Christine Walker, chair of the Palmerston North Area Committee, summed it up in her annual report, noting a sense of frustration: “The drawn-out negotiations, and the outcome itself… combined with ongoing declines in staffing levels, increasing workloads and rising societal volatility… have created a complex and demanding operational environment.”

The loss of staff across the motu was a common theme, sitting alongside the fact that, of the promised 500, Police has recruited only 23 new officers.

It was keenly felt in Eastern Bay of Plenty where 43 staff have left – almost a third of officers. Helen Hay said 13 had gone to Australia, 17 resigned and 13 moved to other stations. While good numbers of recruits were coming though, it didn’t make up for the huge amount of experience lost – not to mention the effect on remaining staff, she said. The current ratio for field training officers to probationary constables is 1 to 4. It is meant to be 1 to 1.6.

Shannon Waters (Western Bay of Plenty) and Cath Jones (Tairāwhiti) also reported losing staff to Australia. Many had also left Waikato, but Derek Lamont noted that some had found the grass not as green as expected, with some returning “or planning to”.

Despite Whangārei being above RAT, the staff situation continued to be a pinch point in Northland, Brian Swann said. Most concerning was the staffing situation in the Mid North.

Kirk Glentworth (Mid Far North) echoed those concerns, saying that, while the projected attrition rate before the pay round last year was less than expected, they were still losing staff to other districts and to Australia, leaving those remaining scrambling to keep up with demand. Meanwhile in Ruapehu, one and two-person station members still found themselves on call to cover larger stations, Garth Shields said, which was seen as outside their responsibilities.

Wayne Dickson (Taupō-Tokoroa) summed up the general sentiment: “We need more staff and we also need to stop good staff leaving.” The region had done well “rejoining some bloody good staff” lately, but more needed to be done to stop them leaving in the first place.

Aoraki’s Craig Hedges said the staffing outcome of a district review was looming in members’ minds. In Henderson, protracted employment investigations were still an issue, said Mike Colson.

At Police College, Jo Rusk said staff faced enormous pressure setting up the Auckland campus to help boost recruiting efforts.

On a positive note, Southland’s Jamie Cook said staff there had increased, with a number of recruits coming into Invercargill and Gore. They were also bolstering numbers in Otago Coastal, Steve Griffiths said. In Marlborough, Hannah McCabe said staff were enjoying being able to be part of secondments to see what other workgroups involve thanks to a mix of 21 new staff from out of district and recruits lifting numbers.

Pay rounds

Several chair reports recalled levels of frustration with the last constabulary pay round. Looking to next year, Whanganui’s Andrew Cobb urged the association to keep listening to members and keep them informed. Greg Beer (Nelson Bays) said it was a “no-brainer” that better pay would attract more recruits and get the attrition rate under control.

Rotorua’s Graeme Hill was more pragmatic: “In an organisation of more than 15,000 employees, you will never be able to make everyone happy, no matter how hard you work for them.” Kāpiti-Mana’s Steve McCormick stressed that it was not just about pay but also “keeping the conditions the association has fought for” locked in. 

Many were concerned with the employee and constabulary collectives now being out of sync – Lorraine McMurtrie (North Shore) said it had introduced a “divide and conquer” element to negotiations. Brian Swann (Northland) feared it would result in Police employees falling further behind constabulary in terms of remuneration.

Derek Lamont called the separate collectives a “travesty”. “Like the lanyards say, [employees] are the backbone of our frontline.”

Overtime

Paid overtime kicking in on July 1 meant that staff in Wairarapa were hoping to be rostered on 10-hour shifts when travelling to and from training, Richard Butler said. Otago Lakes’ Philip Vink was concerned paid TOIL could lead to staff overworking themselves, adversely affecting their welfare.

Stephen Cross said some Hutt staff feared they “will not be assigned [sought-after] cases that may incur overtime” as a result of the new policy.

Gangs

As highlighted earlier this year in Police News, the gang patch ban had been mostly successful. Andre Barrett (Canterbury Rural) said it was great to have a hard line drawn with gang members, allowing police to hold them to account for their actions. While he initially had been sceptical, the new law had been “implemented extremely well”.

However, in Tairāwhiti, Cath Jones said gang conflict was still a major concern in both Gisborne and Wairoa. “Gang legislation hasn’t had the impact that we were [expecting].”

Bad buildings

There were some positive reports about the state of our stations. Richard Butler said the exhibit room in Masterton was finally getting some attention from Property Group after a long wait and, after many years without one, Kirk Glentworth said a 24-hour custody suite, with an authorised officer attached to each section had finally opened in Kaikohe, after many years without one.

However, in Tasman and at the Police College, it was a different story. West Coast’s Paul O’Hara said making the slow transition into portacoms from the leaky Greymouth station had been a challenge while Hannah McCabe said Blenheim station was still a major issue with no resolution in sight. Jo Rusk reported ongoing uncertainty at the college relating to seismic assessment reports.

Welfare

Several committees were thankful for welfare from the association. Christine Walker said that over the past year, welfare recipients received about $10,000 in grants, 20 nights at Police Holiday Homes, and $5000 in vouchers. Christchurch’s Genevieve Craddock also reported a large number of welfare applications, with Eva Finlay (Piki Ki Te Ao) citing the age-old problem of many requests having to be declined because the applicants were not Welfare Fund members.

Final words

Nell Hendrix, Auckland City: “It’s definitely been a grinding sort of year – not explosive, just always something.”

Rose-Anna Carroll, PNHQ: “Assisting and supporting members when managers try to circumvent or ignore the collective… has occurred many times throughout the year.”

Derek Lamont: “We welcome new frontline-focused Commissioner Richard Chambers and hope this continues. Unfortunately, I have not had a selfie opportunity yet!”