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Thread ID: 135168	2013-10-03 03:23:00	From the Police Commissioner October 3 2013	WalOne (4202)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1354939	2013-10-03 03:23:00	:)Significant landmarks By Police Commissioner Peter Marshall Life is never dull in Police, but the past week or so has seen a number of particularly significant events. One was the opening of New Plymouth Police Station on Tuesday, which I attended with Corrections Chief Executive Ray Smith and Police and Corrections Minister Anne Tolley. A new police station is always a big event locally but this one has national significance. It incorporates a Corrections-run remand centre - the first time a police station and such a facility have shared a purpose-built building, apart from the temporary complex in Christchurch. This makes perfect sense considering the large areas of overlap in terms of prisoner management and transport. Working together makes us more effective, which is better for the Justice Sector and the country. We're increasingly exploring new ways of working with other agencies. Life is complicated and rarely can issues be solved by one agency alone. Well done to all involved in the New Plymouth project. Also on Tuesday came the release of the latest crime statistics. For the third year they've shown a steady decline - in this case 7.4 percent. There remain areas of concern, but the trend is an endorsement of our Prevention First operating strategy. The work of staff in a range of areas - such as Policing Excellence initiatives, Neighbourhood Policing Teams and intelligence-informed policing - makes a huge contribution. It's no coincidence that full trust and confidence in New Zealand Police, at 79 percent, and satisfaction with police services (83 percent) have never been higher. While we know there's under-reporting of offending - not just here, but internationally - research indicates it remains consistent year by year, so we can be confident the figures reflect what's really happening. Another big recent event was Remembrance Day. I attended the national service at the Police College and heard many complimentary remarks from family members among the 500 people present. I was back at the college this week to meet members of the 282 Belinda Clark Recruit Wing on their first day. Seeing their enthusiasm so soon after the poignancy of Remembrance Day gave a real sense of the wraparound of New Zealand Police culture. I met another enthusiastic group at the college in representatives of around 120 Community Patrols at a train-the-trainers session. These are fantastic volunteers whose efforts Police appreciate and support, and increasingly seek to align with our own deployment priorities. The patrollers are from a range of backgrounds but share an interest in improving safety and security in their communities. In terms of safety, as of this morning the 2013 toll of deaths on our roads was 188 - 23 behind this time last year. If this is maintained we'll have another record low - but let's remember it's still an unacceptably high loss of life and I call on Police staff to redouble their efforts to keep road-users safe. The success of our Mobility programme has been attracting interest overseas, with South Australia Police Commissioner Gary Burns visiting to see ICT, training and implementation arrangements first-hand. He was very impressed by what he saw. I've been out and about, visiting staff and presenting awards at Whangärei. I took the opportunity to visit a sick colleague, who has been receiving wonderful support from Whangärei staff. There was good news from elsewhere in the Upper North with the discovery of a large haul of stolen property by staff from Whangaparäoa. This started with a call to Crimestoppers - it shows the value of this service, and the difference the right intelligence can make in our work. Finally, in the light of events in San Francisco, I've had a certain amount of feedback about my comment in my last blog about Team New Zealand's (until then) excellent America's Cup campaign. It seems in yacht racing, as in policing, a week is a long time. I take from this the lesson that we must never take success for granted or underestimate a challenge, however well we seem to be doing. There's far more than a cup at stake if we in Police let our considerable gains slip away. Stay safe and look after each other.	WalOne (4202)
1354940	2013-10-05 02:35:00	Spotted on Whaleoil... 5223	johcar (6283)
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