A specially designed car featuring koru will be out and about in Counties Manukau from today, to show NZ Police support for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and revitalising Te Reo.
“We wanted to do something visible to show our support of Te Reo Māori and highlight our commitment to recruiting more Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau, and across Aotearoa,” Police Commissioner Mike Bush said.
“We are passionate about reflecting the communities we serve and working with Iwi to achieve better outcomes for Māori”.
“Being able to speak more than one language is a valuable skill as a Police officer. If you care enough to be a cop and want to make a difference in our communities, nau mai, haere mai ki te tuhonotanga ō nga whānau pirihimana.
During the week Mai FM will run a ‘back seat cop’ promotion in conjunction with Nga Pirihimana o Aotearoa, with presenters being out and about with Te Reo speaking officers.
Assistant Commissioner Wally Haumaha, Deputy Chief Executive Māori says the aim is to encourage the use of Te Reo Māori right across the organisation
"The more we can do to effectively communicate the better, and there are a number of instances where having an officer able to speak Te Reo and understand tikanga has really been advantageous in resolving situations.”
A career with police opens the door to more than 30 career paths such as working as a Detective, Iwi Liaison Officer, Dog Handler or Youth Aid Officer.
Over the next 12 months, Police will hire 650 recruits. Approximately 126 of those new officers will be working in Counties Manukau.
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is organised by the Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori. This year’s theme is Kia ora Te Reo Māori literally translates to “let the Māori Language live”. The theme was chosen to celebrate New Zealand’s indigenous greeting, and as the words ‘Kia Ora’ are an exact description of the intent of the new partnerships for Te Reo Māori revitalisation between the Crown and Māori under the new Māori Language Act 2016.
Police encourage anyone interested in a career with Nga Pirihimana to visit newcops.co.nz
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre
Note: The koru design used on the car represents our objective of achieving better outcomes for New Zealanders through working in partnership with Iwi. It was designed to illustrate the Turning of the Tide strategy 2012/13 to 2017/18.
