You’re walking down a busy city street. You see a young boy, maybe ten years old, eating out of a rubbish bin. He looks dirty, tired, hungry and miserable.
What would you do? Would you walk by and ignore him? Or would you stop to check if he is okay? Check this video released by NZ Police today to see how the public reacted.
"If you said you would have stopped, then you may be just the kind of person NZ Police is looking for," says NZ Police Deputy Chief Executive: Public Affairs, Karen Jones.
“We are looking for people who care about the people in their communities. People who will step in when they see someone who needs helps or is doing something that is unsafe."
“The kind of people we want to attract care about making a positive difference. With NZ Police there are many opportunities to turn that care into positive action.”
Ms Jones said that NZ Police would like to recruit about 400 new cops this year.
"We have filmed a series of real-life social experiment scenarios exploring issues our officers deal with daily - involving the safety of the young and the vulnerable people in our communities. This includes alcohol-related incidents, mental health and youth issues and safety on our roads. We wanted to see how many people would step up to help.”
“The approach we have taken is new and different and links strongly with our Police value of empathy. It helps us tell a compelling story about the special type of person who chooses to be a police officer. And at the same time reach out to like-minded people in the community to join us.
“In the first of a series of videos we see a young actor in a busy city street eating out of a rubbish bin. We capture the responses of real life passersby. Some of the responses are thought-provoking, some quite moving.
“Whilst the social experiments involved real people, the majority of their faces have been blurred other than our actor and the people who stopped to take action.
“We did not want to highlight the individuals who walked by, as there may have been very good reasons why someone did not stop to help at that particular time.”
“We hope the segment will encourage conversations about what you would have done. And more importantly we hope the conversations will encourage the target groups we want to reach to consider if their values are a good fit with what we stand for.”
“The recruitment campaign will mainly be promoted online and specifically aims to reach out to 18- 29 year olds, and in particular Maori, Pasifika, Chinese, Indian, Latin American, African and Middle Eastern people so we better represent the diverse communities we serve. We also want to encourage more women to consider a career with us.”
Ms Jones said that NZ Police offers huge opportunities for professional development, with over 30 career pathways ranging from- from youth aid, to criminal investigations to search and rescue.
color:#1F497D">Link to video: https://www.facebook.com/NZPoliceRecruitment
ENDS
Police media contact: Rachel Purdom, PNHQ Public Affairs, ph 021 908 101
Note:
NZ Police’s recruitment marketing budget is $870,000 per annum. NZ Police held a tender process late last year for its recruitment account, which was then awarded to Ogilvy and Mather.