Despite decades of well-intentioned policies, there are still troubling barriers to women succeeding in NZ Police, according to a study by a former police officer.
Despite decades of well-intentioned policies, there are still troubling barriers to women succeeding in NZ Police, according to a study by a former police officer.
The result, says researcher Caroline Wharton, has been poor retention of female officers and loss of the known benefits that women bring to policing.
Canvassing the views of a group of women who left Police in the past two years, Caroline’s master’s degree dissertation argues it is not the demands of police work itself, but organisational stress that is contributing to resignations of experienced female staff.
Her report highlights:
- Problems with perception of FEO work
- Complaints not being taken seriously
- Poor supervision
- An exit process that is not fit for purpose
- Poor and abusive behaviour, including sexual harassment
- A disconnect between Police policy on retaining women and what happens in practice
- Difficulty gaining promotion.
The former acting detective senior sergeant, who left Police in 2024 after 22 years, was already working on her Master of Management Studies in Strategy before she resigned.
“It was always my intention to focus on gender and equality, particularly around police. I was on the WAN [Police’s Women’s Advisory Network] and wanted to make positive changes for people coming behind me,” she says.
She felt, however, that because of the hierarchical and institutional nature of Police, it would take a long time to get to a position where she might be able to effect change. Though she hadn’t previously been thinking about leaving, after she started her master’s degree, it opened up the idea of other career possibilities.
Now working in corporate health and safety, she hopes the findings of her Gender, Retention and the NZ Police dissertation may start a new conversation about creating an environment where female officers can thrive.
Police has struggled to increase the total number of women officers relative to attrition, which Caroline says indicates recruitment and retention strategies are failing.
It’s clear to her that it’s not simply a case of employing more women, it’s about supporting the ones already there.
‘Fraught with challenges’
So, why are female officers more likely to leave than their male colleagues?
Caroline doesn’t pull any punches in her conclusions. “Lack of support, poor and abusive leadership, psychological health issues, poor worklife balance and flexibility and erosion of trust.”
especially for those who were mothers.” – researcher and former police officer Caroline Wharton
Her research focused on policewomen who resigned voluntarily before retirement age – a group “more likely to cause risk to the organisation by leaving as they take experience, organisational knowledge and many years of potential future service with them”.
The 15 participants had between two and 29 years of service, were from a range of locations and held a variety of roles and ranks. Over 60 per cent had 15 years of service; 93 per cent were over the age of 35; 13 had children.
She asked them about their reasons for joining Police, reasons for leaving and their exit experiences. “It was clear that being a woman in the police was problematic and fraught with challenges, especially for those who were mothers.”
Most loved policing, but maintaining their initial altruism became difficult. The male-dominated culture was “in the walls… in the... historical attitudes”, said one interviewee, and when women needed to take flexible working options, they felt the need to work harder to prove themselves.
Some participants decided not to pursue promotion because of the pressure to perform at a higher standard than peers, difficulties in work-life balance and witnessing injustices in the workplace.
Combined with poor supervision and support, over time they felt undervalued and ultimately believed their only option was to resign.
Value the values
One study participant in her late 30s who spoke to Police News, but prefers to keep her name private, says that during four years of frontline policing she saw and heard behaviour that stunned her. “I was often like, OMG, are we living in the 1970s? What is this?”
She was shocked and offended by the “macho, bro culture” she witnessed from male colleagues. Male officers who didn’t buy into that were treated as badly as the women.
It was galling to see male leaders not being held to account for poor behaviour and then being promoted, she says.
Part of the appeal of becoming a police officer had been the values promoted by Police. “I thought it was a great structural foundation, but it became apparent that it wasn’t that serious. I assumed I would see more of the values being put into action, especially to try to change the old culture.”
She thinks more could be done at the college level. “There are so many people from so many different backgrounds coming through, it’s an opportunity to shape people’s outlook. They know the values, but more emphasis is needed on why they matter and why you need them in policing.”
It wasn’t the culture that made her resign, however. After a change in her family circumstances, she had to make some practical decisions that required moving cities and taking her skills and experience into another field.
There's no grand exit
Caroline says it is clear the current exit process, while possibly looking good on paper, is not working. (As of this month, Police’s exit process has changed. See below.)
Most of the study group said it left them feeling undervalued and puzzled over how easy it was to resign, with one noting: “I'd heard people in the past joke about it takes three clicks and you're out… and it's literally what it was.”
It was a matter of selecting a drop-down box, ticking resigning or retiring and nominating your end date. “It doesn't even say, are you sure? If I were a person who’d had a bad experience and was struggling, that would have felt like a kick in the bum on the way out.”
Caroline agrees. “It would be great if Police could look at the exit structure… Many staff don’t do exit interviews because they think what’s the point, or they worry that what they say may be held against them if they want to rejoin.”
She says that as long as a culture of silence, dedication and subservience exists in Police, exit interviews might be the only opportunity to gain insights into why policewomen resign.
Though her study group was small, she heard the same complaints and experiences repeated many times while she was in Police and since leaving. Her hope is that someone in Police might pick up the baton to look at ways to close the gap between policy and reality.
Is Police a slow study?
Caroline Wharton’s research project is not the first of its kind.
- In 1997, after a mass exodus of police officers, a Disengagement Summit raised concerns about the low number of policewomen, how they held lower ranks and, on average, resigned earlier than men.
- In 2007, the Bazley Commission of Inquiry focused on how Police treated female staff, concluding it was “critical that Police give high priority to the recruitment and retention of women”.
- In 2019, the Francis review into Police culture said “bullying, harassment or discrimination” were factors in the resignation of 40 ex-staff out of 155 interviewed. The review said Police excelled at recruiting, but improvements were needed in other areas.
- In 2021, an IPCA report identified a “boys’ club” and “overt bullying behaviour”. It concluded that sexist behaviour identified by the Bazley inquiry was still evident and likely to “cause high attrition”.
Caroline says that, despite these reports, Police continues to claim success in gender equality. While she recognises there have been some positive changes, by mid-2022 only about 25 per cent of sworn officers were women and gender equality is “far from being realised".
New step to leave Police
A tweak to the “leaving Police process” means it will no longer be “two clicks and you can go”. It’s hoped the minor change will make a major difference to staff, says Inspector Simon Welsh.
From this month, constabulary staff will be prompted to submit an “Intention to Leave Police Notification” in MyPolice before they can opt to move to the “Leaving Police” exit form, says Simon, who is leading work in Police around attrition.
After the notification, an HR adviser will contact them – usually within 48 hours – to arrange a voluntary discussion about why they wish to leave and to talk through what is required if they later want to rejoin.
“This additional step will provide Police with an earlier opportunity to genuinely seek to understand what is influencing a person to leave… and to support them and let them know they are valued for what they’ve brought to Police,” says Simon.
“We also want to use this to address any issues and find improvements that may reduce the likelihood of future exiting.”
Analysis of any data collected will be anonymised and aggregated to ensure the privacy of employees.
The initiative to address attrition – currently fluctuating between 5% and 6% - and retain institutional knowledge is part of one of the 10 workstreams within the Delivery of 500 Constables programme.
Simon says only 49% of staff complete a voluntary exit survey, and just 21% of them go on to have an exit conversation with HR. “So we don’t know why 51% of our people are leaving. This step will increase engagement and understanding.”
“We’ll obtain so much more data, which we can act upon,” he says. “Leadership will have a more detailed picture of factors affecting attrition, which may assist in future recruitment or deployment opportunities.
“I’m not so naive as to think we’re going to prevent everyone from leaving… Regardless, we’d like to thank them for their years of dedicated service, no matter how many. Hopefully, they go out on good terms… feeling heard and exit with dignity.”
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