A world-leading research project, Understanding Policing Delivery (UPD) [1], that granted an external research team unrestricted access to Police operational staff and data to examine systemic bias, has today released the first suite of seven reports [2] in the three-year programme.

The research has seen New Zealand Police, an Independent Panel [3], a team of external researchers and a 30-strong Operational Advisory Group of frontline officers work collaboratively to better understand fairness and equity as part of policing in New Zealand.

The partnership has brought community insights and operational realities together in open, constructive dialogue never before seen.

The first seven reports published today as part of Phase One used existing information analysed through the lens of ‘fairness and equity’.

Researchers looked at ‘who’ Police stop, decision-making processes on using force and prosecution.

The Independent Panel’s report has made 40 recommendations, some of which Police are already progressing, and some of which will be further informed by Phase Two recommendations due for release later this year.

They will draw on additional data, interviews with Police staff, and lived public experience, taking a closer look at how communities and Police interact daily across a range of services.

“Ultimately, this is about meaningful system change through learning opportunities both in training and on the job.

"Our recommendations cover the gamut from Police training, operations to service delivery,” current Independent Panel Chairperson, Professor Khylee Quince says.

Panel recommendations include creating a ‘systems review’ learning approach to shine light on good practice, innovation and positive outcomes.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster commissioned the Understanding Policing Delivery programme in 2020 at a pivotal time as Police jurisdictions around the world came under close public scrutiny following the George Floyd killing, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, and policing in New Zealand with the Waitangi Tribunal Justice System Inquiry and Abuse in Care Inquiry.

The Commissioner invited Tā Kim Workman to Chair an Independent Panel, mandated to monitor Police data and systems and to provide advice back to Police.

“The legitimacy of policing has been questioned by people in many countries, including New Zealand, so this project is a fundamental contribution to the future approach of policing.

"It was created to serve the needs of all our communities,” Professor Quince says.

Evidence confirmed that how Police officers conduct themselves has an influence on public trust and confidence in the Police – either to strengthen that trust or to weaken it.

“There is no special treatment for anyone.

"If policing is not delivered in a fair and equitable way to all citizens, no matter their ethnicity, disability, sexuality or other characteristics, it requires us to investigate the root causes and make recommendations for meaningful, systemic change,” Professor Quince says.

The Panel worked in equal partnership with the Police while guiding and commissioning the research according to kaupapa Māori methodology.

The study examined recruitment and training practices, data collection methods, and the contents of the Police operations manual, focusing on how officers are prepared to enforce the law equitably and fairly.

The Police Association and the Police Officers Guild backed the approach.

Commissioner Coster says: “I want to acknowledge all our staff who took part in the research programme.

"I know that many welcomed the opportunity to show how hard our staff work every day to keep our communities safe, often putting their own safety at risk to do so.

"Police come to work every day to make a difference to the safety of all our communities and this work helps to ensure our systems and processes are set up to support them to do just that.

“We know that community trust in Police is fundamentally important to our ability to do our jobs.

"Having that trust encourages more people to report crime, more to provide evidence, and more to support prevention.

"That’s especially important for those communities currently on the wrong end of most justice sector statistics from victims to offenders, and from use of force to prosecution.

“I want to acknowledge the quality of the research work that has been led by the Independent Panel and I am really encouraged by the way in which Police staff and the Panel have engaged together.

"It is a genuinely innovative partnership that has allowed us to make real progress in a relatively short period of time.

“I also want to acknowledge that the research highlights a number of areas where there are opportunities for Police systems to be better.

"Some of these opportunities have been highlighted by our own staff, and their input to this work has ensured that the research advice is well informed and practical.

"Equally, the research has provided a range of new insights for us, and I’m committed to exploring how we maximise the value of all this work.

“Too often this conversation has seen Police and some communities talking past each other.

"With this research from the Independent Panel, I believe we have found, possibly for the first time, a way to talk about these issues together and to find ways to lift trust in the future.

"There is real strength in continuing with this joint approach.

“We welcome this level of scrutiny and expectation as an important part of Police being accountable to the community, and ensuring we retain and build trust from the community.

“Phase Two research is now complete after taking place within Police Districts and communities across the country.

"I have no doubt that this will identify a range of good practice, alongside areas for improvement, which is all about helping Police become a more effective learning organisation.”

Dr Catherine Leonard, Managing Director of Ihi Research and Development, one of the appointed researchers also valued the collaboration and innovative partnership approach:

“Everyone finds dealing with issues of ‘fairness and equity’ difficult and policing is no different.

"The Police and the Operational Advisory Group have been consistently open to learning, willing to engage in challenging conversations about equity and exploring Police practices.

"This is the first step in addressing longstanding issues identified in Police/community partnerships,” she says.

UPD offered an unfettered view into the current operating system to tackle inequities faced by whānau Māori and communities across New Zealand. It has established a benchmark for policing in partnership with the public.

“What’s apparent from our research is that the Police are often at the end of a chain of wider system challenges.

Police are dealing with individuals who have complex needs and compounding issues caused not by Police, but by failings in other parts of our system, including education and employment, family harm and mental health, as well as addiction, housing and poverty,” Dr Leonard says.

Embodying being a learning organisation and delivering on the interim recommendations to build trust with Māori and communities is the next step for Police according to the Chair of the Independent Panel.

“These problems are well documented and understood already, however Police have been brave enough to ask the question - what more can they do to make sure their actions and decisions don’t exacerbate the outcomes further for those individuals who are often at the lowest points in their lives?

"We wish to mihi the courage shown to date by the Police,” Professor Quince says.

The programme specifically focused on Police systems, not individual officer behaviour and was sense-checked by officers from the realities of day-to-day policing.

“The Independent Panel has made recommendations to the Police on current issues such as the rollout of new TASER devices and photographing young people so there are encouraging early signs of how UPD is working operationally.

“The Independent Panel and Researchers have gone to great lengths to make sure our recommendations are practical and actionable.

"There is no point making recommendations if they’re not received, owned and actioned using an appropriate implementation and monitoring mechanism, which includes independent community oversight,” Professor Quince says.

“The outcome of the entire process has proven the high value of taking a relational approach anchored in whakawhaungatanga. This has turned into being an essential part of the solution,” she says.

[1] https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/programmes-and-initiatives/understanding-policing-delivery 

[2] https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/programmes-and-initiatives/understanding-policing-delivery/research 

[3] https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/programmes-and-initiatives/understanding-policing-delivery/independent-panel 

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