Police Graduates Fit For Purpose

New Zealand Police National News Release

11 October 2007

"Police are pleased that the Cerno report on Police Standards and Assessment Practice affirms that constables graduating from the Royal New Zealand Police College are fit for purpose", the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lyn Provost said today.

Mrs Provost was commenting on the release of the Cerno report today by the Minister of Police, Hon Annette King.

"We've never claimed that we have a perfect recruitment and training system but we were highly concerned with the public perception generated by publicity earlier in the year which suggested standards of police on the streets might be compromised by our current standards and processes.

"Today's report will help dispel that perception with both Dr George and Professor John Hattie concluding that there is no evidence to believe that the overall performance of graduates from the training programme has changed.

"Dr George concludes that the main issue is one of efficiency rather than effectiveness of the appointment process. We're grateful for his suggestions for improvement including that there needs to be a systematic and rigorous analysis of requirements, tightening of some of the assessment methods and enhancing the consistency of application. These are things that we will work through over time.

"We also accept that we need to overhaul the internal processes relating to the production and review of research. At the end of the day the debate between Iain Saunders and Wayne Annan was about a very small number of recruits and graduates. A policy will be developed for the release of any research paper including processes for internally resolving any differences in interpretations and conclusions."

Mrs Provost said she wished to publicly extend her thanks to all the Police staff who are involved in the recruitment and training of probationary constables for their hard work and commitment to ensure the quality standards of New Zealand Police are maintained.

ENDS

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