Time spent in police cells may become a little less tedious as donated books are distributed to custody units nationwide.
Hundreds of books left unsold at school fairs are being sent to police districts around the country in a project coordinated by Inspector Rob Sum, Manager of the Mental Health and Community Services Team at the National Prevention Centre at Police National Headquarters (PNHQ).
Around 50 boxes of unsold books were collected after Karori Normal School, in Wellington, held its school fair. Another batch was recently collected from Kelburn Normal School in the city.
"KNS is very happy to support this great initiative,” says Karori principal Conrad Kelly. “It's a very worthwhile cause which could help bring about positive change in a number of people's lives.”
Rob says the books are vetted to ensure they are suitable for their intended readers.
"Besides giving detainees an opportunity to read and learn something, books may help them cope with their situation, deal with anxiety about being in a police cell, can potentially keep them calm and perhaps negate boredom," he says.
Senior Sergeant Stu Taylforth, Officer-in-Charge at Wellington District Custody Unit, says the project is really useful.
“We’re slowly developing an Activity Centre which includes picture colouring books, games and reading books, so the addition of new books is always appreciated,” says Stu.
“Also these activities and books can be used to encourage more engagement. I always encourage staff to safely engage with detainees because the higher engagement we can achieve the better chance we have to help identify underlying issues, resulting in more targeted referrals to support services.”
If there are books left over, says Rob, they will look at donating them to local night shelters, Women's Refuge homes and Oranga Tamariki for their secure homes.
So far, books have been sent – or are about to be sent - to Waitematā, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Eastern, Central, Wellington and Canterbury Districts.