Commissioner of Police Peter Marshall today delivered the report on the fifth phase review of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into Police Conduct.
This is the fifth review of New Zealand Police’s progress since the publication of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct in 2007. It is the first to be carried out as a self-assessment by New Zealand Police and submitted to the State Services Commission for comment.
Mr Marshall stated that the authoring and delivery of this report is an indication of development in terms of implementing of the recommendations of the COI.
"The fact that Police is conducting this review is a mark of our maturity and the progress we have made."
Mr Marshall said events of the past few weeks have again highlighted police processes around victims of sexual crimes.
"This issue was at the heart of the Commission of Inquiry, and while we have come a long way in our treatment and support of victims of sexual offending, we are not at the end of our journey and we can, and will, continue to improve."
Illustrating the progress made since the last review, Mr Marshall pointed to recent initiatives such as the approval and implementation of a new four-tier Adult Sexual Assault (ASA) training framework.
This was bolstered by the launch in May of an ASA pamphlet for nationally standardising victims’ understanding of their rights and access to local support.
"As Commissioner, I am committed to a victim-focused culture at NZ Police that supports vulnerable people in their time of need. I will not tolerate behaviour that does not meet this standard."
Police performed well against established measures, including a significant increase in the Employee Engagement Index for New Zealand Police (Police) from 2011. Currently Police has a significantly higher Engagement Index than the State Sector Benchmark.
"It is also pleasing to see we have maintained our high levels of public trust and confidence, with the percentage of people having full or quite a lot of trust and confidence in Police at the end of November at 79% (Dec 2012 to Nov 2013), this compares with 78% in the previous 12 month period and continues an upward trend over the last three years. For those who have had contact with Police there was significant improvement ratings for the Overall Satisfaction measure when compared with the previous 12 period, with 84% satisfied or very satisfied with the service they received."
Mr Marshall was pleased to note an increase in the overall representation of women holding the office of Constable.
"The primary focus for our recruitment strategy is on increasing the representation of women and ethnic minority groups to more closely reflect the communities we serve.
"The proportion of women being recruited annually has increased from 27.3% in 2011 to 30.8% this year."
Mr Marshall says the progress Police has made in both bringing about change and monitoring the process is an indicator of the strength of internal monitoring processes and the transparency that Police has embraced over recent years.
"The change we have made at Police is the result of a great deal of hard work.
In recent months we have completed the major part of our transformative Policing Excellence programme, which means our frontline staff are better equipped, better supported and better deployed than ever before."
The Commission of Inquiry, and the Independent Police Conduct Authority report on investigation of child sex assault complaints, remain a strong focus for Police.
"Progress on these matters cannot and will not be allowed to falter."
ENDS
View the 2012/13 Commission of Inquiry Fifth Phase Review report (PDF).
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