Attribute to Acting Deputy Commissioner Resource Management, Allan Boreham:
“The Police’s overarching strategy states that our people will be victim-focused, well equipped, and be safe and feel safe. Therefore, the safety of our staff and volunteers on police premises is a priority for the New Zealand Police.
“Following the review of stations signalled in September last year, Police agreed to a new set of features to enhance safety at police front counters. These features are designed to deal with the most likely threats at publicly accessible police premises and will replace the current design features.
“In March this year we began a project to develop a Front Counter Safety Model. The new model has now been completed and features security requirements for public entrances and exits, CCTV monitoring, counter design, barriers, alarms, access control measures, and training and enhanced operating procedures.
“The review determined that 121 police sites needed immediate mitigation. To date, 75 of these sites have been visited to conduct preliminary measurements, and 45 concept designs have been completed from these 75 visits.
“Hamilton Central’s front counter area has been under construction since August 15th, and will be developed as a trial site with all components of the Front Counter Safety model. Enhancements to the Matamata station also begin this week.
“Not every station will require all the components of the new model and there will be variation in how we achieve the required design standards depending on each location's operational needs.
“Police have been very open that some of our sites have facilities where it is impractical or not justifiable to implement the new design features – for example, in small one/two people stations or in community centre premises which are mostly staffed by volunteers. In those cases, public access to the station will be possible only when an on-duty constabulary staff member is present. Those locations will have signage clearly identifying alternative ways of contacting police.
“Police are working hard to maintain access for the public across our 350-plus locations throughout New Zealand. This is a significant number of sites. We are doing all we can to make them as accessible as possible while being as safe as possible for our staff, volunteers and members of the public.
“Our operational commanders in districts are always looking to achieve the best possible access to police services for the communities they serve. Every community will always have a mix of locations with varying opening hours, but our police officers are out in the community 24/7.
“Suggestions in the media this week, that this project is a move to justify closing stations is simply wrong. The front counter safety project is to ensure we achieve our aim, of keeping our staff, volunteers and visitors to police sites safe. The Police Association has been consulted and involved in the front counter project and have been supportive of Police moves to ensure the safety of staff.
“At this stage we expect to use a phased approach to upgrading our front counters over the next 12-36 months.”
ENDS
Issued by NZ Police Media Centre, Ph 04 238 5111 or email: media@police.govt.nz