Auckland City Police District is home to the most ethnically diverse population in the country. Little wonder then that it actively recruits staff and volunteers who reflect the communities it works with and for.
On Friday November 7, City District Commander, Superintendent Richard Chambers, alongside Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement, Superintendent Haumaha and Inspector Rakesh Naidoo as well as Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy and Auckland Council's community development and safety manager, Manu Pihama, will present 272 volunteers with Police certificates of appreciation.
The event, the first of its kind in terms of size and scale, will start at 3pm at the Fickling Centre in Mt Roskill and is the district's opportunity to thank the vast range of volunteers who, across four different groups, represent 30 ethnicities.
Superintendent Chambers says, collectively, the volunteers contribute to:
· achieving safer communities;
· high visibility reassurance Police presence;
· building relationships between Police and communities;
· greater integration among communities;
· improved understanding and awareness of the law.
One of the four groups, the Auckland Safety Patrollers, literally got off the ground in 2010. It currently has 123 members from 26 cultural backgrounds who, among them, speak 47 languages. They patrol alongside Police and contribute hundreds of hours of preventative work to assist keeping communities safe. Over the four years they've been operating, 50 of the ASP volunteers went on to join the Police.
Community Safety Ambassadors comprise 66 senior citizens from South Asian and Chinese communities who regularly patrol with community teams in the shopping precincts in Onehunga and Epsom. They contribute 132 'preventative' hours each month.
Students too play their part and the current 68 International Student Ambassadors represent 36 international schools from the City. They receive monthly Police briefings about issues of the day and in turn, share their issues with Police. The ambassadors then pass that information onto fellow students in their schools.
Supporting them are the 15 'Uncles and Aunties' - ethnic community leaders who provide international students with settlement strategies and advice in Auckland City.
ENDS
Issued by Noreen Hegarty
Auckland City Police Communications Manager
Ph 09 302 6947 or 0274-951-589
Website: www.police.govt.nz