Te Huringa o Te Tai is Police’s strategy built by listening to whānau, hapū, community, and iwi and our people.
This strategy acknowledges the whakapapa of ‘The Turning of the Tide’ and builds on the successes and the lessons learnt from the past to ensure Police can work better with iwi Māori to support their aspirations for their people and our communities.
Police values our commitment to Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi and the benefits that will be yielded through successfully honouring the relationships with Māori and our communities.
This strategy is embedded within that the strategic structure of Police to best enable our mission, ‘to be the Safest Country’. To achieve our mission, we need to support the achievement of the vision of Te Huringa O Te Tai, of:
All Māori living full and prosperous lives, free from crime, victimisation, and road trauma.
Why do we need this strategy?
Te Huringa O Te Tai is the strategic plan for NZ Police to achieve Our Business. The strategy, whilst having a direct impact for Māori, will produce benefits for all New Zealanders through improved service delivery and reducing the impact of crime and victimisation for all.
We understand that a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not deliver a long-term sustainable solution; our approach needs to ensure that we have a shared understanding of:
What Māori need Police to do to support their whānau who have offended and/or suffered harm to create a pathway to waiora.
And that we continue to ask:
- How well do Māori think Police are delivering that service?
- If Police were to do better, what would this look like for Māori?
This strategy aspires to achieve the following outcomes
- Māori are treated with respect, fairness and cultural understanding when interacting with Police.
- Police influence public discourse to reduce social stigma and normalisation of Māori offending.
- Reduced impact from facilitators of crime through evidence-based deployment.
- Victims of crime are supported to keep themselves safe from further harm
- Police address the root cause of issues that cause repeat offending
- Increase in effectiveness of interventions with first/second times offenders
- Influence on legislative, policy and system settings across government to reduce the prejudicial effect on Māori
- Partnerships with whānau, hapū, iwi and Matawaka to improve long term wellbeing for Māori who come to Police intention
- Māori who have a history of intergenerational harm are supported to break the cycle.
To achieve those outcomes, and direct our focus, the strategy is structured under three strategic pou:
- Pou Mataara - Our people and their mind-set
Focus on building our people, their skills, knowledge, mind-set and performance, to deliver better and more effective outcomes for Māori, iwi, and our communities.
- Pou Mataaho - Effective initiatives and improved practice
Focus on a whānau ora approach of co-design and joint delivery with Iwi Māori. Use evidence-based approach to concentrate efforts on programmes that have proved successful or have the potential to be successful for Māori.
- Pou Hourua - Effective partnerships
Focus on building relationships, which lead to more effective partnerships, with iwi, Māori and other organisations.
This strategy aims to deliver a number of initiatives under the three pou to ultimately improve the wellbeing and lives of Māori which will contribute to the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. This strategy is about whānau - about all of us.
We will know we have been successful when:
- Māori feel they are treated with respect, fairness and cultural understanding when interacting with Police.
- Police are upskilled and more readily able to access a range of options to support whānau in times of need
- Partnerships with whānau, hapū, iwi and mātāwaka, live up to the joint expectations of those partners, to improve long term wellbeing for Māori who come to Police attention.
- Our shared vision is realised
- Whānau are achieving their dreams and aspirations because they are enabled to make choices which enhance their individual and collective waiora.
- We collectively recognise the changes we have made in ourselves, our systems, processes and decisions have produced positive impacts for Māori.
- There is a reduction in offending and reoffending by Māori
- There is a reduction in the harm experienced by Māori
- There is a reduced impact from facilitators of crime on Māori.