Changes in Policing and Creating Safer Communities for the Future

Police are the cornerstone of Government's community safety relationship. Police interact with the public more widely, more frequently, and often more personally than any other justice agency or law enforcement body. The reality is that, police will only be as successful in reducing crime and providing community reassurance as the staff and tools available for problem-solving, investigating and bringing offenders to justice. The complex policing environment that we face requires a body of sworn officers and civilians who have the necessary skills and attributes to meet the challenge.

Police seek to increase prevention activity through more frontline staff, as their work offers the real opportunity to reduce actual crime and the number of offenders in New Zealand. Police are working to increase local government partnerships following the Local Government Act 2002 to augment both the partnership and prevention approach. Another important development has been the growth of private policing capability within the security industry, and an increased level of interest from city planners and developers to incorporate crime prevention through environmental design ideas in new buildings.

New partnerships and increased prevention activity will require additional police resources, lest we risk losing the crime reduction advantages already gained through hard won boosts to targeted crime investigation. The Minister will note our key messages with regard to staff investment in frontline policing are:

• reducing frontline workloads in key locations to increase the time available for officers to work on cases and solve problems;
• providing more opportunities for staff to deal with offending at the front end, often through options that will not result in an arrest; and
• police 'street work' being seen as an essential part of multi-lateral government efforts to provide safety and reduce harm across a range of domains from crime to public health.

Affordable new technology, global possibilities facilitated by cheaper air links, open borders, mass media, and better communication are only a few of the developments influencing communities worldwide. But, new technology is also able to be misused by criminals - criminals who take full advantage of tools like email, the Internet and mobile phones. Technology has opened up new ways of committing traditional forms of crime such as banking fraud and child sex crimes, and introduced new crimes such as electronic information theft via hacking and damage to networks through virus attacks.

Police also face challenges arising from organised crime groups that network their criminal connections around the globe, and the advent of terrorist groups that have adopted an international persona through mass casualty events and effective use of electronic media to rally attention and converts to their cause.

Policing in the 21st century sees police involved in more areas of policing activity, both traditional crime and new crime, with more partner agencies, both government and non-government, with more communities, both traditional and new migrant. It also involves more laws, both local and international law, and at times utilises conventions, memoranda of understandings, and treaties. To do this important work police staff are needed who can undertake essential traditional policing tasks as well as work in different languages, with different cultures and understand different ideological contexts to crime. There is much to be done if we are to prepare police staff to maintain safer communities over the longer term.