NZPCA
I left the New Zealand Police about 18 months ago after serving 10 years, predominantly based in a regional town.
I experienced incredible highs from helping victims, solving major crimes, and contributing to my community. I also experienced major lows from constant subjection to major trauma, stress, and issues within my family resulting from my job.
On the ground level the police is a family, but at the top it’s like a business. There is little to no appreciation of what the frontline guys and girls put themselves through on a daily basis and the disconnect is widening at a rapid rate.
Who is to blame? The commissioner, the police minister, the Government as a whole, society or all of those involved?
The answer? The latter.
The support provided by the upper echelon is virtually non-existent, however the staff on the street also need to stand up for themselves and ensure they’re not bullied into doing things they shouldn’t.
It took me eight years to realise the only person who was going to look after me was me. I decided I was no longer going to neglect my family by constantly giving in and complying with what was expected.
This polarised me from mangement. Suddenly I went from being promotional material to “not suitable”. This wasn’t because I wasn’t doing my job, as I still gave it 100 per cent, rather it was because I didn’t agree with the way things were being done.
Once, at a promotion board hearing, my area commander told me I was a great cop, but needed to make my bosses “look good”. In other words, “Toe the line, buy into the corporate b……., and don’t be so vocal about the real problems”.
Credit: MARION VAN DIJK/FAIRFAX NZ
Our corporate tagline was “Reported crime is down” – of course it was as it was harder to report and we were becoming less approachable.
I dealt with gang members on a daily basis, many of whom were not as bad as they’re made out to be, and they were laughing at how we were going about our business. New gangs were arriving and establishing themselves as police took their eye off the ball to say “Reported crime is down”.
As recent results have shown, crime has risen, and now Police Minister Judith Collins has said all home burglaries will be attended, just as police did 10 years ago.
Eventually I decided to leave and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. At times I miss the amazing highs of the job, but I don’t miss the lows.
I recently visited some of my former colleagues and increasing numbers of them are disgruntled and feel how I did. This is the frightening truth.
Everyone who joins the police for the right reasons can have those intentions drained from them and issues can fester and grow.
I have moved on and made my change, but will never forget the best days – and the worst – of my working life.
I only hope those in positions to make a change do so, and do so quickly, so the pride of being a police officer in New Zealand can return.
Good luck to all my brothers and sisters. Keep up the good fight.
Front line staff are getting played, they are running on fear and taught to initiate a fight response. From simple pep talks to full operational meeting, fear is drilled into them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response
Fact of the matter is the NZPolice have very little to fear from the public, we don’t go walking the street with military hardware ready to start shooting and killing people. They are trained more so towards counter terrorism rather then policing a passive country. Its the driving factor of people increasingly arming themselves.
What i think is the most telling is how’s the NZ Police’s political agenda is getting pushed. They are all over free national TV, they own segments of the news and are constantly pushing for greater powers, more guns, more access to information. As for burglaries and car thefts which have 10% rates, well it only serves the notion that i need insurance!
what do you think SALLY of the westcoast police and how they operate now … would you say front line has improved ……local heads etc. please advise
I blame Bush and his bullies and the National.Govt the whole bloody lot need ousting ,