministerial Taskforceon Youth Offending, and are now in thehands of Police head office.Despite these limitations Police YouthAid boxes above its weight and makesan extraordinary contribution. Indeed,contrary to the predictions prior to thepassing into legislation of the ChildrenYoung Persons and Their Families Act1989 the Youth Aid division has adoptedthe principles of the Act as its own,contributing to some stunning successes.Given the very positive and substantialcontribution of Police Youth Aid, I amsure many of its officers would have beendisappointed by the negative treatmentyou have given to youth justice.Youth Aid officers need the support ofall police officers in encouraging victims,offenders, and the community to play aresponsible part in the system. It wouldbe to the real detriment of youth justice iffrontline police officers were to lose faithin what is being achieved by the system -and might be further achieved - because ofselective examples and very partial argumentof the kind shown in your article.A J BecroftPrincipal Youth Court Judge(Wellington)Editor’s replyThank you for your comments onthe article. It is refreshing to find amember of the judiciary willing toacknowledge the good work of policeofficers in this field and I thank youfor your contribution to this ongoingdebate. Police News contacted ChrisRoper for his comments because he haddecades of experience in this field andit is heartening to see that you agreewith many of his comments. I reportedthe opinions of several officers, whohad legitimate concerns about aspectsof the youth justice system from theirdaily experience. As ‘the Voice of Police’,Police News responded to their concernsby allowing them to express theiropinions through my article. You will beaware that Police regulations preventpolice officers from being directly criticalof specific judicial decisions, but thatin no way makes their opinions lessvalid on these matters. I understandthe Law Commission has maderecommendations to Governmentconcerning how victims are treatedwithin the justice system, followingresearch it conducted with victims andothers who come into contact withthe courts system. Granted, the areaof youth justice is complex - and thearticle acknowledged this, but it alsoemphasised the necessity for agencies towork together, for key interventions tobe put in place at a very early age andfor agencies to have the courage to savechildren from a life of crime by removingthem, permanently if necessary, fromthe dysfunctional, alcohol and drugsoaked environments, which arethe genesis of their offending. In theinterests of fairness and balance, I havepublished your letter in full. - Editor.Time for carefulconsiderationHaving read your article in the latestPolice News, March 2004 entitled“stabbing/slashing attacks on policeofficers”, I feel I must respond to several ofthe points mentioned in the article.You mention that the department’s figuresindicate a 2300% increase in stabbingattacks, which I think, is very unlikely. Thenumber has probably risen but I wouldrefute that it is a total increase, rather that theincidents are becoming more severe and arenow being reported more often. Health andSafety In Employment Act 1992 (Sections19 and 25) requires ALL employees toreport ALL accidents/incidents and nearmisses as their responsibility under theAct. If reporting and investigating wereencouraged both by the Associationand management, especially in relationto GDBs (General Duties Branch), thenthere would be more accurate figures tosupport the implementation of preventionstrategies, which may include vests.Police culture is a big issue at presentand the “voluntary servitude” attitude iscertainly prevalent as part of that culturewhen it comes to safety. Many officerswould agree that “I am going to serve theNZ public and getting hurt comes withthe territory” rather than thinking that “Iam going to keep myself as safe and fit aspossible so I can help as many as possible”.Getting hurt doesn’t have to come with theterritory. Reporting accidents, in order thatsome other officer doesn’t have to get hurt, ispart of that change.I agree, wholeheartedly, that the PoliceDepartment has an obligation underthe HSE Act 92 (Section 6) to take “allpracticable steps” to protect it’s stafffrom hazards. However, following a taskanalysis (under section 10), it might bethat the best option is covert vests and ifso it is then the employee’s responsibilityto wear the required protective equipment.It would be mandatory, not optional.If you talk to some of the English copshere in Auckland, you will find that theirexperience with covert vests is not all thatgood. They say the vests are uncomfortableespecially when sitting in vehicles etc.Therefore, serious discussion has to beundertaken on this topic. It is also veryrare that following a task analyses thatonly one protective option is implementedbut rather a number of strategies areneeded, so we need to ask the questionswhat are they and how practical are they?I would be very surprised if cost is the realissue. A cost analysis of the 48 stabbingswould most probably show that vestswould pay for themselves in a very shortperiod of time.The new amendments to the HSE Actencourages the involvement of staffa lot more and gives them a lot moreresponsibility. I hope that the Associationwill work with members to turn theattitude to safety around and make the joba lot safer for all.Irene Allen, Staff Safety Officer(North Shore/Waitakere/Rodney PoliceDistrict)Thanks for your letter. The figure of a2300% increase in stabbing/slashingattacks is correct. It comes from thePolice’s own documents. This issuecontains an update on a trial of bodyarmour, which Police are about toundertake. Rest assured that seriousdiscussion is taking place on this issue,both within Police and within the PoliceAssociation - and jointly. - Editor.Media damageIt has been sometime since I called myselfa member of Police, it has been about thesame time since I entered a Police station,and although a few friendships survive,very few police officers are part of my lifeanymore. I keep in touch through PoliceNews and, unfortunately, the newspaper.The damage that media comment withits irresponsible, unresearched andunbalanced information has caused,is clear for all to see. The increasinglyfrequent scathing attacks on your ownranks through the letters in Police Newscontribute even further to undermine thevalued role that you all perform.I write only as an observation, in thatwriting a letter to the Editor does notform part of a solution. I believe itfrequently does more harm than good andpotentially fuels the belief that stating anopinion makes it a fact.Putting pen to paper is the last solution.I believe you should exhaust allopportunities to address the issues thatyou are confronted with in a mannerthat respects the privacy of individuals,the dignity of the Police and seeks toachieve realistic resolutions. Especially inthis environment, at this time, where thePolice are under such incredible scrutiny,professionalism is crucial to maintainingthe respect and value that the majority ofsociety affords the Police.In saying that pen to paper is the lastresort, I forward a copy of a letter Isubmitted to the New Zealand Herald.86

New Zealand Police AssociationMay 2004It may not see the light of day but in avain attempt at expressing my support Itook the opportunity to try to voice somebalance. No longer being a member ofthe Police has given me the opportunityto interact with a broad range of peoplecompletely outside that environment.The views I express are not mine alone orthose of ex-members of Police but a largesection of society, who continue to supportand respect the New Zealand Police.For the record here’s my letter to the NZHerald:“Let us not forget the job we are asking ourpolice officers to undertake everyday. In anycriticism of the New Zealand Police be awareof the damage caused to the reputation ofthe inspirational men and women who areconfronting levels of violence and abuse thathave not previously been experienced in thiscountry. When information is provided as acommentary on the current situation withinPolice, balance this with who is providingthe information and what their motivationis for doing so. The injury and even deathof police officers has not stopped these menand women continuing to do their job. Thethankless task of dealing with people at theirmost violent, distressed and irrational doesnot afford much gratitude. Be cautious thatthe end result of the allegations does not endup damaging the people who need our supportand empowers those who will be fuelled byany opportunity to attack the Police. Whentalking about historical matters, rememberthat the frontline police officers dealing withthe worst elements of society are the only oneswho will be forced to confront the abuse andcriticism. The matters of history can be dealtwith, investigated and addressed and whilethis is being done remember those who put onthe uniform everyday and do the very best jobthey can in the very worst of circumstances.Don’t, as a society, deprive them of thefundamental respect they deserve throughwearing that uniform, just because there isa possibility that some individuals did notconduct themselves in a manner that deservesthat respect. When I tuck my children into bedand turn out the lights at night I still rest easythat there are those men and women who areprepared to respond when I call.”Casey Costello(Papakura)Promotions - there may bea better wayI wish to voice my concerns on how wecurrently promote members within ourorganisation. It’s my understanding thatthe decision is made solely on the CVthe member submits when they applyfor a job. After scoring the CVs they mayinterview the top ones, but that’s it.I am not currently applying for any jobsand don’t intend to in the rear futurebut one day I might and feel the currentsystem doesn’t necessarily promote thebest person for the job.We all know of people who have gotjobs over others even though they were‘lightweight’ and others, who wereexcellent cops and had great peopleskills, missed out because they didn’twrite themselves up well enough. Somepeople make a career out of adding thingsto their CVs by attending every coursethey can and doing everything apart fromdoing what I believe is our core business- locking up and prosecuting criminals.Of course, in the current system, goodmembers still get promoted but there aresome getting through that just aren’t upto it.I suggest a three-part process with eachCorrection to golf resultshaving equal weighting as follows:1. Submit a CV as we do at present.2. Interview everybody (within reason)who applies.3. Spend time reviewing the applicant’spersonal file and interviewing say threeor four past supervisors to find outwhat the member is like. This couldbe a confidential interview so thesupervisors can be completely honest.I accept that this process would be moretime consuming and expensive but I feelit would be money and time well spentto get the right members in supervisorypositions because getting it wrong canhave disastrous results.Rob Hanna(Dunedin)NZ Police Council of Sport2004 CALENDAR OF EVENTSFor more information regarding any of these events, or including otherPolice national sporting events, contact: Alison Murray, NZ PoliceCouncil of Sport (04) 238 3139; email councilofsport@xtra.co.nzMAY 20045 NZ Police Cross-country Championships - WanganuiContact: Mark Chillingworth, Wanganui on ext 65046JUNE 200412 Basketball vs Defence (NZ trials)Contact: Gordi Meyers extn: 37940SEPTEMBER 200416/17 NZ Police Snowboard Champs - CardronaContact: Ian Tuke extn: 95768NOVEMBER 200421-26 Police Cricket - Australasian Police Cricket ChampionshipContact: Paul Johannsen extn: 37940 orGeoffrey Ringer extn: 95789In last month’s issue we ran the Police Golf Championship results butunfortunately we were supplied with the wrong information regarding theBest Nett and Junior Nett winners. Evidently these results were transposedand should have read: Best Nett - K J Murphy; Junior Nett - ShaneMcNally.Memorial WallOur sympathies to all our members’ families forthose who have passed away in recent months...We remember… Who passed away…VANDER WALT Sidney 26-Nov-03 Retired member WellingtonTOHILL Yvonne Maree 18-Feb-04 Retired non-sworn member WellingtonBEASLEY Patricia Dorothy 30-Mar-04 Spouse of retired associate member AucklandCULLEN Bruce Edward 31-Mar-04 Retired sworn member AucklandBELCHER Catherine 14-Apr-04 Widow of sworn member Tauranga87

May 2004 Police News The Voice of PolicePain lingers over detective’s bombing deathBy Brett Williams in AdelaideFor Jane Bowen-Sutton, only one thing was worse thanhearing of her husband’s murder. It was telling her sons,seven and five, their dad would never come home. Sheremembers it as a “shocking experience”, and has alwayscarried it with her.“You read about child grief, and I thought I’d done thisterrible thing to my sons: told them that their dad had beenkilled,” she said recently. “I’ll never recover (from that).”The boys’ father, WA detective sergeant, Geoffrey Bowen,died in the National Crime Authority bombing of March1994. He had worked in the NCA’s Adelaide office on asecondment for two years.Lawyer Peter Wallis survived the blast but sufferedextensive burns, and lost his sight in one eye.Memorial serviceLast March, on the 10 th anniversary of the bombing, MrsBowen-Sutton and her sons, Matthew and Simon, now17 and 15, returned to Adelaide. There, they paid tributeto their murdered husband and father in an emotionalmemorial service on Waymouth St, outside the former NCAoffices.That March 2 day was the 19 th anniversary of Mrs Bowen-Sutton’s marriage to Det Sgt Bowen.Senior SA Police chaplain, Rev David Marr, conducted theservice with his WA counterpart, Rev Barry May.Officials from the Western Australia Police Union and thePolice Association of South Australia joined the Bowenfamily, and scores of serving police, at the morning ceremony.Mourners laid wreaths and flowers over a brass plate in thefootpath, in honour of Det Sgt Bowen.DignitariesAmong the congregation were Police Federation of Australiapresident, Peter Alexander, Australian Crime Commissionchairman, Mick Keelty, and SA Police Commissioner MalHyde.Mr Alexander described the “terrorist nature” of Det SgtBowen’s murder as unprecedented in Australia.Mrs Bowen-Sutton, now remarried, said: “I have troublewith the nature of Geoff’s death, because he was a terrificman, appalled by violence. I don’t know if I’ll ever get overthat”.This column is written by a frontline police officer. It does notrepresent the views or policies of the Police Association.View From The BottomBy Constable Iam KeenMe Fed mates down in the deep south are feeling verymuch let down after finding out that this 4-6% (decrease)for taking promotion has also affected them. They’vediscovered that the retention policy put in place to keepthe CIB attractive has been diminished (“out the window”,I think the words used were) in the latest pay round. Morebehind the curtains work from the lot working in Wayne’sWorld - giving with one hand whilst taking with another.The master of illusion has certainly pulled the woolly down,with very few troopies being aware of what we weresigning up for when it all took place, though it’s there inblack and white I’m told. My bully tells me this will alsoaffect the AOS, Youth Aid and other groups, so I doubtwhether this will be the last we hear of it.Apparently, down in the South, 90% of CIB members willget something in the 4% region instead of the guaranteed6% when they qualify, which might lead to a minor revolt.I already hear an Association advocate took an ear bashingat the Police College for not making this clear, prior to thevote last year. Let’s hope it hasn’t fallen on deaf ears.The old lark of divide and rule seems to be alive and well intoday’s (Wayne’s) world!The chameleonIf that’s not bad enough, I hear that HR staff have beenencouraged not to be part of the Association, as theymight have a conflict of interest when dealing with staffissues. That is downright deplorable. One would have toquestion the ethics involved.If you continue to attempt to suppress your most‘valuable resources’, by undermining them at every turn,Back to the futureyou may end up biting the hand thatfeeds you fella!In a time where ‘ethics’ are to the forefrontof policing, it would have seemed moreprudent to lead from the front and be as upfront and as fair as possible. Maybe I’m still abit naive and it really is just about the dollars.Maybe someone should audit the amount ofcell phones in use at the castle and scrutinisethe backroom instead of the front room fora change.The world was so much simpler when Michael J was gettingus through the box office with this trilogy of movies. Youcould relax and put a hard week’s work behind you. The AB’swere the best and most feared team in the world. A HappyMeal from McD’s really did make you feel just that and therights of the many always out weighed the rights of the few.Boy I miss those times.Well team, the road toll needs tweaking back down thisyear and that ‘P’ trend has just not gone away, despite someuneducated suggestions. When were those meth teams northof the Bombay’s and around the cake tin coming on line?Thank God we don’t have a problem here in the Mainland.Yeah right!The meth problem represents a challenge and a half that usfront-liners are more than up to with the right leadership. Sureit’ll be a bit of a wrestle but if it was that easy everyone wouldbe doing it and they’re not! If you’re not up to it then you canalways book in for the lobotomy and get promoted aboveNCO level....aaahhh...okay that might be a bit harsh becauseI’ve met at least six in the past 20 years that haven’t lost site ofthe sharp end and can remember their roots.And watch out for those red andblacks creeping up that Super 12table. See ya!88