Recent recruitment efforts in Southern District have gone above and beyond the hospitality the south is known for.
The two District Recruitment Leads, Sergeants Toni Wall and Phil Brown, have dedicated time outside usual business hours to welcome potential recruits into stations across all corners of Southern.
“We’ve got a lot of ground to cover down here, and we know what a difference kanohi ki te kanohi connection makes with people interested in joining Police,” says Toni.
Phil agrees and emphasises the importance of reaching local people to work in their own communities.
“We need local people to take an interest in working in their home towns and, by holding station open days, we can give them specific information, advice and assistance around life in Police within their own community.”
There may be hundreds of kilometres between them, but Invercargill, Gore, Queenstown and Dunedin stations have recently opened their doors to hold site-specific recruitment seminars, with Toni and Phil getting great support from local staff too.
“We’ve been amazed and so happy with the number of staff who put their hands up to help out at these events,” says Toni.
"They’re the ones who give the most open and honest advice and insight into the benefits of working within their areas.”
Phil agrees. “It’s all well and good reading about what you need to become a police officer on a computer screen, but you just can’t put a price on hearing from the local cop that you see each day out on your own streets.
“Our staff have been so brilliant in stepping forward for these events.”
As well as helping out and presenting to potential recruits, there have been examples of local staff directly recommending people they know to look into a career in blue.
“Our best recruiters are our own staff,” says Toni. “Everybody knows someone in their own friend group or in their whānau who has the qualities and values needed to be a great police officer.
"We just need everyone to start those conversations as we all make a push toward recruiting 500 extra frontline officers.”
Come along...
Do you want to come along to our next open events to learn more about a careerin Police from local staff? Our next events are:
- Oamaru Recruitment event – Tuesday 15 April, at 6pm at Oamaru Station
- Dunedin Recruitment event – Wednesday 16 April, 7pm at Dunedin Central Station
Email OCrecruitment@police.govt.nz to register your interest.
For more information on joining New Zealand Police, wherever you are from, go to the NewCops website.