Is this the face of organised crime in - New Zealand Police Association

NEW ZEALANDpoliceassociationVolume 38, Number 1, January/February 2005Is this the face of organised crime in New Zealand?• Police believe Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCGs) are responsible for more than 90% of the illicit drug trade in New Zealand.- Photo courtesy of the NZ Herald.Page 4 Page 10 Page 12Stab-resistant vest CVIU under review The NZ Sopranossaves life of after complaints are doing veryPaeroa constable from road transport nicely out of theindustrymeth/P trade

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of Police■■Industrial newsGeneral newsCONTENTSILEC Conference - agreements in principle ................................................................5Rural survey Focus Group looks at key issues .............................................................6Minister’s media release off the mark ........................................................................610TRUCKERS REVOLTPrisoner compo legislation to aid victims ..................................................................3Stab-resistant vest saves constable ............................................................................4Priority One call response times down ......................................................................5New Zealand’s most important problems .................................................................7Association donates van to Blue Light Ventures .........................................................8Oamaru Police Station opening ................................................................................9Gaming law changes causing confusion .................................................................17Victorian roadside drug testing ‘hiccups’ .................................................................18Obituary - Walter Shepperd ....................................................................................21■FeaturesCVIU subject to review after trucking industry complaints ................................. 10/11■Special FeatureHow organised crime controls the meth market ................................................ 12/15Massey University report confirms frontline warnings ..............................................1612THE GANGS OF NEW ZEALAND■■ColumnsFrom the President ...................................................................................................3Keen on Wine ...........................................................................................................8Spicers Financial Planning .......................................................................................18Letters to the Editor .......................................................................................... 22/23Sport/EntertainmentCopper’s crossword ..................................................................................................6Sports News ..................................................................................................... 20/21■Welfare/Notices21RUGBY RULERSNZ Police AssociationPolice News is thenewsletter of the NewZealand Police Associationand incorporates the NewZealand Police Journalfirst published in 1937.Editor: Steve PlowmanJanuary/February 2005, Vol. 38, No.1ISSN 1175-9445Deadline for next issue Friday, February 18, 2005.Published by the New Zealand Police AssociationP.O. Box 12344, Willbank House,57 Willis Street, Wgtn.Phone: (04) 496 6800, Facsmile: (04) 471 1309Email: editor@policeassn.org.nzWebsite: www.policeassn.org.nzPrinted by City Print Communications, Wgtn.Opinions expressed are not necessarilythose of the Association.COPYRIGHT: NZPA Police News must not bereproduced in part or as a whole without theformal consent of the copyright holder - the NewZealand Police Association.Travelpac Insurance - notification of pre-existing conditions ......................................4Rotorua holiday homes refurbished ...........................................................................5Memorial Wall ..........................................................................................................9Holiday home availability chart ...............................................................................18Sick Leave Bank myths and realities .........................................................................19Useful Information & ContactsAssociation and Police Welfare Fund:Police Network 44446 Website www.policeassn.org.nzFreephone 0800 500 122 Police Home Loans 0800 800 808Police Health Plan/Staffpac Insurance Police Credit Union 0800 429 000Quotes & information 0800 500 122 or (04) 472 9645or Fax (04) 496 6819 Credit Union www.policecu.org.nzStaffpac claims 0800 110 088 GSF information 0800 654 731All enquiries (04) 496 6800 PSS information 0800 777 243Vice PresidentsGeoff Smith (027) 268 9417Richard Middleton (027) 268 9411Field OfficersNorthland and Auckland Districts: Stewart Mills (027) 268 9407Waikato, BOP and Eastern Districts: Eric Newman (027) 268 9408Central and Wellington Districts: JJ Taylor (027) 268 9409Tasman, Canterbury and Southern Districts: Dave McKirdy (027) 268 9410Regional DirectorsRegion One Steve Hawkins Whangaparoa (027) 268 9419Region Two Mark Leys Papatoetoe (027) 268 9413Region Three Mel Ridley Tauranga (027) 268 9414Region Four Chris Cahill Napier (027) 268 9415Region Five Stuart Mills Office of Com (027) 268 9416Region Six Craig Prior Sumner (027) 268 9412Region Seven Dave Steel North Dunedin (027) 268 94182

New Zealand Police AssociationFrom the President“As I travel the country, the further I getaway from muster rooms, Comms rooms andCIU offices, the better-resourced and happierstaff are (i.e. the specialist groups).”Government’s ‘steady as shegoes’ option in election yearCongratulations to Commissioner RobRobinson on his reappointment for twoyears.While catching some commentators,internal and external by surprise, it wasinevitable the government would beextremely keen to ensure that the policingand law and order environment is keptas low profile and politically risk free inelection year.Obviously, there will be plenty ofpublicity emanating from the Rotoruainquiries and their sequels this year. It’shard to imagine a 12-month inquiry notproducing results and recommendations,which will give rise to considerable mediaand political comment.Rob Robinson is considered a very safepair of hands by a government very awarethat law and order is always a potentialvote winner and loser.He has done a very good job of restoringpolice credibility with the control agenciesand government after the excesses of the1990s.No surprises philosophyHis risk averse, no surprises philosophyhas earned him good creds with theGovernment.His challenge now is to use that credibilityas leverage to fix the one area of policingthat we have not managed to repairfrom the 1990s; the shortage of non-ringfenced frontline patrol, investigation andcommunications room staff.As I travel the country, the further I getaway from muster rooms, Comms roomsand CIU offices, the better-resourced andhappier staff are (i.e. the specialist groups).The Commissioner has two years now toleave the NZ Police at its most efficientand effective ever. Credibility with thebureaucracy is a means to achieve that,not an end in itself. We cannot wait forthe organised crime problem, whichwe explore in this issue, to appear onthe political radar before the necessaryinvestment is made to counter it.Like methamphetamine, by the timepoliticians act it will be too late.The Association believes that a well-led,well-resourced and focussed Police is thebest thing for our members. Allowingorganised crime to proliferate knocksmorale and weakens our respect with thepublic. The Association will workto ensure that does not occur.That was Christmas...take a bowThe great work of police staff nationwideand even beyond our borders, againemphasised that Police are right up therewith Santa himself when it comes tohelping out during the Christmas-NewYear period.But unlike the old fellow in red,Police were investigating homicides inAuckland, Palmerston North, Wanganuiand Marton; possible suspicious deathsin Tauranga and Wellington; a viciousrape in Manukau; Hawke’s Bay staff werehaving to deal with the heartbreakingdiscovery of the body of ‘Baby Moses’in a Hastings churchyard; and manyothers were helping out in flood ravageddistricts, with stranded motorists,investigating lowlifes who had stolenfamilies’ Christmas presents and manyother inquiries which did not gain theattention of the media but which wereconducted with the professionalism that isa hallmark of the NZ Police.Spare a special thought too forSuperintendent Hamish McCardle andhis team who headed to Phuket for thegrisly and harrowing task of identifyingbodies after the tsunami, which savagedAsian countries and claimed an estimated300,000 lives.Theirs is undoubtedly the job from Hell.As McCardle and his specialist teamheaded for Thailand he commented: “It’sJanuary/February 2005Prisoner compolegislation willaid victimsThe Prisoners and Victims Claims Bill,which is aimed at restricting monetarycompensation to inmates, and to ensurevictims are compensated from any moniespaid, had its first reading in Parliament beforeChristmas.“The bill establishes guidelines that will limiteligibility for compensation for inmates.They will have to satisfy the court theymade reasonable use of available complaintsmechanisms without effective redress, andthat no other form of remedy would beappropriate,” Justice Minister, Phil Goff, said.The rules would restrict compensationto “exceptional circumstances”. The newlegislation would apply to all court decisionsmade after the bill takes effect, including anycases pending at the time of enactment.“However, the best solution to stoppingcompensation payments to inmates is toensure that breaches do not occur in the firstplace,” Mr Goff said.Further details are:• Compensation would be paid after legalaid and unpaid reparation are deducted.Victims would have six months to registera claim.• Victims would be eligible for legal aid andnormal court fees would be waived.• A District Court Judge, sitting as a Victims’Special Claims Tribunal, would decide theamount of compensation payable to thevictim. The Tribunal may make orders fordamages. Where there are multiple victimsand insufficient funds to meet all theawards, the compensation will be dividedproportionately.• The Bill will also extend the limitationperiod (six years) for which victims canpursue claims by suspending the rule forall periods that the prisoner is in jail.not a nice job - very, very difficult.”All who heard him knew it was themaster understatement to describe thegrimmest of tasks.South African writer Alan Paton oncewrote: “There is only one way in whichone can endure man’s inhumanity toman and that is to try in one’s own life,to exemplify man’s humanity to man.”Through the great work of all staffover this holiday period that spirit wasexemplified by New Zealand police staffat home, in Thailand, Bougainville andthe Solomons this Christmas. Well done- you all did the NZ Police, your fellowKiwis and yourselves proud.3

January/February 2005Stab-resistant vest saveslife of Paeroa constablePaeroa-based Constable John Dustow had special reason totoast his good fortune at Christmas dinner this year becausethe chances are, if he hadn’t bought himself a stab-resistantvest, he would have been spending Christmas in a grave.Constable Dustow had only had the vest for three weeks whena prisoner in the Paeroa Police Station cells stabbed him whilehe was alone on duty.In mid-December, he did a routine vehicle stop and the driverprovided false details. The man was arrested.“The reason he gave me false details was that he didn’t trustme or think I was a real cop,” John told Police News.Comms callAbout 10 p.m. John was doing the paperwork associatedwith the arrest when he received a phone call from Comms tosay that he might possibly have a “homicide detective” fromAuckland locked in the Paeroa cells and that the ‘detective’was telling them on the phone that he needed to get out.A subsequent check of the cells revealed that the prisoner hadknocked the receiver of a wall phone off the hook by throwinga chair at it and was busily telling Comms of his plight.“I ran in and he went to give the phone back to me. That’swhen I noticed he had something else in his hand and helunged at me, stabbing me in the chest with a screwdriver,”the police officer said. The prisoner had already unboltedseveral bolts on the door in a bid to escape when ConstableDustow managed to pepper spray him. It had little or no effect.In the ensuing struggle, John said the prisoner was yellingat him that he knew that John wasn’t a cop and was in fact agang member disguised as a cop who had come to kill him.Constable Dustow eventually managed to subdue the offender.Psychiatric assessmentThe man was remanded in custody to appear in the TaurangaDistrict Court. He was ordered to undergo a psychiatricassessment.The wound John suffered in the attack was close to his heartand he credits the vest with possibly saving his life.Constable Dustow said he heard about the availability of vestsfrom another cop who had previously been at Paeroa. Thatofficer had a friendin the New YorkPolice Department(NYPD) andhe learned thatthe NYPD wasdiscarding some oftheir Safari Landcovert vests, underthe department’sannual replacementpolicy. The vestscost around $2500each and ConstableDustow was told hecould have one ofthe NYPD ‘cast-offs’for the price offreighting it to NewZealand.“It cost me $60 toship it here andwhen I first startedwearing it therewere a few peopletaking the piss outPolice News The Voice of Police• Constable John Dustow...credits hisstab-resistant body vest with saving hislife. (Photo courtesy of The Hauraki Herald).of me for having it but after this incident they’re all wantingthem,” John told Police News.ComfortableJohn said it didn’t take him too long to get used to the vest,which weighs five kilograms and has Kevlar sheets in it forballistic protection. “It’s quite comfortable. It wouldn’t stopa .303 but gives protection against lower calibre rifles andpistols,” he said.And as for that Christmas dinner, well John says it reallywas special this year. “It never tasted so good,” he said. Theincident has brought home to John the importance of familyand how fragile life can be.“When I came home after the incident I went off to bed andhad a sleep. I was eventually woken by my two-and-half-yearolddaughter. She kissed me on the cheek and called me ‘herwee Daddy’, which brought the significance of it all back tome,” he said.The NZ Police is currently trialling stab-proof vests for issue.Important notice:Travelpac Insurance - notification of pre-existing conditionsPlease note that it is now a requirementof our insurer AIG that they be madeaware of all pre-existing conditions ofall Travelpac applicants, regardless ofwhether you are a Healthplan memberor not.If you are intending to travel andrequiring insurance cover pleaserefer to the Medical Section of theapplication form. Healthplan membersare asked to complete the top sectiononly (down to the first signature box)and non-Healthplan members willneed to complete the entire MedicalSection, which includes having theirMedical Practitioner complete and signthe form, before forwarding it to thePolice Welfare Fund General InsurancesLimited.Personal info requiredAny failure to provide requested personalinformation may result in the insurerrefusing to provide this insurance orrefusing to meet a claim or voiding theinsurance policy altogether.Due to the additional time requiredfor possible medical underwriting, it isessential that applications are receivedby Police Welfare Fund GeneralInsurances Limited at least 14 daysprior to travel.Should you require assistance orclarification when completingthis section, you can call the AIGMEDICAL LINE on 0800 367 244 andspeak with their medical professional.Generous donationfrom recruit wingPolice Recruit Wing 219 recentlydonated excess funds left from theirsocial club account to Police WelfareFund upon the wing’s graduation. Thetotal of almost $600 will be used toprovide welfare assistance to futurerecruits. The Police Welfare Fundextends its thanks to all members ofWing 219 for their generosity.4

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Priority One response times slower:Robbing Peter to pay Paul?The Police Association has said NewZealand Police numbers would need tobe boosted by 1300 in order to match theAustralian ratio of Police to population.Minister of Police, George Hawkins,recently released figures which confirmwhat frontline staff have been sayingfor some time - that increasingly thereare fewer of them to respond to calls forassistance.The figures show that response times forPriority One calls have suffered in the lastyear in all except one district (Counties-Manukau). Priority One calls includeincidents in which violence is being usedor threatened or offenders are ‘on’ (atthe scene). Auckland recorded the mostsignificant drop in response times - downfrom 70% in 2003 to 65% last year.Frontline staff say that resources arebeing diverted away from the frontlineinto other areas of policing because of atargetted funding regime.Mr Hawkins recently confirmed thatresponse times for 111 calls in urbanareas are taking, on average, 12 minutes.Police are meant to attend within 10minutes. Rural response times had takenlonger, on average, by eight minutes overthe last year.Numbers not keeping paceThe figures are further evidence that NewZealand police numbers are not keepingpace with population growth.“There are simply not enough staff onthe frontline,” Association Vice-President,Richard Middleton said.New Zealand currently has a ratio ofone officer per 552 people, the worstratio of seven Western nations. Australiahas a ratio of 1:456; the USA 1:438;Rotorua holiday homes refurbishedWork has recently been completedon the refurbishment of the threeholiday homes situated in Rotorua.“These homes are some of the oldestholiday homes in Police Welfare Fund’sportfolio”, said Peter Hayes, ManagerPolice Welfare Fund,“It was clear that the homes were notup to the standard that our membersexpect and the total refurbishmenthas brought them up to the highstandard of other homes throughout thecountry,” he added.Work included new bathrooms andkitchens, new furniture (includingbeds), a total redecoration and newcarpet and vinyl flooring.England/Wales 1:393; Netherlands1:344; Scotland 1:323; France 1:255 andNorthern Ireland has the best ratio withone officer per 183 head of population.In New York, crime has been significantlyreduced thanks to an influx of new policeofficers bringing the ratio to 1:300.While there were more police officers nowthan ever before, many of the increases inrecent years were in targetted areas such asroad policing, clan lab teams and burglary,not on the frontline, Mr Middleton said. MrMiddleton said that targetting of crime suchas with burglaries proved to be effective butthose strategies needed to be extended tofront line policing in order to achieve similarresults.Mr Middleton said that more officers onthe frontline would inevitably reduceresponse times.No time to wasteBut Mr Hawkins said that police officersarriving at a Priority One or emergencyjob needed to focus on the incident ratherthan wasting valuable time contacting theCommunications Centre to log their arrival.“The public would rightfully criticise us ifpolice sat in the car to register their arrivalrather than deal with the issue whichbrought them there,” he said.He said in some cases police hadto arrange a later time to meet withcomplainants in less serious incidents,which could seriously skew results.He said the Communications ReviewPanel, which is currently lookingat problems associated with PoliceCommunications Centres, wouldconsider the reasons for the slowresponse. The review panel is expected toreport back in March.Exterior workThe exteriors were also tidied up withthe removal of the old punga fencing,which was replaced with new woodenfencing. Each home now has a fullyenclosed area for young children,alleviating the worries about safety.During the next year, holiday homes atTurangi and Cromwell will also undergoa complete refurbishment.The new Tekapo holiday homes arenearing completion and they should beavailable for occupancy in April 2005.These homes are our largest homesand have magnificent panoramic viewsof Lake Tekapo and the surroundingmountains.Principle Agreementsfrom ILEC ConferenceNZ Police Association President,Greg O’Connor, recently attended theILEC (International Law EnforcementConference) in Edinburgh, Scotlandand the delegates formulated and passedthe following Principle Agreements.Assaults on police, risk ofcontracting infectious diseasesand legislative protection:• The International Law EnforcementCouncil views attacks on a police officeracting in the lawful execution of his/herduty as an attack on society itself. Wecall on governments to take seriouslythe question of prevention, prosecution,penalty and post incident support forofficers who are the subject of suchattacks.Equipment standards:• The International Law EnforcementCouncil calls upon all Police governingbodies to provide equipment thatmeets or exceeds minimum safetystandards that provides officers with asafe work environment.Independence and integrity ofinvestigations of Police:• The ILEC argues that the publicdeserve a police force that is free fromimproper prosecutions or sanctionsborne out of undue political influenceand special interest group pressure.Government obligation toprovide for public safety:• The ILEC argues that public safety,the core obligation of government,is being compromised whengovernments choose to utilise theservices of inadequately trained andqualified persons as an inappropriatesubstitute for properly trained lawenforcement professionals in publicpolicing responsibilities.Police mobility andprofessionalism:• The ILEC seeks an internationallyaccepted accreditation system for lawenforcement professionals that allowsfor the increased mobility of policethrough initiatives such as mutualrecognition of the equivalency ofqualifications from other jurisdictions,comparable to doctors, nurses andother like professionals.Freedom of association:• The ILEC, through structures such asthe International Labour Organisation,calls upon all governments torecognise the right of police officers tofreedom of association and the right tobargain collectively.5

January/February 2005Rural survey focus grouplooks at key issuesBy Amanda Craig, Association Industrial OfficerA small group consisting of HumanResources staff and OperationalSupport staff from the Office of theCommissioner and myself as thePolice Association representative, metonce a week from October last year tocomplete a report on the rural surveyresults.It was decided that we needed furtherinput from rural officers before thereport was finalised. Therefore, a focusgroup meeting was held.The focus group met on the 14th and15th of December.Five officers invitedThe Association invited five officers,from various parts of New Zealand,to participate. Geographically, theycovered the range of one, two andthree-person stations to ensure thatdifferent aspects of rural policing werecovered.Guest speakers from various groupswithin Police also came to providebriefings on a variety of issues.The focus group met to:• Confirm whether the key issues raisedby the survey results are still relevant.• Make suggestions about how the issuescould be resolved.• Prioritise the issues.Wide range of topicsThe rural survey covered a wide rangeof topics and there was insufficienttime within two days to cover them allcomprehensively. Consequently, themeeting looked at the key issues. Fromthe survey results these were:• Relieving/back-up and support.• Community/personal time/impact of work.• Induction/selection.• Driving/vehicles/vehicle equipment.• Property (housing, stations).• Communications and IT.• Support/welfare/spouse, partner, family.As a result, there was a wide-rangingdiscussion.A newsletter summarising theinformation obtained from the focusgroup meeting and the suggestedrecommendations for resolving issueswill be sent to all rural officers.The short-term aim, at this point, is tofinalise the rural survey report.No I Am Keen this monthConstable I Am Keen is taking somewell-earned long service leave thismonth and as a result has beenexcused from doing his/her usualcolumn. - Editor.Police News The Voice of PoliceMinister’s mediarelease off the markMinister of Police, George Hawkins,produced a media release just prior toChristmas saying that he welcomedthe fact that the Police Associationhad “finally” got around to makinga submission on the review of PoliceCommunications Centres. This line wasgiven further public mileage by the PrimeMinister and published in the media.There was a pointed reference to“regurgitation” of old issues, presumablybecause the Association, via Police News,had again been sufficiently concernedabout our members’ health and safety toprovide further first-hand comment fromthose at the coalface of Comms.The Association is concerned thatthe Minister’s media release may haveinferred that the Association hadsomehow dragged its heels in relationto getting its submission in on time.This was not the case. The Associationsought and received an extension oftime for its submission from the reviewpanel because the issues facing Commsare serious and the Association wantedto make sure that its members’ interestswere fully represented.The Association sought the extensionfrom the review panel well in advance ofthe original deadline - in the knowledgethat such submissions take much timeand effort to prepare. The originaltimeframe provided, would not haveallowed for a sufficiently full explanationof our members’ views.Copper’s CrosswordJanuary/February clues.Across:1. Marines broke up for meeting ofdiscussion (7)5. A weakness for some rugby teams (5)8. Happen afterwards (5)9. Disallows (7)10. Day before Adam came along (3)11. Devoid of any reason (9)13. Fifty-one beef combos create trust andconfidence in something (6)14. Sensor disturbed by sleeping noises(6)16. Meatiness chopped up for pardons(9)17. Short electric current (3)19. A small marsupial pest common in NZ(7)21. Collates material before publication(5)22. Japanes dish (5)23. Mince and pasta dish (7)December answers.Across:10. Dictate.1. Pencil.11. Lei4. Abseil.12. Dorm.8. Grandparent. 13. Pad.By Constable CunningDown:1. Material used for gloves andshoes etc (5)2. Localises menu together forvarious kinds that don’t fitanywhere (13)3. Lack of necessities (9)4. Sell off for prize (6)5. Respectful title when addressingC.O. (3)6. Retraining can combine also torevisit in another form (13)7. Body organs different to the seafood (7)12. Type of people unacceptable intoday’s society (9)13. Lighthouse ornaments (7)15. Pathetic result perhaps (6)18. Sheriffs could call on this help (5)20. Snow footwear (3)14. Aces.17. Doh.18. Hueless.19. Liquidation.20. Scales.21. Beagle.1 2 3 4 5 6 78 910 11 1213 141516 17 1819 20 2122 23Down:1. Pigheadedness.2. Neanderthal.3. Indict.5. Beeper.6. Life insurance.7. Camraderie.9. Telecasting.15. Cheque.16. Beware.6

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Survey shows crime/violence ranks fifth in publicperception of the nation’s most important problemConcerns about race relations rank asthe most important problem facing thecountry, according to the latest UMRResearch nationwide omnbius survey.The survey, which was conductedin December questioned 750 NewZealanders over the age of 18. It has amargin of error of +/- 3.5%.Race relations concerns were by farthe most pressing issue with a ratingof 22.3%. Public concern over racerelations peaked during the February2004 survey at 39.6%. Two monthsprior to that (December 2003) itregistered a mere 8.2% on the publicradar by comparison - ranking it as thecountry’s fifth most pressing problem.It first appeared as the top issue inJanuary 2004 and has topped thesurvey ever since.Second a year agoBy comparison “crime/violence” rankedsecond at 10.1% in December 2003(the government’s handling of theeconomy was first) but by Februarycrime/violence had dropped to seventhwith a rating of only 3.2%. In thelatest survey it is back up to fifth spotat 6.9%, but that is still well below itshighest rating of 12.8% in November2003.The second most pressing problem inthe latest survey was listed as “Healthcare” at 9.8%, slightly ahead of “thegovernment’s handling of the economy”at 9.1%, with a 9% rating for “thedecline of ethical, moral or family issues”.The graphs below indicate the topseven issues identified by the public asthe country’s most pressing problem(top graph) and the trend regarding thefindings of the UMR Research survey forcrime/violence (bottom graph).Slippery blighters getthe dinkum oilAn overnight raid on a Bay of Plenty auto parts shopall but slipped out of control for the burglars involved,according to a recent report from The Bay of Plenty Times.Thieves threw a concrete block through a front windowat Fraser Cove Repco in Tauranga about 1.45am and stoletwo generators, worth $1000 each.But apparently the thieves wanted radar detectors housedin a glass cabinet near the counter.No problem. They just threw an oil container at thecabinet only to discover a big problem. The containerexploded, covering many store products with oil.“It is just a mess, there is oil everywhere, I think theymust have been covered too because of the footprints theyleft,” the store’s duty manager, Jason Pickerton told thenewspaper.Nominations for sports awardsNominations are now being called for the prestigiousPolice Council of Sport awards. There are three categories,Official of the Year, Administrator of the Year and the PoliceAssociation Sportsperson of the Year.Nominee’s achievements will be for the period of 1stDecember 2003 to 30 Nov 2004. Nominations will closeon the 15th March 2005.For a nomination form, see your DSO or Emailcouncilofsport@xtra.co.nzHave you moved recently?If you have or perhaps you’re about to, please let us know so wecan update your records. You can do this by:• writing to us at PO Box 12-344;• calling on freephone 0800 500 122;• faxing us on (04) 496 6819;• or emailing us at: membership@policeassn.org.nz.You need to let us know your membership number, new addressand if you’re a serving member - your new station.7

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PoliceAssociation donates former DARE van to Blue Light VenturesBy Dan McKirdyBlue Light Ventures is hoping to raiseits Christchurch profile with its newvan.The police initiative, known for theirsafe Blue Light discos, has branchedout to provide camping, fishing,entertainment and sporting events forchildren and teenagers.The van and trailer was owned by thePolice Association and used for thePolice’s DARE (Drug Abuse ResistanceEducation) programme. Now thePolice have dropped sponsoredvehicles, the Association has donatedit to Blue Light.The Christchurch co-ordinatorfor Blue Light, Chris Martin, saidthe van would help transport kidsand equipment as well as raise theorganisation’s profile.Martin, who was appointed lastmonth, said the organisation wantedto make it as successful as the NorthIsland branches. ``We see this as arelaunch of Blue Light in many ways.It’s upped the ante, it’s increasing theprofile and taking a step-up on whatwe are already doing,’’ he said.Keen On Wineby Ricky CollinsDuring the buildup to Christmas this yearI went along to a dinner hosted by ourlocal Liquorland Wine Club, where thefood was matched to a range of the goldmedal winning wines from the 2004 Liquorland Top 100Wineshow. It was a great chance to try a wide range ofthese wines, and see how they fared when paired up withfood. By the end of the night I’d sorted out my top five.2004 Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc RRP $20I’m not normally a great fan of Sauvignon Blanc,but this wine really caught my attention. It hadbeautifully fragrant aromas and flavours of passionfruitand grapefruit, with a hint of classic Marlboroughherbaceousness. The acid levels provided the wine withgood structure, without ripping your mouth apart, andgave it a nice fresh finish. It was an excellent match tothe mussel entrée.2002 Villa Maria Reserve Chardonnay RRP $33If you’re looking for a Chardonnay for a special occasion,then it would be hard to go past this wine. Over the lastfew seasons it has consistently been a standout wine andas a result has gained classic status in Michael Cooper’slatest “Buyers’ Guide to New Zealand Wines”. This isdefinitely a big, complex wine, with appealing citrus fruitflavours, a delicious mouthfeel, and a lingering finish.Reputation for safetyThe organisation had a reputation forrunning safe events to which parentswere happy to send their children. ``Theflipside is that it gives police a chanceto mix with positive young people afterthey spend a lot of time dealing withyoung people in trouble,’’ Martin said.``It also shows the kids that some of thepolice are good fun - it gives everybodya balanced perspective.’’The van and trailer also comes withan annual maintenance grant of$1000 from the Police Association.Association Regional Director, CraigPrior, said Blue Light was the firstorganisation on the Association’s listof possible recipients.“It’s a police-based organisation. Ourmembers all benefit from it as well asthe kids they look after,” he said.• Left to right: Blue Light Executive member Jo Manson, Police Association RegionalDirector, Craig Prior, and Canterbury co-ordinator Chris Martin alongside Blue Light’snew van.2004 Lawsons Dry Hill Gerwurztraminer RRP $22This was my standout white of the night. I loved themusky aromas and Turkish Delight and ginger flavoursof this wine, as well as its rich oily texture. It is leaningtowards dry in style, with a delicious spicy finish. Whileit had magnificent flavours, it was not an over-poweringwine, and is a good match to either Asian style food, orwith a cheeseboard at the end of a meal.2002 Kirrihill Estates Clare Valley Shiraz RRP $24The standout red for me came from a relatively newproducer from the Clare Valley. The deep crimson colourimmediately grabbed my attention, followed by aromasof coffee, liquorice and spicy pepper. The delicious ripeberryfruit and liquorice flavours flowed through to a spicyvanilla finish. It had fine-grained tannins that gave it anappealing mouthfeel. A serious but well-priced wine thatI’m sure you’ll hear more about in the future. This is anexcellent example of what Clare Valley Shiraz can be inexceptional vintages, and was a perfect match to my filletof beef.2003 Konrad Sigrun Noble Riesling RRP $26This is an example of why New Zealand has gained afine reputation for producing dessert style Riesling. Ithas a delightful floral nose and wonderful peach andapricot flavours. There is enough acid present to providethe wine with good structure, and the finish is long anddelicious. An elegant wine, which was a stunning matchto my lemon cheesecake.8

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Traffic stops subject of Pennsylvania studyA study of more than 300,000 traffic stops made byPennsylvania State Police over a one-year period concludedthat: “No consistent evidence exists to suggest thatPennsylvania State Troopers make stopping decisions basedon drivers’ race or ethnicity.”“The study was implemented voluntarily by State Police toensure that troopers are following the department’s policyspecifically prohibiting bias-based policing,” State PoliceCommissioner, Jeffrey B Miller, said recently, in releasing thePolice Citizen Contacts Year One Final Report.The study concluded that:• The percentage of minority drivers stopped at night, whenit would be much more difficult for troopers to assessOamaru Police station openedby the Minister of PoliceIn mid-December, Minister of Police, George Hawkinsofficially opened the new Oamaru Police station and therenovated existing station.Local Association secretary/delegate, Bruce Dow was asked todust off his 1973 issue uniform for the occasion. Bruce wasproud to discover that the uniform still fitted him like a glove.He also borrowed a penny farthing cycle and theCommissioner of Police, Rob Robinson, was happy to lend hissupport to Bruce while he ‘saddled up’. Bruce is no stranger tothe penny farthing, being an accomplished rider - not an easytask.Mr Hawkins was heard to comment to Bruce: “I do like yourmoustache”. Bruce wasn’t so sure that the Commissionershared the Minister’s enthusiasm for the ‘handlebar’ growththough.• Police Association rep Bruce Dow (right) gets a helping handfrom Police Commissioner, Rob Robinson, before Bruce sets offon his penny-farthing riding exhibition at the opening of theOamaru Police Station in December.- Photo courtesy of Sally Rae and The Otago Daily Times.the drivers’ race and ethnicity, is virtually identical to thepercentage of minority drivers stopped during the day.• Few racial differences exist in the initial reasons for trafficstops.• There is no evidence to suggest that members of ethnicminorities are being stopped for more minor offences thancaucasian drivers.• About 75 percent of all traffic stops by PSP troopers are forspeeding where speed, not race, is the determining factorin stopping a driver.The report also recommended that the Pennyslvania StatePolice move forward with its plans to install digital video/audio recorders in every patrol car.Memorial WallOur sympathies to all our members’families for those who have passedaway in recent months...We remember… Who passed away…CHRISTIE William Russell 07-Oct-04 Retired member TaurangaANDERSON Kaaro Georgina 20-Nov-04 Spouse of retired member LevinWONG Elizabeth Anne 26-Nov-04 Member Lower HuttPOPE Valerie Joy 30-Nov-04 Spouse of retired member BlenheimDRING Lawrence Alex 09-Dec-04 Retired member MatamataHARDY Norman Herbert 21-Dec-04 Retired member MatamataKEMP Brian Philip 23-Dec-04 Retired member AlbanyHUMPHREYS Thomas Herbert 27-Dec-04 Retired member NapierABRAAS Ronald Jan 30-Dec-04 Member LindenYOUNG Barrie Michael 31-Dec-04 Retired member Gold CoastRASTOVICH Mark David 03-Jan-05 Member HuntlyGILLETTE Dean Nigel 03-Jan-05 Member PukekoheBLACKWELL James Alan 08-Jan-05 Retired member WhangaparaoaAUGHTERLONY George Henry 15-Jan-05 Retired member AucklandGENTRY Kenneth Roger 17-Jan-05 Retired member WellingtonPARSONS Clementine Julia Adele 19-Jan-05 Retired member Grey Lynn9

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PolicePolice Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit underreview after complaints from road transport industryBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsThe Minister for Transport Safety, HarryDuynhoven, recently announced areview of the Police’s Commercial VehicleInspection Unit’s (CVIU) operations, aspart of a broader look at the developmentof a heavy motor vehicle strategy andoverall 2010 Road Safety Strategy.An independent assessor will carry outthe review. At time of writing, Terms ofReference had not been set. The reviewwill also look at the Land Transport SafetyAuthority (LTSA) and its approach tocommercial vehicle enforcement.Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, ManagerNational Road Policing, welcomes thereview: “I believe that any review will showthat the Police, through the CommercialVehicle Investigation Unit, are doing agood job, that they are well targettedand are producing some good results.”Wider briefFitzgerald says that he hopes thereview will also look at what theroad transport industry is doing toencourage and educate its membersregarding compliance. “Unfortunately,the level of offending within thecommercial transport industry in NewZealand leaves a lot to be desired.”“The review, from my perspective, is lessaround our enforcement practice, andmore about why the industry has suchappalling rates of compliance with thelaw,” he told Police News.The CVIU is a specialist unit. It isresponsible for monitoring the safetyof commercial vehicles such as trucks,buses, taxis, couriers, mobile cranes,and mobile homes. The unit is alsoresponsible for safety checks on vehicles,investigating serious commercial vehiclecrashes, examining driver logbooks toensure drivers aren’t operating vehicleswhile fatigued, and making sure that roaduser charges have been paid.In recent years, the CVIU has come infor criticism from sectors within thetransport industry, most notably theRoad Transport Forum. The Forum’sCEO Tony Friedlander, recently toldNZ Trucking magazine that the actionsof CVIU officers, amounted to “pettypolicing” and said they took a “nitpickingapproach” to enforcement.Mr Friedlander says he hopes the reviewwill lead to the CVIU “refocusing onsafety and economic compliance, and thatit will also provide a platform for buildinga good working relationship between theCVIU and the industry”.He says that the industry went to theMinister out of a sense of frustration afterbeing “given the brush off” by CVIUmanagement.Attention on minor offencesMr Friedlander told Police News: “Wehave concerns about the attention givento minor offences, which are tending toirritate the industry. The target, which webelieve should be safety and economiccompliance, is not being properlytargetted.”Mr Friedlander says that it is easy for faultto be found. “It is our understanding, asa rough cut, that a truck stopped at theside of the road by CVIU potentially faces30,000 possible breaches. Now, if anofficer wanted to get his number of tickets• “We have concerns aboutminor offences, whichare tending to irritate theindustry. The target, whichwe believe should be safetyand compliance, is not beingproperly targetted.”- Tony Friedlander, CEO, RoadTransport Forum.up then he has 30,000 opportunities andat that point you’ve got to say that thetypical driver, who is acting in good faith,is on a hiding to nothing.”Steve Fitzgerald responds: “There is a highlevel of offending across a whole rangeof commercial vehicle offences. There isgeneral support from other sectors of thetransport industry for the work of theCVIU; it’s just that the Road TransportForum feels that we maybe aren’t doingit like they think we should be. But we’requite relaxed about the review.”ImprovementHe says there are certain pockets of thetransport industry, which have improvedtheir game but across the whole industry“things haven’t dramatically improved”.“For example, rollovers of logging truckshas been halved and that’s down to amixture of industry self-compliance andenforcement. By working together weproduced some good results.”Superintendent Fitzgerald adds that theCVIU is well aware that operators face“huge commercial pressures” but he saysthat they have a responsibility to see thatthey do not place commercial expediencyabove road safety.Mr Friedlander, however, says that theindustry feels CVIU brings a “broadbrush, heavy enforcement with littletolerance approach” to the issue. Heacknowledges that in some places in theworld there was a “school of thought anda genuine belief” that zero tolerance oncrime brought better results. But he saysthat in the case of truck safety and theadministration of economic compliance;such an approach was “not balanced”.“Our argument is with the managementphilosophy and approach, not theindividual officers,” he told Police News.Superintendent Fitzgerald feels the roadtransport industry does not seem to havean understanding of the enforcementpsychology. “One of the best and quickestways to improve compliance is to raisethe perception within the minds ofpotential offenders that there is areasonable likelihood of detectionand that there is a consequence foroffending,” he says.Levels of complianceHe compares this philosophy tothe success of Police drink drivingcampaigns. “We are achieving areasonably high level of complianceby having booze buses. So youhave mass stopping, you have theeducation, obviously, and you alsohave your patrols out there stoppingpeople who are weaving across the road.”He says the commercial vehicle testingregime is no different. “We have ourweigh bridge operations, where thereare mass stopping of vehicles and wehave roadside checkpoints and targettedenforcement, where we make great use ofour intelligence analysts.”Mr Friedlander emphasises that the RoadTransport Forum is a “firm advocate” ofquality policing, but he says the currentapproach has little to do with quality andeverything to do with quantity.“The CVIU’s mission, in its own wordsis ‘safety and equality through educationand compliance’. Well there’s been alot of obvious emphasis on compliancebut precious little on education, unlessyou take the view that the only wayto education is through repeatedpunishment whether it is deserved or not.“What’s even more concerning is theCVIU doesn’t seem to have any cluesabout whether or not it is prosecutingpeople who have really committed anoffence. Note that it measures successby the number of tickets written, not thenumber of successful prosecutions. Thishas to be an invitation, if not an order,to officers to issue offence notices likeconfetti,” he recently wrote in an editorialin NZ Trucking magazine.10

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Flawed perception?Superintendent Fitzgerald says that theindustry’s perception is flawed. “Theythink we simply count tickets, which, ofcourse, is totally wrong. We look at thingsacross a whole range of measures,” he toldPolice News.The arguments go back and forth likea ping-pong match. So where does thetruth lie? That, of course, is somethingeveryone is hoping that the review willuncover. Here are some of the facts,which add to the debate:• In the last 12 months, Police CVIUVehicle Safety Officers (VSO) inspected9,836 commercial vehicles and foundmechanical fault with 4,219 (42.9%)- resulting in 1,979 defective vehiclesbeing ordered off the road. Trucks areinvolved in approximately 23% of allroad deaths.• Last year, CVIU, which has 109 staffworking nationwide, inspected a totalof 142,592 commercial vehicles (atruck and trailer unit is counted astwo inspections because of its separatecomponents). Sixty percent of vehicleswere also weighed. Approximately30,000 offences were reported.• The use of heavy goods vehicles on ourroads is increasing each year and alltruck travel is increasing by about 4%per year - up 1% on all other vehicles.• Last year, excessive speed was a factor in20.8% of fatal crashes where the truckwas found to be at fault; compared to allother fatal crashes (16.8%) where speedwas a contributing factor.• In the 12 months ending 30 June 2004CVIU staff attended 491 truck crashes.Vehicle defects were reported as acontributing factor in 49 of those crashes(10.0%) and speed was a contributingfactor in 111 (22.6%). The previousyear’s figures were 9.5% and 20%respectively.• In the 2001-02 year, 19.4% of roadfatalities involved a truck; by 2002-03that had figure was down to 16.2% butby 2003/04 it was up to 19.8%.Operators’ responsibilityPolice say that while the trucking industrymay feel aggrieved at the CVIU’s increasedsurveillance of its operators, it has to bearsome of the responsibility for putting itsown house in order.Police say statistics regarding a high rateof non-compliance with brake standardsis another area, which validates theirconcern. The Land Transport SafetyAuthority (LTSA) carried out surveysof brake standards for heavy vehiclesbetween December 1998 and April/May2003. This is what the survey said:“In December 1998 only 9% of testedvehicles complied fully with the legalbrake performance requirements and68% were found to be in a dangerouscondition. The 2003 survey foundthat 65% of heavy vehicles failedthe minimum brake performancerequirements and a staggering 87% ofsemi-trailers and 79% of full trailers failedthe roadside roller brake test.”Heavy vehicles are defined as being anyvehicle with a gross laden weight of morethan 3500 kgs - which includes somelarger types of campervans as well astrucks and buses.InconsistenciesThe Road Transport Forum’s CEO, TonyFriedlander, is not surprised by the highincidence of non-compliance with brakestandards. “Our industry would arguethat they can take a commercial vehiclestraight out of the Vehicle Testing NewZealand, having gained a certificate offitness, and it would then not pass the(CVIU) brake test audit,” he told PoliceNews.• Minister forTransport Safety,Harry Duynhovenannounced thereview.in,” Mr Friedlander says.He says VTNZand other testingagencies do nothave equipmentwith the samedegree ofsophisticationthat CVIU hasat its disposal.“The quality andconformity ofvehicle testingvaries significantlyand yet it is asystem, which ourindustry places alarge degree of trustPolice News understand that brake testingrules is another area which is about tocome under scrutiny within a variety ofproposed transport sector reviews.From 3 May 2004, the open roadspeed limit for all heavy vehicles wasstandardised at 90 km/h (except schoolbuses, which will remain on an 80km/hlimit). At the same time, the enforcementtolerance for heavy vehicles exceedingthe speed limit was reduced from 10kmhto 5kmh. At the time of the change inthe limit, Police Commissioner, RobRobinson, was moved to comment: “Weknow that heavy vehicles travelling athigh speed present a unique danger toeveryone on the roads.”“In fact, 20% of fatal crashes last yearinvolved a commercial vehicle. That’s80 deaths a year and it is deaths likethese that we are hoping to avoid,”Commissioner Robinson said.Reduced tolerance“The reduced tolerance for heavy vehiclesis intended to address the special risksthey present - they take longer to stop,are less stable and present significant riskto the driving public at high speeds,” headded.On its 96,000 kilometres of roads, NewZealand has approximately:• 13,400 buses and coaches;• 70,000 trucks, of which 1,250 arelogging trucks, 500 milk tankers, 1,500livestock trucks, 1,000 refrigerated unitsand 11,800 long haul general freightvehicles;• 287,000 light vehicles subject to roaduser charges;• 6,500 taxis of which over 3,000 are inAuckland, which has 7,000 taxi drivers.All these fall within the CVIU overview.The CVIU itself, while expanded in recentyears, faces its own challenges by virtue ofthe fact that increasing school rolls and aninflux of tourists will see a correspondingincrease in the number of buses andcoaches on our roads. By next year thenumber of logging trucks is expected todouble as trees reach maturity. As theeconomy and population grow so too willthe need to transport goods by road andrail, which already accounts for 3% of thenation’s GDP (Gross Domestic product).High rate of defective vehiclesYet, says Superintendent Fitzgerald, CVIUstaffing remains at a modest level. “Inmany instances we can only be reactiverather than proactive,” he says, addingthat the CVIU will continue to pressfor more staff “where a cogent case canbe clearly made on the basis of safety”.He points to a recent increase in VSOs(Vehicle Safety Officers), intelligenceofficers and weighbridge operators, plusother enforcement and administrativestaff as “helping make a difference”. “Theyhave given us the ability and expertise tobegin to address the high rate of defectiveheavy vehicles being used on our roads.”Superintendent Fitzgerald says that the public,“quite naturally and understandably”, hasconcerns about heavy vehicles. He says thefacts speak for themselves: “Crashes in whicha truck is involved account for approximatelyone in six of all road fatalities (74 deathsin 2003) and 7.0% of all injuries. Byinternational standards, that is high.”But Mr Friedlander says the industry hasbeen consistently improving its safetyrecord. “In June this year, the number oftruck-related fatal accidents dropped toits lowest level for over 30 years,” he toldPolice News.While the differing viewpoints go backand forth, Superintendent Fitzgerald isdrawn to make an interesting comparisonabout what happens when you don’t havea CVIU. “After the September 11 terroristattacks, the New York Police Department’sCVIU section were taken off commercialvehicle enforcement for the next 12 monthsto boost Police numbers. In that periodthere was a 31% increase in truck crashes.”11

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PolicePolice News has recently spoken to Drug Squad squad detectives, organised crime officers, gang sources,intelligence officers and ‘street’ sources close to the methamphetamine trade. Over this and subsequentissues we will reveal the extent to which organised crime and New Zealand gangs have collaborated tobring a scourge of illicit drugs to New Zealand shores and their plans for the future. We will reveal howthe Mr Bigs are laundering their money through legitimate New Zealand businesses and their significantand growing influence in some New Zealand industries. We will reveal how methamphetamine/P isundermining the very fabric of New Zealand society. Our investigation has also revealed that a new andmore potent form of meth is about to be unleashed on an unwitting New Zealand - a drug, which oneparticular gang has identified as being so addictive to ‘pipe’ users that they have ordered hundreds ofkilograms of it from Chinese drug lords who are specifically manufacturing it with the New Zealand marketin mind....welcome to the world of The New Zealand Sopranos.How organised crime controls the meth marketThe ghost of Mr Asia is alive and well inNew Zealand and making millions fromthe methamphetamine trade.Police News has learned thatmultimillionaires - some of themlegitimate businessmen in their own right- are investing large amounts of moneyinto the illicit drug trade. One PoliceNews source said some of the ‘Mr Bigs’ ofthe drug trade had effectively “bought”motorcycle gangs in order to facilitatethe distribution of methamphetamine/Pand other ATS (amphetamine typesubstances).“These guys are a layer above the gangsthemselves. Some of them are formergang members and some aremultimillionaires, who havemade their millions legitimately,but who have now becomedrawn into the drug tradethemselves through their ownaddictions,” one informant said.New Zealand has three typesof gangs - ethnic gangs (e.g. the MongrelMob and Black Power), OMCGs orOutlaw Motorcycle Gangs (e.g. the HellsAngels and Headhunters) and youthgangs (e.g. street gangs).Newer, more addictive threatIn a disturbing twist to an alreadysaturated market, Police News haslearned that an OMCG in Aucklandhas recently started direct importationof large quantities of a new and morepotent form of ‘ice’ (methamphetaminehydrochloride), which comes in acrystal rock form and is specificallymanufactured in China for the NewZealand ‘pipe’ market. The ‘rock crystals’are sold individually or in five-rock bags.The gang has developed links withChinese organised crime gangs in order tofacilitate a ready-made product.One source said that pipes were seenamong users as being “cool” or “trendy”and the Auckland gang had quicklyidentified that the highly-addictive, rockcrystal product would effectively cornerthe pipe-smoking market for them.“Your blokes (Police) are going to bepicking up the pieces because this stuff islethal,” the source told Police News.ControlOutlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCGs) areidentified by Police as being responsiblefor more than 90% of the trade inmethamphetamines in this country butother sources, spoken to by Police News;indicate that some gangs have effectivelybecome ‘puppets’ for multimillionaires.The gangs in turn have their own streetlevel ‘puppets’ too - gang associates,prospects and hang-arounds, who workin the hope of earning enough kudos tobecome full patched members.“The highly-organised gangs are doingdeals with overseas suppliers in much thesame way as The Warehouse does parallelimporting of goods.”“The gangs are distributing for these guys,who are several places removed fromthe dealers. We are talking people worthtens of millions of dollars here. I know ofpeople who are spending $500,000 a yearon methamphetamine and they are notall known criminals,” the informant toldPolice News.Another source told Police News that themillionaire controllers were rewardinggangs with motorcycles, improvedgang pads and helping them with theinstallation of surveillance technologyin return for use of their distributionnetworks.“Make no mistake, this is organised crimeon a grand scale,” the source told PoliceNews.Gang collaboration“The highly-organised gangs are doingdeals with overseas suppliers in much thesame way as The Warehouse does parallelimporting of goods. It’s the same principleand these blokes have learned fromexperience. Their supply for manufacturewas cut off when the Police cracked downfirstly on pseudo warehouse operationsand secondly on pharmacy shoppersbut the gangs have quickly adapted byimporting what they need. Now some ofthem have moved beyond manufacturingin clan labs and are directly importing themeth/P ready-made,” he said.A recent Massey University survey intometh use in New Zealand suggestedthat law enforcement authorities in NewZealand were seizing only about 10%of importations (see p16 for details).Some police officers told Police News theythought the figure was closer to “six orseven percent”.Gang intelligence is getting better too.Some have installed their own high-techsurveillance technology. Thislevel of intelligence-gatheringby the gangs presents Policewith another challenge -infiltration by gang associatesinto government agencies andthe justice system itself. Onesource told Police News that heknew of one gang who had sentassociates or members without criminalrecords to university, in the knowledgethat the NZ Police was moving towardsimplementing minimum tertiaryqualification standards for recruits.Another predicted that, just like theruthless Mr Asia syndicate of the 1970s,within two years low-level drug dealerswould be “disappearing”. Many dealersare addicts themselves and easily fall intodebt as a result of their $1000 a weekhabits.“These blokes at the top of the methfood chain are only interested in money.People are expendable in this worldbecause these guys have millions ofdollars invested at any one time and ifthe minions cross them then they will besending a clear message that they don’tstand for that,” one informant said.Gang scene quietPolice intelligence sources say that thegang scene in New Zealand is eerilyquiet but that could change in the blinkof an eye as the price of meth falls andold rivalries resurface. “At the moment12

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005its business as usual and business isvery good at present. Many of the gangshave got smarter, called a truce and areworking together but there are otherswho may resort to their old ways and startbattling over territory and market shareas their profits decline. But the smartergangs know that inter-gang violence, justattracts unnecessary Police attention andthey certainly don’t want that,” one policeintelligence officer said.There are also signs that meth/P is makingsome gangs implode. The Kapiti chapterof the Satan’s Slaves is all but decimatedafter 70% of its members developed methaddictions.Already there is clear evidence that theprice of a point (one-tenth of a gram) ofmeth has dropped to $80 in some areasas a result of market saturation - that’s a20% reduction on the price of a year ago.Some gangs have started getting aroundthe reduction in price by short-measuringtheir points. Afterall, their clientele, oftenmiddle-class recreational users are not likelyto complain, fearing gang retaliation.But some intelligence officers arepredicting that within two years gangviolence in the form of drive-by shootingand ‘hits’ on rival gangs will spill over intoNew Zealand streets as market-share andterritory becomes a focus for gangs in asaturated market. It may not even be thatfar away - at time of writing, Police wereinvestigating two gang-related drivebyshootings in Wanganui and a gangassociate who was found with a bulletwound to the leg in Masterton.Public ignorancePolice working within the drug scene areextremely concerned that New Zealandersare blissfully ignorant of the underminingeffect methamphetamine/P is having onNew Zealand society. The interactionbetween middle-class recreational drugusers and gang members is of particularconcern.“This drug (meth/P) is one out of the boxand it is already undermining our society.It has fingers everywhere - in murder,home invasions, aggravated robberies,assaults on police officers, street, gang anddomestic violence, burglaries, fraud - youname it,” one officer, who is currentlyworking in the gang scene, told Police News.One informant told Police News: “Whenyou have a 24-year-old middle-class kidearning $800 a week, who then developsa meth/P habit, then he or she may as welljust start posting his/her wages throughthe gang’s letterbox. That same kid, as thehabit grows, may become in debt to thegang and then it will be the gang callingthe shots. Then it will be ‘just leave Mumand Dad’s house key somewhere we canfind it when they’re away.”Some officers are so concerned aboutgangs going unchecked in their area thatthey are doing surveillance and gatheringinformation on their own time. Onetold Police News: “We’re not seeing a lotof evidence that Police management arewholly committed to getting on top ofthe gangs and their meth manufactureand dealing. One real concern I see isthat Area Commanders seem to have anadherence to stats-driven policing, ratherthan putting resources into policing thegangs and their criminal activities. GangLiaison Officers [renamed Gang IntelligenceOfficers by Police] and drug squads seem tobe a dying breed,” the officer said.Association President, Greg O’Connor toldPolice News: “We’re seeing some successagainst the ‘bottom feeders’ or low-leveldealers but often their demise just meansthe bigger gangs become more entrenched.”Gang users create problemsIn another twist to the meth scourge,Police News has learned that seniormembers of some gangs have beenstruggling to control young prospectsand associates who have become hookedon meth/P. One gang informant toldPolice News that younger members wereshowing a reluctance to obey the rulingsof senior members who had a “do as I saynot as I do” policy around taking harddrugs. Gangs operate on a hierarchal andmilitaristic structure - with a President,Vice-President and Sergeant-at-Armsbeing common positions of authority.Respect for senior members is paramountin maintaining structure. Internaldisciplinary measures are often swift,harsh and violent if associates (sometimesknown as hangarounds), prospects, ormembers fall foul of the gang code/rules.Profits from methamphetamine/Pmanufacture, in particular, are creatinghuge profits that make the gang staples ofdealing cannabis pale into insignificance. Insome instances, police officers have foundhundreds of thousands of dollars in cash atthe scene of drug busts. One South Islandofficer told Police News: “Gangs aren’t reallyinterested in dealing cannabis any more, it’sall about dealing meth these days becauseits easy to conceal and our staff have troublelocating it,” he said.In amongst this mix are increasingseizures by Customs and Police of largeamounts of methamphetamine precursorproducts as organised gangs, stymied by acrackdown on pseudoephedrine shoppersat local chemists, move to replace thosetraditional supply lines. Those supplylines are being strengthened by alliancesforged with Australian gangs - several ofwhom have been badly affected by assetseizure legislation.• Ethnic gangs are known to be doing deals with former rivals. Photo courtesy of The NZ Herald.13

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PoliceSupply networksBut other New Zealand gangs, wary ofthe risk of manufacture on home turf andthe risk of clan labs being discovered, aresetting up supply networks throughoutAsia, where meth/P is supplied ready forstreet level distribution. Those networkshave been fostered through European,Australian, American and Canadian bikergang networks.The international gangs see the local gangsas ‘virtual’ franchises where they can spreadtheir influence and drug trafficking. This isseriously big business involving hundredsof millions of dollars and the internationalgangs are light years ahead of the locals interms of legitimising their illicit earningsthrough the purchase of commercialand residential property and legitimatebusinesses. But the Kiwis are learning fast.Some are ex-pats who have returned fromoverseas with the knowledge and financesto set up on their own account.In turn, those trans-national connectionsare providing local gangs with the ‘tools’and technological know-how to laundertheir criminal takings by moving theirprofits into legitimate businesses.If New Zealand follows overseas trends,some gangs will soon be looking to set uplegitimate businesses in coastal areas with aview to engendering illegal importations ofprecursors from Asian suppliers. This hashappened in Australia where the vastnessof its coastline has presented trans-nationalsyndicates with every opportunity to set updirect importation regimesMAF officers have identified Black Powerand Mongrel Mob members as having aheavy presence in illegal paua poachingoperations around New Zealand’s coastline.Free reignPolice News inquiries suggest that insmaller centres some gangs are havinga free reign because Police do not havethe resources to monitor their activities.Informants say they are well aware thatplaces like Waitakere, Bay of Plenty andNelson do not have a Police drug squadpresence. “Basically it’s carte blanche forthem in some of our smaller towns andcities,” is how one officer described thegang activities in his patch.The officer suggested that the reasoningbehind the gangs not being seriouslypoliced lay with District Commanders.“Obviously you don’t get brownie points,as an Area Controller, for having highdrug stats because it’s all self-initiatedoffences. Every drug lock-up you do givesmore stats that you wouldn’t have hadotherwise and you’re not paid for drugoffences, you’re paid for burglaries, extheftcars and unlawful takings.” Just thethings the gang have steered away fromover recent years.“This is being dictated by Police NationalHeadquarters. They are the ones that saywhat the strategic crime is,” he added.Legislative answersVarious governments have occasionally triedto act against the gangs. The Harassmentand Criminal Associations Act (1998)increased the judiciary’s ability to imposenon-association orders and to protectwitnesses from intimidation but has beenrarely used. The Proceeds of Crime Act(1991) is due for an overhaul after it hasnetted the Crown a fairly meagre $8.3million in the last nine years. The biggestsingle asset seizure during that time waswhen $1 million in assets was seized asa result of the conviction of Aucklandchemist, William Wallace, in 2000.Wallace is serving a 10-year sentence formanufacturing methamphetamine.But sometimes the law lets undercoveroperatives, who place their lives indanger, down. One such example waswhen a hospital worker was chargedrelating to possessing enough ingredientsto make $2 million worth of meth.He received a sentence of 200 hourscommunity work.Detective Sergeant Warren Olsson, O/COrganised Crime Unit at the Office ofthe Commissioner told Police News: “Weare aware that both motorcycle gangsand ethnic gangs, many of which weretraditionally rivals, are now meeting andnegotiating in order to co-ordinate theirdrug dealing activities, including betweenthemselves and on a wider scale withother organised crime groups such asAsian crime gangs”.Detective Sergeant Olsson says that Policeare also seeing internal divisions appearingwithin gangs. “Many senior membersof gangs are recognising the effects ofmethamphetamine addiction on youngermembers and realise the drug is destroyingtheir gangs from within. This is creatingsplits and factions in the gangs.”Gang PRHe says there is little evidence that seniorgang members are meeting with any successin trying to turn associates and prospectsaway from getting hooked on meth. Recentmedia statements from gang members,where they purport to condemn the ‘P’trade, are little more than public relationsexercises, with no discernable difference ingang drug dealing arrests eventuating.A national organised crime survey, preparedin July 2004, concluded that the singlebiggest threat in terms of organised crime inNew Zealand comes from OMCGs.Detective Sergeant Olsson says that strongerasset-seizure legislation, announced bythe Government recently, will be “anothertool” in the fight against organised crime.“It should have an impact upon gangactivities but we’ll have to wait and see howfar it goes in reducing gang crime. Seizinggang clubhouses, vehicles and assets willdefinitely help us to combat gang drugdealing, violence and money laundering,”he said.Others officers working within the gangand drug scenes have mixed feelings abouthow effective the legislation will be. “It’s ahuge amount of work to get someone to dosomething like that. Firstly, it’s very difficultto do asset seizure if you’re not investigatingthe gang to start with and secondly, if you’vegot a reasonable drug dealing enterprisethen the way to do it is to go electronic. Todo that you’re gonna kill the whole CIB andthe station outside for a good month or twoand the other stuff keeps coming anyway,”one Intelligence Officer told Police News.The officer said that he was “hopeful” thatNIA (National Intelligence Application)would enable Police to more closelymonitor the gang activities in the future,adding “but of course that all costs money.”National strategyThe officer told Police News that theanswer to getting on top of the gangsand the distribution of hard drugs was tohave a national strategy in place. “PoliceNational HQ needs to take ownershipof this problem and that will be donewhen they put additional resources intocombating it - because basically meth isknackering this country,” he said.Gang Intelligence Officers have alsonoticed that this sharing of informationby gangs has led to a different approachregarding cooking methods. “A few yearsago it was quite common for a meth cookfrom one gang to get kidnapped by a rivalgang because good cooks were few andfar between but now most gangs are ableto manufacture their own,” he says.They say that while some individuals andsome gangs are becoming very wealthyas a result of their drug dealing, the ironyis that “in some gangs a good deal of thatprofit is going up their noses too”.Into this mix is the volatile andinconsistent nature of the product beingoffered between gangs. “We recentlylearned of one gang who had goneoutside their normal alliances because thequality of the product they were beingdelivered ranged from top quality P toabsolute crap,” a Police source told PoliceNews.Organised crime now controls the NewZealand drug trade. Much of the gangactivity is going on behind the scenes.Those close to the drug scene have toldPolice News that they genuinely fearfor the New Zealand of the future asorganised crime increases its sphere ofinfluence into mainstream society. Andthey’re all asking the same question. Asone officer put it: “How long will it bebefore someone in authority sits up andtakes notice and says ‘Houston we have aproblem - and it’s a biggy’,”14

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Hitting at the heart of the justice systemNew Zealand gangs are showingominous signs of following the lead oftheir overseas counterparts by hitting atthe heart of the justice system itself.Whereas previously gangs were flexingtheir muscle against each other, a recentepisode suggests that their attentionmay be turning towards jury members.During a recent Auckland DistrictCourt trial, which involved fourpeople charged with manufacturingand supplying methamphetamine, apatched Headhunters gang member hada camera-capable cellphone confiscatedafter he was observed trying tophotograph members of the jury.As a result, the jury was sequesteredbecause of concerns for their safety. Itis believed to be the first time a DistrictCourt jury has had to be kept in a motelevery night of a trial’s duration.Four convictedDesmond Loke, 29, LawrenceSchwalger, 29, Phillipa Williams, 25and David O’Carroll, 40, were foundguilty of manufacturing and supplyingmethamphetamine. O’Carroll is a seniormember of the Headhunters gang.Police had nabbed the quartet as aresult of Operation Illusion.There are two more trials relating toOperation Illusion due to take placethis year.Subsequently, Courts Minister, RickBarker, asked Ministry of Justiceofficials to look at whether a ban ontechnology that may pose a threat tojuries was necessary.Mr Barker said that the governmentwanted to do everything it could topreserve the jury system and “makesure that people who serve on a juryfeel absolutely safe and secure.”In some parts of Australia legislationhas been amended to allow courtofficers to take all cellphones as peopleenter court.Whilst juror intimidation is rare here,overseas law enforcement authoritieshave uncovered cases of significantefforts to pervert the course of justicein gang trials. One high profile case,involving the Hells Angels in the USA,found that jurors had been offeredbribes of $100,000 each.Police corruptionWhat the Canadians, Americans andAustralians have also learned is thatthere are also police officers who willbe tempted by the huge amounts ofmoney on offer from organised criminalgroups too. This is a challenge thatthe NZ Police will undoubtedly face ifrecruitment standards are allowed todiminish, remuneration relativities arenot maintained, resources are divertedaway from hardcore crime and/or thepublic lose significant confidence in thePolice. Top police officers spoken toby Police News say corruption is one oftheir biggest fears for the future if theNZ Police cannot continue to attracthigh-calibre recruits.In Canada, the biker gangs became sopowerful, due largely to governmentinertia and internal Police bickering,that they were not only able to infiltrategovernment organisations but lawenforcement agencies as well. It couldvery easily happen here - if it hasn’talready.Hit listSeveral years ago, during the Montrealtrial of the head of the Hells AngelsNomads, ‘Mom’ Boucher, it wasrevealed that Boucher, after havingsuccessfully ordered the execution stylekilling of two prison guards also hadplans to assassinate justice and lawenforcement officials.The Police are not immune to gang‘attentions’ either.A former detective told Police News thathe was involved in a search warrantraid on a gang headquarters andduring the operation police officersdiscovered a board with their names,addresses, names of family members,car registration numbers and photos ofeach officer pinned to it.In Tasmania, a few years ago, threemen were arrested after a bomb wasdiscovered at the New Town Analyticaland Forensic Laboratories. The foiledbombing was an attempt to destroyevidence linked to a drugs trial. One ofthe men allegedly involved told Policethat he was offered a Harley Davidsonmotorcycle and two ounces of speed todestroy the evidence.Gangs will adapt quickly to circumvent asset seizure lawsGangs are the chameleons of thecriminal underworld and as suchthey will adapt quickly to circumventtougher asset seizure legislation.Overseas gang experts, spoken to byPolice News, suggest that New Zealandgangs will move assets offshore, rentrather than buy clubrooms and set upcomplex trusts to hide their wealth inlegitimate businesses.Tougher laws, like asset seizurelegislation, the reclassification ofmethamphetamine and harsherpenalties play their part but theirchances of success are neglible if notbacked-up by a dedicated, wellresourcedpolicing environment.One gang expert told Police Newsthat, just like mainstream big business,gangs here will quickly move to protecttheir interests by employing highlyskilledaccountants and lawyers. Thegangs, like the big corporates, canafford the best advice.LegitimisationMany senior gang members, especiallyin the OMCGs (Organised Motor CycleGangs) have moved away from theirtraditional insignia into wearing suits.In this way, they fit in well with thetraditional recreational, middle-classdrug users who are amongst their bestcustomers.Association President, Greg O’Connorsaid there had been reluctance by Policeto acknowledge the meth problems inthe late 1990s. “By acknowledging thedepth of the problem then you haveto do something about it and thattakes a lot of money. It’s the same withthe gangs. Everyone knows there’s aproblem and it will take some verybrave decisions to deal with them butbecause there is no political overflow atpresent the investment isn’t there,” he said.Mr O’Connor said that the NZPolice’s new design was to have 12autonomous districts, which jealouslyguard their resources. “While thegangs are centralising the Police arebecoming more introspective andthat’s a dangerous scenario, as theCanadians found to their peril,” hetold Police News.15

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PoliceMassey University report confirms frontline staffwarnings about methamphetamine scourgeA Massey University (Auckland) report,commissioned by Police, has confirmedwhat frontline police and the PoliceAssociation have been saying for years- that amphetamine type stimulantsthreaten to undermine the socioeconomicfabric of New Zealand.The study confirmed reports in PoliceNews last year that methamphetamine useis impacting heavily on drug treatmentcentre resources. It found that one in fivepatients now cite amphetamine, alone orin combination with other drugs, as theirmain substance use problem.The study estimated that the illicitamphetamine and ecstacy markets had acombined value of approximately $168.3million - nearly the same as the entire illicitmarket for cannabis.Low seizure ratesThe seizure rates calculated foramphetamine and ecstasy indicate thatless than 10% of the trade in both drugs isbeing seized by law enforcement agencies.Dr Chris Wilkins, James Reilly, Emily Rose,Debashish Roy, Dr Megan Pledger andArier Lee from Massey’s Centre conductedthe report for Social and Health OutcomesResearch and Evaluation.ATS drugs are a group of illegalsynthetic drug types, which includemethamphetamine, ecstasy and crystalmethamphetamine (known as ‘ice’ or P).The report found:• About one in 10 New Zealanders aged 18-29, or about 100,000 people nationwide,had used an ATS drug in the last year.About one-third of these users werefrequent users (i.e. monthly or more often).• ATS drug use in New Zealand was similaror slightly lower than in Australia. Thiswas particularly the case for ecstasy whilethe level of amphetamine use between thetwo countries was closer. Amphetamineuse among 15-19 year-olds appeared to behigher in New Zealand than in Australia.• Poly drug use was common among ATSdrug users in New Zealand. ATS userswere many times more likely than thegeneral population to use high potencycannabis, LSD, magic mushrooms,cocaine, GHB (Gamma-hydroxybutyrate),Ketamine, Rush and tranquillisers. ‘Ice”users exhibited the highest level of polydrug use, including relatively high levels ofopioid use.• One in five frequent methamphetamineusers (monthly or more often) had injectedmethamphetamine in the last six months.• Two thirds of the frequent methamphetamineusers interviewed reportedbinging on meth in the last six months (i.e.using continuously for 48 hours or more).The average frequency of binging was oncea fortnight.• ATS drug users were disproportionatelymale and aged 18-29, with the heaviest useamong 20-24 year olds. ATS drug users hadhigh levels of full time employment, camefrom a range of occupational backgroundsincluding professionals, earned mid-levelincomes and had relatively high levels ofeducational achievement. Large numbersof ATS drug users, including frequent users,were European.• Approximately one third of ATS usersreported experiencing harm in at least one• Two-thirds of meth users in the report said thatthey had “binged” on meth in the last six months.Photo courtesy of The NZ Herald.area of their lives in the last year as a resultof their drug use. About half of the frequentmethamphetamine users interviewedreported harm in the areas of ‘friendshipand social life’ (55%), ‘health’ (55%), and‘energy and vitality’ (53%) from theirmeth use. The harms that frequent methusers most often rated as ‘very serious’ or‘extremely serious’ were in the areas of‘work and work opportunities’, ‘outlook onlife’, and ‘friendship and social life’.• The most serious problems reported byfrequent methamphetamine users werepsychological rather than physical. About40% of frequent methamphetamineusers reported pre-existing psychologicalproblems. Levels of psychological problemsincreased after using methamphetaminewith about two-thirds of frequentmethamphetamine users reporting‘anxiety’, ‘mood swings’, ‘short temper’,‘paranoia’, and ‘depression’. Twenty-onepercent of frequent methamphetamineusers reported ‘suicidal thoughts’ and 13%‘suicide attempts’ after using the drug.• 93% of the frequent methamphetamineusers interviewed consideredmethamphetamine to be ‘more harmful’ or‘much more harmful’ than cannabis.• About one-fifth of frequentmethamphetamine users reported havingdifficulty controlling their usage. However,about half reported no difficulties with theirmeth use or ability to stop or go without.• Amphetamine/methamphetamine andcrystal methamphetamine were the ATSdrug types most commonly used byarrestees (41% and 11% used in the lastyear respectively). Twenty-one percentof arrestees had used amphetamine/methamphetamine in the last month and9% had used it just before committingtheir offence.• Amphetamine/methamphetamine andcrystal methamphetamine (along withalcohol) were the drugs most likelyto make arrestees feel angry. Crystalmethamphetamine and amphetamine/methamphetamine were the ATS drugtypes most likely to be combined withdriving, with 34% and 16% of arresteesrespectively doing ‘some’ of their drivingwhile under the influence of these drugsrespectively.• More arrestees had a friend arrested for anamphetamine offence than for a cannabisoffence in the last month (17% vs 14%).• Arrestees spent an average of $350 onamphetamines compared with only $20for cannabis.• One third of the frequent methamphetamineusers interviewed had soldmethamphetamine and about one in fivehad manufactured, or exchanged, it forstolen property at some stage. About 40%of the frequent methamphetamine usershad earned income from illegal activities inthe last six months with drug dealing themost common type of illegal activity. Theaverage dollar amount earned from illegalactivities was $24,000.• The new methamphetamine usergroups most commonly reported by allthree KI (key informant) groups were‘teenage users’ and ‘business people’.User key informants also notedmore ‘young women’, ‘lower socioeconomic’and ‘Maori/ Polynesian’users. Treatment-based key informantscommonly noticed more ‘youngwomen’ users.• Respondents in the survey described theavailability of methamphetamine as either‘very easy’ or ‘easy’.• All study respondents reported increased‘violent crime’ and increased ‘propertycrime’ by methamphetamine users.Enforcement key informants also reportedincreases in ‘burglary’, ‘domestic violence’and ‘fraud’ by methamphetamine users.One of the positives of the study wasthe finding that greater vigilance andregulation around the sale of pseudoephedrinebased flu products fromchemists had reduced the attractiveness ofthis source of amphetamine precursors.The report also confirmed what Policehave known for some time - thatorganised crime gangs largely controlthe importation and manufacture ofmethamphetamine in New Zealand.16

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Changes togaming lawscausingconfusionThe Gambling Act 2003 has beenin force since 1 July 2004 and hasbrought big changes to all forms oflicensed gambling.But, according to the Departmentof Internal Affairs the message maynot have got through to some policeofficers, who have inadvertentlybeen distributing information aboutthe Gaming and Lotteries Act 1977or the Casino Control Act 1990.Both these laws have been repealedand replaced by the Gambling Act.For instance, lottery draws no longerhave to be supervised by Police.Draws still have to be supervisedbut this task can fall to a barristerand solicitor of the High Court;Justice of the Peace, Notary Public,Registrar or Deputy Registrar of theDistrict Court, High Court, Court ofAppeal or Supreme Court, someoneadministered by law to take an oathor a Member of Parliament.Licence fees no longerpayableMost schools, churches, clubs andother community groups usingraffles, housie and games of chancefor fundraising no longer have topay licensing and compliance fees.The old law had a maximum prizelimit of $500. Under the newGambling Act prizes can total up to$5,000 before a licence is needed.This means that 89% of communitygroups that had licences under theold law now no longer need them.Licence fees had ranged from $85to $424, depending on the type andscale of the gambling.The changes made by the new laware wide-ranging and possibly thebest advice you can give people isto ask them to get more informationfrom a Gambling Inspector at theDepartment of Internal Affairs.Members of the public, and Policecan call toll free on 0800 257 887or visit the Department’s websitewww.dia.govt.nz, and click on“gambling”.Repay the mortgage or save?The love affair New Zealanders havewith property is unlikely to subside.For generations we have regardedhome ownership as prestigious andsought-after. The years of work spentgenerating a deposit and paying off themortgage is testament to this notion.As a nation, however, we perhaps focustoo much on paying off the mortgageas a means of saving for retirement.The percentage of people who identifypaying off their house as a form ofretirement saving has increased 10percent over the past year - from 37to 47 percent. At the same time, wehave seen a fall in most other forms ofretirement savings. 1Conventional wisdom tells us it is betterto pay off your mortgage before settingmoney aside for retirement. This is foran obvious reason - the quicker yourepay debt, the less interest you willincur over the long term. As well, yourability to achieve investmentreturns over and above theinterest rate you are payingon your mortgage is challengingunless you are prepared to take onsignificant risk. This is principallydue to the fact that theafter-tax return onyour investmentneeds to exceed yourhome mortgage rate.Despite this logic, thereare good reasons why you should createa savings programme while still payingoff your mortgage. Here are some ofthem:• People are staying in debt longer.• A lack of savings can leave youvulnerable.• Diversification is important.• A regular savings plan creates goodhabits for the future.People are staying in debtlongerWith house prices appreciatingfaster than increases in wages, manyhomeowners are finding themselvesspending more time in debt. By thetime many have repaid their mortgage,they have insufficient time to build uptheir desired retirement ‘nest egg’. Thiscreates significant implications for futurelifestyle options. As well, the benefitof receiving compounding interestand the ability to remain in long-terminvestments are diminished, thereforeaffecting investment returns.A lack of savings can leave youvulnerableNo matter how secure your situation isnow, it is important you prepare for life’sunexpected events. If you are focusedsolely on reducing your debt and haveno other savings in place, unforeseensituations such as redundancy ormedical issues could prove extremelydifficult to deal with.Suddenly losing your income while stillrepaying your mortgage can createconsiderable stress. Re-mortgagingwithout a steady income will be difficult,and if you are forced to sell your hometo free up capital, you are likely to be ina weak negotiating position.Having other funds set aside can assistgreatly if unexpected events arise. Werecommend you hold around three to sixmonths of your net salary in liquid assets(that can be readily converted to cash).Diversification is importantWhile property has performed well inrecent years, like any other market itruns in cycles. We experienced a periodin the 1970s where house prices fell forsix consecutive years in real terms. Withthe number of New Zealanders nowlooking to property to fund theirretirement, there is concern thatwhen these properties need to besold, there will be an oversupply ofproperties on the market.Holding a mix of differentassets, both locally andoffshore, will reduceyour exposure to anyone asset and willprovide increasedflexibility at the time you needto start selling down your investmentassets. Offshore assets can act as aninsurance against events that could havethe potential to harm New Zealand’seconomy.A regular savings plan createsgood habits for the futureBeing able to save for retirement onceyour mortgage has been repaid isan important part of any retirementstrategy. Typically, many of us willspend our spare cash when ourmortgage disappears. By having anexisting savings plan in place andregularly transferring money from yourbank account, you create good habits,which are transferable as your salaryincreases or mortgage payments reduce.While paying off your mortgage, orany form of debt, as quickly as possibleremains a sound strategy, it is equallyimportant you consider other formsof saving. At the very minimum, youshould have a pool of funds availableto carry you through difficult periods.Everyone’s situation is different andit’s important that you review yourpotential exposures before deciding onan appropriate savings strategy.To speak with a Spicers Adviser todayabout your savings plan call the PoliceFinancial Planning Enquiry Line on0800 ON BEAT (0800 66 2328).1 AMP Super Watch17

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PoliceVictorian roadside drug testing regime to continue despite teething troublesVictoria’s tainted roadside drug tests will continue despite ahumiliating blow for the State Government and police, according toMelbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.Van driver John De Jong was the first driver to return a positiveroadside saliva test but subsequent laboratory analysis found theoriginal test to be negative. In toxicology terms, the original sampleis called a false positive. De Jong has asked for a public apology andmay now sue the government and Victoria Police as a result of theslur on his name that publicity surrounding the case engendered.A scientist, who advised the Government on the program, admittedhe was warned of a legal disaster if it went ahead. But VicRoads drugspecialist, Dr Phillip Swann, said that he had ignored the warningsbecause of the road safety benefits of saliva testing.Police Minister expresses confidencePolice Minister, Andre Haermeyer, recently tried to shore upconfidence in the tests and said he had full confidence in the system.He said a wrongly accused driver faced “a little bit of inconvenience”.“No one has been wrongly charged, no one has been wronglyconvicted,” Mr Haermeyer said. “This is a process that driversare asked to undergo and the worst that can happen is that if theindicative screening test gets it wrong then the driver faces a little bitof inconvenience.”VicRoads funded the drug testing initiative, providing $1.4 millionfor training, wages, deployment and equipment, including testingkits and the drug bus.Despite Mr De Jong being cleared, Assistant Commissioner forTraffic, Bob Hastings, said Victorian Police retained confidence in theprogram.No apology?He saw no need to apologise to Mr De Jong, who was initially testedin a media stunt on the drug bus’ first day on the road. Mr De Jong’scase was part of the learning experience and would assist Police asthey evaluated the system, he said.Mr Hastings denied it was a black mark against the entire system.Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks has refused suggestions that theregime be suspended pending further investigations.HOLIDAY HOME AVAILABILITY– for bookings see: www.policeassn.org.nz“It shows that the system is working. It shows that whatever occurson the side of the road is either validated or not validated in thesubsequent laboratory test. And that’s what the system is about,” MrHastings told the Herald Sun.However, several other road safety commentators have expressedconcern about the tests. Some have said the roll out may havebeen premature. Others have said the fact that two of the firstthree positive roadside tests had subsequently been cleared by laterlaboratory tests had undermined public confidence in them.Different viewMeanwhile, The NZ Herald quoted Mr Norman Marshall, whosecompany does drug testing for some of Australian’s biggestcorporations and sports agencies, as saying that the drug bus shouldbe pulled off the road.“The key issues for any drug testing program are fairness andreasonableness,” said Mr Marshall, of the Australian DrugManagement and Education Group.“You cannot have a program which allows for someone who isinnocent to be put in a position where they are suffering anxiety anddistress. This is a classic example of it.”Mr Marshall said any device used on the roadside was always goingto be a cheap version of laboratory tests.The New South Wales and Tasmanian governments, who are in theprocess of introducing similar roadside testing regimes, are said to be‘closely monitoring’ the Victorian experience.Acting Manager of Road Policing Support (OoC), Inspector JohnKelly, told Police News that while NZ Police were monitoring theVictorian experience the department had moved in another directionat this point in time, regarding the detection of impaired drivers.Inspector Kelly said that training emphasis was being placed on arange of roadside detection tests, which revolved around determiningwhether a driver was impaired by substances other than alcohol.“We’ve been running a trial since about February of last year to tryand determine the extent of the problem with drug-affected drivers,”he said. “That’s the path we’re going down at present and while we’rewatching the Victorians with interest, I dare say they’ll probably beinterested in what we’re doing too,” he added.MARCH APRIL MAYPAIHIA 4-6, 10-11, 16-17 1-4, 16-17, 19, 23-26, 29-31STANMORE BAY 1,3,7-9,10,13,16-17, 20, 21, 22-24, 28-31 3-7, 8-12, 13-14, 16, 20, 25-30 1-5, 8-31AUCKLAND 5 1-5, 9, 17, 22-26, 29-31WHANGAMATA 17 23-24, 28-30 1-4, 8-31MT MAUNGANUI 2,22-23,24,28 5 1-5, 8-19, 22-31,OHOPE 21,24,28-31 4-7, 10, 13-14 5-31ROTORUA 3, 17, 20-24, 28-30 3-7, 10-14, 23, 26-28 1-5, 8-31TAUPO 1, 21-24, 28-31 4, 6-8, 10-13, 18, 22, 27-29 1-5, 8-12, 15-26, 28-31TURANGI 6-10, 13-16, 17, 18, 20-24, 28-31 2-15, 17-19, 21, 29, 30 1-31NAPIER 21, 28 3-7, 10-14, 21, 26 4-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-31PARAPARAUMU 2-3, 8-10, 14-17, 20-24 10-14, 26 1-5, 8-19, 23-27, 29GREYTOWN 13-17, 23-24, 28-29 5-7, 10-14, 17, 19-21, 28 2-4, 8-12, 15-17, 22-26, 29-31WELLINGTON 6, 9, 17, 20-24 4-6, 10-12, 25-26 1-5, 18-19, 22-26, 29-31NELSON 2-3, 11-12, 20, 30-31 4, 14 2-14, 15-31HANMER SPRINGS 24 4-5, 12-14 4-5, 9-10, 15-17, 22-25, 30-31CHRISTCHURCH 2, 16, 20, 28, 31 1, 7, 15 9, 11-12, 15-16, 19-27, 29-31TEKAPO 2-3, 13, 15-16WANAKA 1-3, 9, 16, 17 2-31CROMWELL 12, 17 3, 14-15, 19, 23-24 1-31QUEENSTOWN 12-13 19TE ANAU 3, 4, 6, 9, 14-16, 18, 21-22, 24, 28, 30-31 5-6, 11-14 1-31DUNEDIN 8, 9, 16, 29-31 3-4, 15-18, 27 1-5, 9-13, 16-18, 23, 29-3118

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005Sick Leave Bank myths and realitiesMyth: Sworn Police have unlimited sick leave.Reality: Sworn Police officers get 12 days sick leaveper year, which can be accrued; thereforein most cases allowing sick leave of upto 60 days in any five year period. Anyadditional sick leave has to be applied forfrom the Sick Leave BankMyth: “I’ll just take stress leave.”Reality: There is no such thing as “stress leave” inthe NZ Police. A member can either takeannual leave or go on sick leave. Membersshould realise that being on “stress leave”is actually using up their annual or sickleave entitlement. Once sick leave isexhausted a member can either apply tothe Sick Leave Bank, use annual or anothertype of leave (e.g. shiftworkers’ leave), orpossibly go on leave without pay.NZ Police established a Sick Leave Bank(SLB) in 1981. The SLB was set upto ensure sworn members who weregenuinely sick, or supporting loved oneswho were unwell, did not run out of sickleave. Each sworn member “donates” 0.5or one day’s annual leave to the SLB, whichis available to those members who haverun out of their own personal sick leave.Over the years sick leave and the SLB havenot been actively managed and a cultureof unlimited sick leave has built up amongmany members of Police.In the sworn pay round negotiations in2003 the issue of the SLB was resolved.The NZ Police service organisations, set upa formal process to manage the SLB. Asa result of this consultation a Sick LeaveBank Approval Committee was formedwith Peter Hayes, Manager Police WelfareFund, as a representative for members.The committee considers applicationsagainst operating principles and criteriadeveloped in consultation with the serviceorganisations.Mr Hayes has set out some of the commonquestions he gets asked in relation to theSick Leave Bank.Questions and AnswersQ: Why couldn’t sick leave remain as it was?A: A good employer is responsible for managingsick leave so ill/injured employees aresupported and there are no abuses of sickleave. Police are now taking a much moreactive role in ensuring members who are onsick leave are supported and, if necessary,rehabilitation plans are put in place to enablea return to their fulltime role as soon aspracticable.Q: Does this mean when I run out of sick leave Iwon’t get paid?A: If you are suffering from an illness orsupporting a family member with a genuineillness and running out of sick leave youshould make application to the SLB to accessfurther leave. In virtually all cases access tothe SLB will be approved if the applicantmeets specific criteria.Q: What are those criteria?A: In order to make a full assessment of amember’s eligibility to access the SLB the SickLeave Bank Approval Committee needs thefollowing information:• Diagnosis of medical/psychologicalcondition.• Treatment and/or rehabilitation plan.• Prognosis and likelihood to return back to acareer in the Police.• Other information: The Sick Leave BankApproval Committee will also ask for thedetails of the member’s previous annualand sick leave history, or other relevantinformation about their condition and/orcircumstances.Q: How do I know how much sick leave I have?A: Members can check their leave balances bycontacting their local HR Department.Q: If I have annual leave, TOIL or deferreddays off, do I have to use these first, beforeaccessing the Sick Leave Bank?A: This is not always the case. Members will beexpected to use a portion or all of their otherleave if they require a lengthy period of timeoff work. The Sick Leave Bank Committeerealises that members should have someannual leave in reserve for their ongoing wellbeing.Each case is judged on its particularmerits and it may be reasonable for membersto use some other type of leave first or incombination with leave from the SLB.Q: How do I make an application?A: Members should contact their local HRManager or Police Staff Welfare Officer.Q: When should I apply?A: When you are aware that you are likely toexhaust your sick leave. Don’t wait until youhave no sick leave left.Q: Are applications to the SLB confidential?A: Yes. All applications and supportinginformation will be dealt with confidentially.Q: As the primary caregiver, can I use the sick leavebank to be at home with my sick dependants?A: Yes. The Sick Leave Bank Approval Committeemay approve access in such circumstances,but in addition to the criteria set out above,they will also require information to ensurethat both caregivers (if applicable) are makingan equal contribution to supporting the sickdependant. Police should not be making agreater contribution than any other employerinvolved in the family’s situation.Q: How long can I access the SLB for?A: The SLB Approval Committee approves upto a maximum of 30 days access at any onetime without re-assessing the circumstanceswith updated medical reports etc. Usuallyapprovals are for five to 10 days. Longerperiods of 50-60 days are very unusual.Members are able to re-apply for further leaveif they are still unable to return to work.Q: How often do I have to make a contributionto the SLB?A: The last contribution members made to the SLBwas in November 2003 when members gave upone day’s leave as their individual contributiontowards the SLB. It is likely a similar contributionwill be requested early in 2005.DO you feel likea little fish in avery big pond ofinsurance?You’re NO little fishwith*Staffpac insurance!As well as getting great premiumsand excellent service, with Staffpacyou are part of a very influentialgroup - that’s important comeclaim time and if you need specialunderwriting terms.You also benefit by:• Insurance cover specifically designedfor members of Police.• No bank charges – Premiums paiddirectly from your Police Pay orCredit Union.• No administration fee for theconvenience of fortnightly payments.• A discount if you insure your car &contents plus home with Staffpac.• Your **family being able to enjoy thebenefits of insuring with Staffpac too.• Unlike other insurance providers, allprofits are held in the Police WelfareFund to provide you with betterbenefits, like lower premiums andnew holiday homes.• Our commitment to providing youwith excellent, professional service.Staffpac • great premiums• excellent service• more benefitsFor a quote 24/7. Simply go to the‘Members Only’ area at:www.policeassn.org.nzwith your membership number and passwordor call us on 0800 500 122*Staffpac is administeredby Police Welfare FundGeneral Insurances Ltd andunderwritten by LumleyGeneral Insurance (N.Z.)Ltd. **Family is defined as aWelfare Fund Member, theirspouse or partner (includingex-spouse), children andgrandchildren.19

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PolicePOLICE COUNCIL OF SPORTSPORTS NEWSTo contact the Police Council of Sport, call Alison Murray at the RNZPC. Ph: (04) 238 3139Basketball:Duncan Taylor Memorial Trophyset to become an annual fixturePlans are afoot to establish an annualregionally based basketball tournamentfor the Duncan Taylor Memorial Trophy.A Police team was selected annuallyto compete in the Inter-ServicesTournament, but this ceased whenPolice were excluded in 1996. Sincethen, there has been no regularPolice basketball competition in NewZealand. A Police team was formed inJune of last year to play an AustralianDefence Forces team, and as a result ofthat, there appears to be enthusiasmfor a regular competition. This year’stournament details are as follows:When:Where:Who:Teams:Friday, March 18 andSaturday, March 19.RNZPC.All current sworn and nonswornmembers are eligible.Men’s:Four regional teams drawnfrom existing policing districtboundaries.Auckland (Northland, NorthShore/Waitakere, AucklandMetro, Counties-Manukau);Waikato (Waikato, Bay ofPlenty, Eastern);Wellington (Central,Wellington, OoC, RNZPC,PIB); South Island (Tasman,Canterbury, Southern).Women’s:North Island v South Island.Format: Men’s: Round robin.Women’s: Best of threeseries.Contact: Gordon Meyer(Christchurch);Rob Gold (Lower Hutt);Greg Cramer (Harlech House).Golf Club.South Island Police Golf ChampionshipsThe New Zealand Police Association South Island GolfChampionships were held at the Temuka Golf Club inSouth Canterbury from the 31 October - 2 November.The host club this year were the Timaru PoliceThere was hot sunny weather for the three days of the championshipswith the last day being in the mid-20s, with no wind.The best overall gross winner was Trevor Bolt (Dunedin), who played a verysteady game to record a credible 301, seven shots ahead of Bruce Terry. JohnPoland, a retired sergeant from Timaru, won the best nett title with a 272.John also picked up the Burglars’ Trophy with a nett 62 in the first round.Murray Jewell, who was not eligible for major prizes, had the best round ofthe champs with 84-20 nett 58 in the second round.Most of the out of town golfers stayed in Temuka and enjoyed the localhospitality and that of the Temuka Golf Club.The prizegiving was held at the Temuka Rugby Club. Geoff Smith, the Vice-President of the Police Association, was the special guest and presented theprizes.The championships ran very smoothly and the organising committeeextends its thanks to the tournament’s major sponsors - The New ZealandPolice Association, and the New Zealand Police Council of Sport.Next year’s championships will be in Arrowtown and will be run by theInvercargill Police Golf club. Prize winners were as follows:Best overall gross: Trevor Bolt (301) Best overall nett: John Poland (272)Senior gross:1. Bruce Terry (308) 2. Mike Ledger (309) 3. Keith Shipston (312)Senior nett:1. John McIntyre (277) 2. Chris Holden (283) 3. John Clark (288)Intermediate gross:1. Jacob Schriek (326) 2. Wayne Templeton (334) 3. Dave Nelson (341)Intermediate nett:1. Bryan Munro (286) 2. Mike Johnston (288) 3. Glen Hames (291)Intermediate B gross:1. Roger Hutton (346) 2. Arnold Hooykaas (350) 3. Dylan Murray (353)Intermediate B nett:1. Dave Stapley (278) 2. Pete Gear (285) 3. Greg Dunne (290)Junior gross:1. Tim Crum (359) 2. Mike Hore (360) 3. Micky Donaldson (369)Junior nett:1. Grahame Bartlett (285) 2. Graham Lilley (292) 3. Megan Barker (296)Team gross:1. Tony Tully, Doug Williams, Dave Stapley, Tim Crum.Team nett: 1.Mike Ledger, Harvey Pope, Murray Johnston, John Phelan.Lefthanders: Arnold Hooykaas. Burglars’ trophy: John Poland.Personality: Tim Crum.Rotorua quadrathon on March 18What better way to shed a few of those Christmas-pud inspired kilosyou may have put on the girth over the holiday period than trainingfor and doing a quadrathon - either individually or as part of a twoor four-person team. As luck would have it, there just happens tobe one on in Rotorua on March 18, so dust off the bike, brush thecobwebs off the old running shoes and kayak and have a go - becauseopportunity knocks but once.The event is more about participation than posting Olympic qualifyingtimes but outstanding performances will be duly recognised.When: Friday March 18, 2005. Race briefing: 1330hrs. Start time: 1345hrsWhere: Blue Lake, Rotorua. (Beach in South East corner)Event legs: 300m swim; 9 kms mountain bike; 5 kms run; 1000m kayak.Categories: Individual male and individual female; Two-person male;Two-person female; Two-person mixed gender; Four person - mixedgender only.Entry Fee: Individual: $10; Two-person teams $20;Four-person team $40 (i.e. $10 per person).Accommodation: Competitors to make their own arrangements.After match function: There will be some worshipping of the gods,public humiliation of the less fortunate and supper in the Rotorua PoliceStation Club (top floor) following the event.Contact: For entry forms or further details ring or Email: Karrin Isaacson(07) 3499409; DDI 75609 or Christine Lunt (07) 3499525;DDI 75725. Or contact Karrin or Christine via Lotus Notes.Visit www.policeassn.org.nz for updated contact details for thePolice Council of Sport management committee, District Sports Officers and the latest schedule of events.20

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005The ‘blue’ influenceevident throughoutour national gameEach year, the New Zealand RugbyFootball Union (NZRFU) brings all of theprovincial coaches and assistant coachesfrom all 27 unions to a national meetingwith the national referees’ squad.National selectors and the All Blackcoaches also attend.This year saw Steve Hansen back intothe fold as an All Black assistant coachand this afforded the opportunity totake a snapshot of the influence currentand former police officers have at thetop of New Zealand rugby.Unfortunately, Mike Cron, a formerChristchurch-based detective, wasunable to be at the meeting. Mikeis a specialist front row coach and anessential member of the All Blacks’coaching team.Amongst the provincial coaches,rugby unions and team managementthroughout the country there is alwaysa good array of serving or former policeofficers.• The ‘blue’ influence - (from left to right): Brent Murray (NPC referee, Lower Hutt), HarryQuinn (NPC referee coach), Steve Hansen (All Black Assistant Coach and former a formerChristchurch-based police officer), Kerry Petrie (Referee Education Officer - Waikato/Thames Valley/Counties rugby unions and a former police officer at South Auckland). Infront: Paddy O’Brien (International referee and former detective from Invercargill), VinnyMunro (NPC referee and currently serving in Christchurch), Colin Hawke (Timaru-basedpolice officer and former international referee and currently a top adviser to NZRFUreferees and All Black management).Obituary:Walter Arthur Natley ShepperdWhen Walter Arthur Natley Shepperd, a 21-year-oldDunedinite joined the New Zealand Police on 6 January1930, he was issued with a Shako helmet. He is believedto be the last police officer to wear the Shako helmet, arelic from the earliest days of NZ policing, on duty.Mr Shepperd died 23 October 2004, aged 96.The Shako had been re-introduced by CommissionerW B McElveney in the 1920s, but was phased out in1931 at the end of McElveney’s term of office. WalterShepperd began a long association with the NZ Police in1930, serving until his retirement in 1969. He was a cofounderand first chairman of the retired Police Officers’Club, which Walter said was for “social and sometimessocial work purposes - you never know when one of thelads wants a bit of help and his family might live out oftown”.Walter served several years in Christchurch as a foot or bicyclepatrol constable, and he vividly recalled some of the charactershe worked with, whose own careers had stretched back into thenineteenth century. Those who were fortunate enough to havespent time with Walter in his last years were given a uniqueinsight into the early days of the NZ Police.Transfer to LytteltonIn November 1933 Walter transferred to Lyttelton, and had a richarray of recollections from the Depression and Second World Waryears. It struck him as ironic that he got one day off a monthwhile many around him had no work at all and were dependenton charity. Police contributed in an informal way by levyingsome minor offenders cash or food for the poor as an alternativeto prosecution. He said he went even further on one occasionwhen he gave the lunch of a workmate who was “putting on toomuch weight anyway” to some hungry children.Beer was cheap, and a lot of the local seamen had little else to dobut drink. Walter, who unashamedly boasted of having “a bit ofsize and bit of muscle”, had a few battles: “Mostly fists and theLiverpool kiss - they didn’t use knives much in those days.”He recalled arresting two fractious drunks one night and washaving some trouble so he threw one into the sea whilehe handcuffed the other. He then realised the first onecouldn’t swim so had to get the other to help himeffect a rescue. He also clearly remembered thetension around the Lyttelton Wharf in the WWIIyears when ships were in danger of being torpedoedas they crossed the Pacific.Thieves brought to justiceIn June 1944 Walter transferred to Kaiapoi, anotherplace with a reputation of being hard to police, and hadmany stories to tell from his experiences there. He alsoserved at St Andrews from 1948 to 1955. Here heproudly remembered bringing some sheep stealersto justice, much to the chagrin of Timaru andChristchurch detectives. Walter had recognised asheep with one black ear which he had seen at theSt Andrew’s sale yards some months before, and walked into theoffender’s wool shed where the surprised culprit confessed.• Walter Shepperd witha photo of himself as ayoung constable in hisShako helmet.From 1955 until its closure in 1965, Walter was the soleconstable at St Kilda Police Station. He then worked at SouthDunedin for a time before being seconded to the Arms Officeas part of the team re-registering firearms, a process he noted(with a chuckle) was still going on 30 years later - just as he hadpredicted at the time.The Club for retired members was an important part of Walter’slater life. He was the driving force behind the two luncheonseach year, and some meetings in between and liked to check onthe health and well being of colleagues.Walter’s wife, Thelma, predeceased him by just three years. Theirhospitality had been well known in Police circles for nearly 70years. Walter had kept remarkably good health right up until thelast year of his life. His two daughters, Beverly and Raewyn andtheir families, survive him.21

January/February 2005Police News The Voice of PoliceLetters to the Editor Write it here! Letters to the Editor are welcome.Signed letters are preferred, but in all cases the writer’s name and address must be supplied.Names will be published unless there is a good reason for anonymity. The editor reserves theright to edit, abridge or decline letters without explanation. Email to: editor@policeassn.org.nzor write it to the Editor at PO Box 12344, Wellington. Letters under 400 words are preferred.Giving Road Policinga ‘fair go’Regarding Pete van de Wetering’s letter(Police News December issue). For someonewho has been in the Police some years andis a trained investigator it is a little remiss ofhim to complain about how another officerdealt with an incident, apparently fromhearsay.Peter doesn’t appear to have the full facts,going on the content of his first paragraph.There’s a saying about “getting it straightfrom the horse’s mouth” - it can usuallyclarify matters.I don’t know of the particular incidentreferred to but am aware of problemswith some posties on motorcycles andmopeds who seem to think they can floutareas of the traffic laws. The potential formore serious injury to a pedestrian from amotorcycle than a bicycle is obvious.As we all know, in all areas of policing, wecome across people who “have never beenin trouble” but can be the most belligerentand obnoxious to deal with. I was taughtyears ago “the attitude test” could bethe difference between a warning andprosecution.Since when does anyone actually haveto be endangered before we prosecute?There are numerous offences; both trafficand criminal, where no one is actuallyendangered but we still prosecute.Why are the biggest critics of road policing,generally, the cops who have either veryminimal or no experience in road policing.Ignorance is bliss.At the end of the day we all have a particularjob to perform and other areas of the Policemay not appeal but it doesn’t mean weshould slag off those other sections. Themedia, like “Fair Go”, are more than happyto perform this duty and take a one-sidedslant.The loyalty of the general public towardsPolice is not affected by them receiving aticket per se, but how they receive it. Byus being polite and professional during theinteraction means their opinions will not beadversely affected. This applies to all areasof policing.Lastly, you are bagging Road Policing staffPete, as your letter was not scathing towardspolice officers, in general. The majorityof us take great pride in what we do, usediscretion on more occasions than you maythink and genuinely feel we are helpingmake the roads safer.Scott McMaster(Hamilton)All for one and one for allI always read Constable I Am Keen everymonth and enjoy his/her views but thecomment in the December issue of PoliceNews about ‘the middle of the north’is certainly not the case in the CentralDistrict. Our Road Policing staff are firstand foremost police constables and theydeal with all jobs, regardless. I can assureyou that our people (Road Policing Branch)always pay gang vehicles the attention theydeserve. In fact, just before I wrote this letterI heard a Highway Patrol unit backing upGeneral Duties Branch (GDB) and Delta andassisting with an arrest.Nick Dobson(Acting Road Policing Manager, Central DHQ)A testing timewith Police examsI write in response to the letter by ConstableO’Donnell of Hamilton (December PoliceNews) in relation to Police exams.I recently picked up an old newspaper article,which reported on a programme in ourprisons where prisoners were having theirtertiary education paid for. This was obviouslyto ‘rehabilitate’ them and help them to findmeaningful employment once returned tosociety after their unfortunate incarceration.This made me reflect on the current Policesystem of completing university papers inlieu of Police-focused exams.Here we are having to find about $500 toenrol for a university paper which, as MrO’Donnell quite accurately pointed out, haslittle relevance to policing, while convictedcriminals are effectively being paid tocomplete tertiary education.Now I know we will be refunded themajority of the costs of these papers whenwe pass, but how many of us who have kidsand a mortgage can come up with $500 atthe beginning of any year, after Christmasand whatever holidays we get? I certainlycan’t.In fact, most in the above categorywould be severely handicapped as far aspromotion is concerned. In theory, we havethe opportunity to request that moneyin advance, but I do not know of anyonewho has been able to do this. I don’t thinkthere is a district in the country that is notconstantly bleating about being overspentwith their budget, so I do not think that thisis a realistic option.I believe Mr Long may have beeninstrumental in introducing this universitypaper system (my apologies if this was notthe case). I recall he said the Police werelooking at providing something that wouldhave some use to members outside of thePolice.You can hit me on the head and call me adog handler but wouldn’t it be better to tryand recruit people we want to hold on to,and give them something that would be abenefit to them while they work for us?When I speak to people from otherorganisations, it appears to me that thoseorganisations train their people to retainthem, and give them information that willhelp them in their jobs.So if we look at what Mr O’Donnellexpounded about the Police ‘exams’, inthat Police are teaching us about whatother industries have done to progress etc,and then as an organisation the Police goand do something different, that seems acontradiction in terms.Let’s not handicap our staff, but encourageand support them to do their job better,by teaching them what they should do aspolice officers and supervisors.Sometimes I feel as an organisation thereare some who forget what our core role isand who we serve. We serve the public.Not government, not other agencies, notthe Police organisation itself, not the beancounters or vocal minority groups.Paul George(Palmerston North)Are the crimestats for real?If anyone else is like me, and a littlesceptical about the accuracy of New ZealandPolice’s latest detection rate, I think I havefound the answer.When the rate was reported I was amazed. Ithought of all of the crimes that get reportedwhere a file number is given and the matteris never investigated (damage to property,loss/theft, insurance claims etc).These un-investigated crimes must accountfor around half of all reported crime.Therefore, out of the remaining 50% thatget any form of attention, we must bedetecting almost every single one!Recently, I discovered the answer when Istopped a male who had four WTIs (wantedto interview) to his name. I took him backto the station and interviewed him about thematters. However, when I went to updatethe stats I found that they had already beencleared as detected by the person whoput him on as ‘wanted to interview’. Wedidn’t even have any evidence for one ofthe matters and I had to amend the stats toshow the matter as undetected again. When22

New Zealand Police AssociationJanuary/February 2005I mentioned this to others, I was told thatthis is usual practice.One officer told me that he had a suspect fora job who was serving a prison sentence. Asupervisor told him that the suspect wouldnot receive any further punishment if hehad committed the crime, so the matter wasto be filed as detected. The suspect hadn’teven been spoken to about this matter!These practices are unprofessional, to saythe least. It is no wonder that New ZealandPolice has the highest detection rate in theworld with procedures like this. Before thebosses get arm ache from patting themselveson the back too much, I suggest that theylook honestly at what is really going on.“Doubting Thomas”(Auckland)CIB and frontline stretchedFive years ago when I joined the NZ Police,I was enthusiastic and excited about lockingup the ‘baddies’. I couldn’t believe myfather, who was a detective sergeant and hadserved for 25 years, left feeling disgruntledwith the system and the organisation.I thought the Police were a great organisationto work for and being a detective was thepinnacle. Well, five years on, I am a detectiveand I know how he feels.In Waitakere, and probably in many otherparts of the country, we are overworked andunderpaid. We are understaffed and don’tseem to have anyone lining up to join. Whywould you leave section as a Field TrainingOfficer, to lose $2500, only to join the CIB,slug your guts out for two and a half yearsof study, and at the end increase your salaryby $2700. An extra $200 a year seemshardly worth it. Only a short time ago, youcould do a week long Youth Aid Course andgo up to Band H immediately.When is this organisation going to get realabout policing? People are fed up, we don’thave the time to do our job properly, andif we manage to get a conviction withoutstuffing up on a minor technicality it hardlyseems worth it when the Justice systemdoles out some pathetic sentence.After hearing about investigation methodsin other parts of the country, I can, withouta doubt, say that Auckland is not able toprovide the same level of service and we arejealous. It is not because we aren’t as goodeither - we are - we work hard but we haveto do it on the cheap and we have to cutcorners.When does anyone in the hierarchy standup (besides Detective Inspector Rutherford)and tell the media that we are doing a greatjob? The only time you get recognised inthis organisation is when you stuff thingsup and if you do, they come after you toothand nails, without mercy.Unless this organisation stands up andtells the public what a great job we do, wewill lose the respect of the public (what wehave left) and that is only going to makethings tougher out there. If things don’t startchanging, I doubt there will be many in theCIB sticking around for 25 years like myDad did.Kelly Farrant(Waitakere)Training ratios queriedI would like to question the sense ofthe latest training in regard to having aridiculous ratio of Firearms Trainers tostaff. Surely, if one to six is a minimumrequirement then the same rules must applyin the real world. Training is a far morecontrolled environment than the street.Therefore, can the hierarchy explain whythey don’t stick to the rules of having onequalified promoted sergeant in charge ofevery six staff?They don’t mind placing staff at risk on thestreet with inexperienced acting sergeants butin a controlled environment it’s okay to treatgrown adults like nurse-maided children.It’s time that supervision, where it’s needed,became a directive that is carried out,instead of training ideas being drawn upthat create difficulty for some of us in tryingto carry out our ‘core’ business.We must have more staff paid as trainersthan we have working. We can’t do anythingwithout having a course for it. We seem totrain so much for things that are so simple.Steve Shadbolt(Waikato)The ‘non-existent frontline’I am becoming concerned with the staffinglevels for the groups here in Christchurchand it’ probably the same for the rest of thecountry.Every day I see less staff to deal with moreproblems and incidents. There seemsto be a mentality with the current Policemanagement, from the Commissioner downto Inspector level, that if we have a shortage ofstaff in Prison Escort, STU, CCI etc that thesepositions be filled by taking staff off group.In the last two to three weeks I have beenaccused of mismanaging my staff becauseI was only able to put one car out on thestreet for the central city area. Currently, Ihave 13 staff assigned to the group I run.Out of that I have to supply four staff, one toeach of CCI, Beat, Comms and STU (SafetyTraffic Unit). I then have to put two staffin the watchhouse. That leaves me a mereseven staff. I have been set a minimum safestaffing level of seven, taking into accountrotations and leave. Take two on annualleave, then a couple on mandatory training(custodial suicide etc) and the frontline isalmost non-existent. Add to that staff whofall sick and you’re left with nothing. I don’tfeel it’s fair to criticise frontline NCO’s formismanaging staff when staff have beentaken off them by higher powers.I have spoken to several CCI supervisorswho agree that if the frontline group’s staffnumbers were increased the amount offollow-up inquiry work they have wouldbe reduced, as the frontline would eitherbe able to deal with it at the time or, evenbetter, prevent it happening.As far as the STU goes I feel that they areoverstaffed and underworked. I say this fromexperience - nine years as a traffic officer, fourmore as traffic constable in a rural stationand a year O/C STU (14 years road policingexperience out of a total of 22 years service).Some STUs cars here are travelling aroundwith three or four staff in them.The reason, we are being told, is that thoseSTU staff that did not get FTO positionsare refusing to take the graduates out andtrain them. If this is the case, they shouldbe informed that they may face disciplinaryaction for refusing a lawful order. Betterstill, take the FTO positions off the STU.The reason I say this is that I was of theunderstanding that this allowance wasbrought in to encourage senior staff to stayon group to mentor the new staff. STUstaff get these positions and group staffmiss out. Something has gone wrong withthis incentive. Those extra staff runningaround three or four up in an STU car couldsorely be used to bolster the flagging groupnumbers.I see many group staff members becomingdiscouraged by the lack of numbers andsupport from management for the excellent/hard work they put in. Some are activelylooking for ways to get off group into one ofthe back room jobs, just to get a break fromthe hectic pace.Management could stop this by bolsteringgroup numbers and using the FTO allowanceas it was intended, on the groups. I still do notsee the need to send new graduates to STUfor three months after they come out of theRNZPC (Royal New Zealand Police College)when groups are under resourced. Or is itsimply that the groups do not generate incomeas opposed to STU? There is the added riskthat someone will get seriously hurt beforemanagement sees that it has reduced group stafflevels far below realistic safety levels.J Currie(Christchurch)CorrectionIn a letter by Mark Fleming (Auckland)in December there was a line relatingto TOIL and overtime payments whichread: “Staff had the option of choosingtime off for all overtime worked at arate of time and a third (or doubletime on bank holidays). This line wasmisprinted and should have read: “Staffhad the option of choosing time off forall overtime worked or taking paymentfor the overtime at a rate of time and athird (or double time on bank holidays).The wording of the published letter mayhave inadvertently given the impressionthat staff were only ever entitled toTOIL, which was not the case. - Editor.23