The Police Association has delivered a warning to Police: its proposed staffing shake-up in Canterbury risks gutting prevention work and abandoning rural communities, all to meet short-term pressures in urban centres.

In a detailed submission, the association says the Canterbury District Review proposal to disestablish or downgrade 14 rural constable roles, replace them with cheaper rural liaison positions, and cull station support, school and family harm roles is “short sighted” and “appears to have been done with financial savings in mind” rather than need.

Association president Chris Cahill says the review fails to balance the demands of growing urban populations with the needs of rural communities, warning: “Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the answer.”

From local faces to liaison

At the heart of the association’s concerns is the proposed replacement of long-serving Band H rural officers – who live in and police their communities – with rural liaison officers (RLOs) who would likely work nine-to-five and not be on call. 

“The benefits of rural policing are rarely reflected in statistics. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them,” Chris says.

The submission adds: “Prevention comes from community engagement and developing relationships. These are vital to the success of 1-, 2- and 3-person stations. The legitimacy of rural policing is often predicated on the physical presence of a local officer.

“Moving to a purely ‘responding to demand’ model will see an increase in crime events because it takes a ‘mop up after it happens’ approach, rather than providing resource to keep crime to a minimum. It will not prevent offending and it will severely erode community relationships, reducing trust and confidence in Police.”

It urges Police “to stay with the tried-and-true model of rural Band H officers”.

“This allows their workforce to be agile, self-sustainable and provide the service appropriate for rural communities. The current proposal is a red-pen effect that does not truly consider the impact it will have on these communities.”

Prevention on chopping block

The association also warns of consequences beyond rural response. 

In all, 21 Police employee roles are to be disestablished – mostly station support officers (SSOs) and watchhouse roles. Only six employee roles have been created for which they could apply, three roles move from non-sworn to constabulary positions and four new authorised officer (AO) positions would replace some front counter duties. 

The association has challenged the legality of this part of the review: “[The proposal to use] AOs on front counters does not comply with… the Policing Act 2008,” its submission says. “The Act clearly states that AOs can only be used in guarding, custody, specialist investigators, and traffic-related enforcement.”

In its submission, it implores Police to consider that, if it insists on AOs picking up this work, that the transition be done in stages via attrition. 

Other cuts would see school community officers (SCOs) halved from 11 to 5 – each responsible for up to 60 schools – and just one family harm officer covering the entire Canterbury Rural area of 17,200 square kilometres and 174,000 people.

“These are the very staff who provide early intervention, positive role modelling and enable safe avenues for children to disclose abuse,” the submission says. “Public safety team (PST) staff cannot undertake this work. It requires specialist skills and trust built over time.”

Supt Tony Hill: ‘We will rework proposal’

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill says Police is listening to concerns.

“We are currently in the process of reviewing the feedback to carefully consider what we may have overlooked or need to reconsider,” he told the Police Association in early September.

“We received 200 submissions from staff and 800 from the public and other interested parties. In recognition of the depth of feeling on this matter, we will take our time to consider the feedback and rework the change proposal.”

Superintendent Hill stresses that no decisions have been made and that the review was not about abandoning rural Canterbury.

“What is important for me to put on record is that I remain very open to changes that provide reassurance for rural communities. This has never been about moving resource from one area to service another. It has always been about… working smarter to service our communities’ needs.”

He says the review was 18 months in the making and evidence-based. “Our goal is to ensure our structure is fit for purpose for today’s environment and enables us to provide a better service to communities right across Canterbury. One that not only meets demand but exceeds it.”

Superintendent Hill hopes to provide an update on progress “in the coming weeks”.

Footnote: The Police Association is aware that reviews are in the pipeline in Central and Counties Manukau districts.
 

This story was updated on September 4, 2025, with comment from Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.

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