Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association

 
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Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
AUGUST 2018

         Auckland
           blues
              Just how tough is it?

  Plastic patrol              Wing 276            What you said
Sustainable police stations   Bolder and wiser   Annual meetings roundup
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
Contents

                                                           5          Top of her
                                                                      game                                     19               Road safety ran
                                                                                                                                in his blood

10            Constable
              Mel Kingi                                    6          Auckland blues

4    Grim toll: Shocking gun crime stats from the             17     Between the Lines: Membership hacks from                    Regulars
     United States                                                   the Member Services Centre team                             20    Brain Teaser
5    NZPA Sportsperson of the Year: Black Ferns
                                                              17     Ask Your Aunty                                              20    Keen on Beer
     captain Fiao’o Fa’amausili scoops the award again                                                                           21    Keen on Wine
6    Cover story: Auckland blues – the downside of            18     Most Wanted: Covert clothing solutions;
                                                                                                                                 25    Letters
     living and working in Auckland                                  Senior Constable Stef Harris’s latest movie                 27    Memorial Wall
                                                                                                                                 27    Contacts
8    Plastic patrol: Towards the eco-friendly                 19     Obituary: Kris Burbery
     police station
                                                              22     Sport: Sports Diary; CrossFit; NZPA Winter Games
9    Iam Keen
                                                                     updates; AP&ES info
10   Bolder and wiser: Our five Wing 276 graduates
     celebrate five years with Police                         24     Postcards from… Akaroa

14   Committee newsflashes: Reports from your                 27     Leaving in style: Farewell to long-serving
     annual meetings                                                 Hawke’s Bay human resources adviser
16   The Tech Files: Smart glasses; vintage tech                     Shirley Hammond

                        August 2018                  Police News is the magazine of the           Printed by City Print Communications, Wellington.
                                                     New Zealand Police Association, originally
                        ISSN 1175-9445                                                            This publication is printed on environmentally
                                                     the New Zealand Police Journal, first
                                                                                                  responsible paper stock, sourced from
                                                     published in 1937.
                        Published by the                                                          sustainable forests, and uses vegetable-based
                        New Zealand Police           Opinions expressed are not necessarily       inks. The blue wrap envelope is biodegradable
                        Association                  those of the Association.                    and recyclable.
                                                     Those wishing not to receive a personal      © NZPA Police News must not be reproduced
                        P.O. Box 12344,              copy of Police News should contact the       in part or as a whole without the formal consent
                        57 Willis St                 editor (editor@policeassn.org.nz) to be      of the copyright holder – the New Zealand
                        Wellington 6144              removed from the distribution list.          Police Association.

2 | AUGUST 2018
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
NEWS AND VIEWS

                                                                   from the
                            16
                                  President
                                  T
  The Tech Files                             he perilous state of our mental        has been a near 50 per cent increase
                                             health system is having an             in reports of threatened or attempted
                                             unacceptable impact on                 suicides. In 2017, there were 50,000
                                  policing. By default, police officers             mental health events reported to Police.
                                  are the first line of help for tens of               This means 20 per cent of a frontline
                                  thousands of New Zealanders in mental             officer’s time is spent attending mental
                                  health distress, and that’s not good              health callouts. Add to that the 50 per
                                  enough.                                           cent of time spent responding to family
                                     It is not fair to the people involved and      harm incidents and it is easy to see
                                  it is not fair to cops.                           why the public is frustrated at the lack
                                     Our worry about the toll that mental           of visibility of police in the community

                            22
                                  health calls are having on officers was           responding to other types of calls for
                                  exacerbated last month when we found              service.
                                  out the Government had canned a pilot                Members tell us how exasperated they
                 Sport            scheme to trial having mental health              are with repeated callouts to the same
                                  workers accompany police attending                people, an inability to get those people
                                  crisis calls.                                     the help they need and the waste of
                                     Because the idea for the pilot had been        police resources when they have to wait
                                  National’s, and Labour has decided not            hours in hospital emergency rooms until
                                  to implement it, an inevitable political          an overworked mental health specialist
                                  tit-for-tat blame game ensued. Not a              is available.
                                  single person needing mental health                  Yes, that is better than taking an unwell
                                  care was helped by that.                          person to a police cell, where I think we
                                     I doubt the proposed pilot would have          can all agree they do not belong, but
                                  been the ultimate panacea, but I do               it does mean that police officer is not

                           24
                                  know that there is a crisis and that the          out in the community preventing and
 Postcards from...                status quo has, by stealth, co-opted              solving crimes.
              Akaroa              frontline police to deal with incidents              The Government’s inquiry is due to
                                  that actually require fully trained mental        report back at the end of October. I
                                  health professionals.                             sincerely hope there is acknowledgment
                                     The situation is so critical that it is        that a police uniform is not the ideal first
                                  not unreasonable to take the view that            sight for people going through a mental
                                  anything, even a pilot scheme that could          health incident, and it certainly is no
                                  run while the Government’s Inquiry into           substitute for a medical professional.
                                  Mental Health and Addiction does its                 We are looking for a firm
                                  work, would be better than nothing.               acknowledgment that police officers
                                     There has been alarm expressed about           are shouldering too much of the burden
Phone: (04) 496 6800
                                  the fact that police recruits have only           when, in the majority of cases, mental
Fax: (04) 471 1309
                                  four hours of training for dealing with           health is not a policing issue.
Editor: Ellen Brook               people in mental health distress. The
Email: editor@policeassn.org.nz   reality is, this is just one of a vast array of
Website: www.policeassn.org.nz
                                  subjects that must be covered in their 16
                                  weeks at Police College.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
          nzpoliceassociation
                                     The increase in mental health-related
                                  calls for service is truly astounding,
Twitter: @nzpoliceassn
                                  and should be of concern to all New               Chris Cahill
                                  Zealanders. In the past four years, there         president@policeassn.org.nz

                                                                                                              AUGUST 2018 | 3
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
The Buzz
                                      Grim toll of gun crime
                                      T
                                                 he Maryland newspaper shooting

       $68,000                                   in June, in which five people died,
                                                 was the 154th mass shooting in the
                                      United States for 2018, and one of four that
    The amount Victoria Police        same day. In 2017, there were 345 mass
    charged Canadian far-right        shootings (defined as four or more killed) in
commentator Lauren Southern for       the US.
 police resources deployed at her       The horrific statistics were part of a Massey
                                      University debate in Wellington last month
  event in Melbourne last month.
                                      led by New Zealand academics Catherine
Police told news.com.au they were
                                      Strong and Senior Sergeant John Battersby,
  “disappointed” the provocative      who is a teaching fellow at Massey’s Centre
  event was taking officers away      for Strategic Studies.
        from normal duties.             Recently back from the US, Dr Strong
                                      revealed how so-called soft targets for
                                      shooters there – churches and schools –
                                      were being encouraged to lock their doors,
     “AVIATION                        but some had decided to confront the issue
     NUISANCE”                        and warn shooters they would be met with a
                                                                                        A notice outside a church in Tampa, Florida.
                                      deadly response.
 An Orākei board member posts           A push for media to focus on victims rather
     concerns about the Eagle         than shooters had spawned unintended              cars, boats, dogs, births, deaths and marriages
helicopter flying over the Auckland   consequences, she said.                           could not cooperate on accounting for lethal
                                        Firstly, social media had shared enormous       weapons, and why 7000 Kiwis needed nearly
  suburb of Remuera at night on
                                      amounts of detail about shooters and,             14,000 military-style semi-automatic weapons
  its way to attend jobs in South
                                      secondly, when victims were the focus, readers    between them.
       Auckland. – Facebook
                                      and viewers who empathised with them were           “Cahill’s question is not so much a
                                      more likely to arm themselves for protection,     challenge to the gun community as a request
                                      potentially resulting in more shootings.          for a reasonable explanation for these guns
                                        Dr Battersby said that in New Zealand,          coming into New Zealand,” Dr Battersby said.
“Police is keen to discuss            owning a firearm was not a right, but a             With respect to the Law and Order Select

  a solution with the                 privilege that could be revoked.
                                        Any assertion to the contrary, he said, was
                                                                                        Committee rejecting recommendations on
                                                                                        firearms registration, among other issues,
  Police Association”                 coming from “elsewhere” – a not-so-subtle         Dr Battersby attributed that to “the result
                                      reference to the gun lobby.                       of interest groups appealing to the select
   Police response to publicity         Dr Battersby said he was not convinced by       committee rather than evidence”.
 about problems with the comms        the argument that registering firearms was          He added: “We are careless with our
    centres’ preference-based         too difficult to consider when New Zealand        national arsenal and our official information
    scheduling roster system.         registered four million vehicles a year.          is not robust enough. We don’t know if we
                                        He quoted Police Association president          don’t have a gun problem or not [but] a
      – Radio New Zealand
                                      Chris Cahill, who in a speech in February         national gun registry would go a long way to
                                      asked why a small country that registered         fixing that, if it is done properly.”

                83rd New Zealand                                  Annual General Meetings
                Police Association                                Wednesday, October 10
                Conference 2018                                   • Police and Families Credit Union, 11am-noon
                Wednesday, October 10, to Friday,                 • Police Welfare Fund, 1pm-2pm
                October 12, at the James Cook Hotel               • NZ Police Association, 2pm-3pm
                Grand Chancellor in Wellington.                   All members are invited to attend.

     4 | AUGUST 2018
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
NEWS AND VIEWS

NZPA Sportsperson of the Year

From strength
to strength
D
          etective Constable Fiao’o                 “I’m really here to help the
          Fa’amausili, our superstar Black        girls coming through, to
          Ferns captain, has scooped the          keep the standards up and
Police Association Sportsperson of the            give them guidance and
Year award for the third time and the             the best way to do that is
second year in a row.                             on the field.”                        Fiao’o in her civvies at
                                                                                        last month’s Black Ferns
  This time, she says, she’s not giving too         A lot of it is about                capping ceremony.
much away about what the future holds.            mental preparation, she
When she won the 2016 award (presented            says, keeping calm on
last year), she told Police News she was          the field and off.
planning to retire after the crowning glory         There could be few
of her team’s Rugby World Cup win in              better role models for
Belfast.                                          combining the pressures
  Since then, however, Fiao’o and women’s         of high-level sport with a
rugby in general have gone on to more             career as Fiao’o continues to
successes and accolades, at home and              progress in her job as a crime
abroad. Instead of retiring, the 37-year-old      squad detective constable in
is back on the field, still as captain, and       Counties Manukau District.
looking forward to two tests against the            Apart from the World Cup games
Aussies this month and a series later in the      last year, Fiao’o played with Auckland
year                                              Club women’s champions Marist, played
  In terms of what the future holds, she’s        100 games for the Auckland Storm and, as
“playing it by ear this time”.                    a Black Fern, became New Zealand’s most
                                                  capped player, reaching 50 tests at the
                                                  World Cup (now 52).                                     looking forward to reaping the rewards
                                                    She was named the No 1 hooker in the                  and, eventually, to professional women’s
                                                  Women’s World 15 rugby team and the                     rugby.”
                                                    Black Ferns were named the World Rugby                  In the meantime, she says, it’s important
                                                       Team of the Year at the World Awards.              that women players have time to put
                                                           At home, the Ferns were named the              energy into their day jobs too and to make
                                                           ASB Team of the Year and Fiao’o                plans for life after rugby.
                                                             was chosen as the New Zealand                  Her services to the sport were recognised
                                                              Herald New Zealander of the                 this year when she was made an Officer
                                                                Year.                                     of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the
                                                                  She’s the first to admit that it        Queen’s Birthday Honours.
                                                                has been incredibly difficult to fit        There’s no doubt she’s driven by her twin
                                                                sporting commitments around               passions of policing and rugby, but family is
                                                                work, but she’s managing it.              also at the core of everything she does.
                                                               “I’m really lucky that Counties              Especially poignant for Fiao’o last year
                                                              Manukau Police are so supportive            was having the Farah Palmer Player of
                                                            if I need time off.”                          the Year medal named after her. The
                                                            Physically, after the past year, she’s        Fiao’o Fa’amausili Medal will be presented
                                                        feeling “pretty much all broken”, she             annually and in 2017 it went to fellow
                                                      says, but there’s much to look forward              Black Fern Hazel Tubic from the Counties
                                                  to. Apart from the games this year, there is            Manukau Heat.
                                                  the start of contracts for women’s teams                  “The best thing is having my family’s
                                                  – a “massive” change for the sport, thanks              name   on an award,” she says.
                                                  in large part to the success of players such              Police Association president Chris
Making mum proud: Nasareta Fa’amausili holds
                                                  as Fiao’o.                                              Cahill presented Fiao’o with her Police
the No 15 jersey her daughter wore after Fiao’o
was named the No 1 hooker in the Women’s            “I’m very glad to have been part the group            Sportsperson of the Year award in Auckland
World 15 rugby team last year.                    that paved the way for that,” she says. “I’m            last month.

                                                                                                                                     AUGUST 2018 | 5
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
COVE R S TO RY

Auckland blues
Auckland is a great city. It’s big, bold and vibrant. People who live there enjoy good
services, a cosmopolitan culture and a temperate climate. One-third of the country’s
population now call it home, but increasingly, its big-city status and successes are
becoming a curse for ordinary working people, including members of Police.

I
       n the past few years, Police               A letter to Police News is typical of the         Member feedback to the Association
       Association members have been            exasperation clearly being felt in Auckland.      shows the perception is that the price of
       sounding the alarm that the costs        The writer, who has now left Police to            just about everything in Auckland seems
of living in Auckland are becoming              join the private commercial sector, said:         to have doubled in the past 10 years, while
untenable.                                      “I don’t plan or want to end up on a clifftop     wages have not.
   Members are feeling the squeeze when         mansion. I just want to some day own my             “People used to joke about cops living at
it comes to rents, house prices, fuel taxes,    own home and support my family, and I             home with the parents, now heaps actually
traffic and travel woes and staff attrition.    want to do this without having to live pay        are!” says one member. “And, if that’s not it,
   Some are choosing to leave the city, but     cheque to pay cheque. I get the sense             they’re living in awkward flatting situations
for others that’s not really an option. It’s    that people outside Auckland believe that         ages away from the station they work in,
their home, where they were born and            everyone here is making a fortune from            costing extra in petrol, which keeps going up.”
raised, and they are well invested in their     capital gains in the property market. The           So should there be an Auckland
communities. Besides, someone’s got to          reality is, we’re not. There are few who          allowance?
police Auckland.                                have been fortunate enough to have                  “Yes,” says another member. “It will cost,
   It’s no secret that rents and house prices   been around long enough to reap the               but hopefully we can retain staff in the job,
are significantly more expensive than in        rewards, but the numbers are insignificant        retain staff in our area instead of training
other cities and show little sign of going      compared with the majority of Auckland            them and then losing them to cheaper
down in the near future.                        cops, especially the new ones coming              areas.”
   If you are not already established in the    through.”                                           Some members fear that attrition,
housing market in Auckland, it appears to         The reality for some staff is that by joining   currently at almost 6 per cent, is going to
be an almost impossible dream, and rents        Police in Auckland and a few other high-          jeopardise the promised figure of 1800
remain unreasonably high, rising faster than    cost areas of the country (Queenstown             extra Police staff over three years.
inflation nationwide since 2010.                and Tauranga, for example), they will feel          “We need to stem the attrition rate,
   The national median rent for a two-          disadvantaged by taking employment                particularly in high-demand areas such
bedroom home is around $395 a week;             there.                                            as Auckland. To do that, we need to pay
in Auckland that is $550 a week. Average          Already, in the past couple of years, the       Auckland-based officers a reasonable
house prices in Auckland last year were         Association has noted that among the              wage. It seems unfair that staff in provincial
$952,000 (make that more than $1 million        recruit wings coming through the Police           towns get paid the same salary as staff in
for central Auckland). That compares with       College, greater numbers are experiencing         Auckland when the cost of living is much
$565,000 in Wellington and $471,000 in          a reduction in income (compared with their        higher here.
Canterbury.                                     previous jobs) not only while they are at the       “Such a proposal might fail in a popular
   “On a cop’s salary, that is unachievable,”   college, but on graduation.                       vote among members, but sometimes the
says a senior constable from South                                                                right decision is not the most popular one.”
Auckland. “I know that a lot of members                                                             A senior sergeant in central Auckland says
say we don’t have to live in Auckland, but                                                        that after three decades in policing there,
this is where people have grown up, have                                                          he has never seen such a high attrition
a family and their children are settled in
schools.”

6 | AUGUST 2018
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
rate, with many officers either moving to          One of the biggest, and perhaps most           family, it’s something I will have to
Australia or into civilian roles in Auckland.    notorious, Auckland issues is the high           consider.”
“Detectives I have known are leaving             volume of traffic and resulting congestion,        However, many members can see that
for better pay and conditions to other           which affects everyone no matter their           an Auckland allowance would be a blunt
government departments or insurance              financial situation. An eight-hour shift can     tool given that the pressures of balancing
companies.”                                      easily turn into an 11-hour commitment           a budget are felt around the country and
  There is a lot of talk around the muster       when travel to and from work is added in.        not every member of Police in Auckland is
rooms about looking for another job.             It isn’t always possible to live near to where   struggling with housing or other costs.
Another cop laments that he has seen             you work, particularly if it’s in the central      So what are the other possible options –
“so many friends quit who were bloody            part of the city.                                and not just for Auckland?
awesome cops, all because of the pay”.                                                              Some suggestions include:
  Rural stations have allowances to                                                               • Paying officers for all overtime.
compensate for isolation and costs, so why         Many members can see                           • Targeted accommodation subsidies for
not Auckland, some members are saying.           that an Auckland allowance                         those who need it most.
  In many other police forces around the
world, officers in metropolitan areas are paid
                                                     would be a blunt tool                        • Flexible working options, such as doing
                                                  given that the pressures of                       four 10-hour days, thereby reducing the
a higher rate or “weighting” to acknowledge
                                                                                                    need to travel long distances every day.
the extra costs of big-city living.               balancing a budget are felt
  The New Zealand Defence Force                                                                   • Targeted child support and transport
has recently moved to address such               around the country and not                         assistance.
concerns among its staff and has agreed           every member of Police in                         There are already cases being reported
to an allowance for staff moving into or
                                                 Auckland is struggling with                      to the Association of staff pitching in,
remaining in more expensive locations                                                             including district commanders, to help
and cities.                                         housing or other costs.                       colleagues who are struggling financially.
                                                                                                  They know that a cop who is under

I   ncreasing living costs are not exclusive
    to Auckland, and getting on the property
ladder can be tough all over the country.
                                                   One young cop travels for an hour-plus
                                                 to work each way from his
                                                 home north of Auckland. He
                                                                                                  financial pressure at home may find it
                                                                                                  harder to be at their best at work.
                                                                                                    The added inconvenience of working
If you’re mortgage-free anywhere, you’re         admits he feels like “one of the                 unscheduled overtime, compensated only
going to be better off for it.                   lucky ones” because he and his                   by TOIL, does not help anyone’s finances, so
  “There are many Police staff in Auckland       wife were able to buy a house,                   there could be room for improvement there.
who already own their own house and              but the travel is draining and                     Many members lament the control
have for many years, which means they            takes a toll on family life and he               that Police has over their ability to earn
have benefited from capital gains and            would like his commitment to                     additional income, with secondary
would again benefit from an allowance, if        be fairly recognised.                            employment options such as working on
that was the proposed solution,” writes one        “I must admit, most days I                     licensed premises, commercial driving and
member. “Even with the new petrol levy           feel tempted by jobs in the                      security work being off-limits to Police
[in Auckland], the petrol price is cheaper       provinces where both my wife                     staff.
there, holidays overseas are cheaper, house      and I would be paid the same,                      Police Association president Chris Cahill
furnishings are cheaper and much else as         have next to no mortgage                         says all these options may have to be
the result of competition pushing prices         and a great lifestyle. But we                    considered and deployed to make progress
down.                                            care about where we live now                      in alleviating the big-city Auckland blues.
  If Auckland was to get an allowance, then      and our family and friends are                       “Auckland affordability is such a big
so should Wellington and pretty much             here.”                                             issue it cannot be solved in a pay round,
everyone else.”                                    Others he knows have left                        but that doesn’t mean we should shy
                                                 Police in search of more                           away from targeted assistance for those
                                                 money. “I don’t want to be                         members most in need and, to that end,
                                                 part of the exodus, but if the                    all possible options will be explored,” he
                                                 strain becomes too                               says.
                                                 great on my                                        “Some things may be able to be
                                                                                                  addressed in the pay round, while others
                                                                                                  will be longer-term solutions.”

                                                                                                                             AUGUST 2018 | 7
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
NEWS AND VIEWS

Towards the eco-friendly
police station
How big is Police’s environmental footprint?

T
         ake the biggest Police-issue boot        In his patch, it was several years ago that       making meaningful change from the
         you can find and multiply it by        he and a few other staff members felt the           bottom is almost impossible – it has to
         10,000 – about the number of           need to make changes. “You didn’t have to           come from above.
staff who work for Police.                      be much of a greenie to notice the large              “The essential first move for Police to
  And it’s not getting any smaller.             volumes of waste being generated by a               aspire to right now is at the very beginning
  Some of those staff, however, are trying      station the size of Dunedin Central and             of procurement policies, which need to
to “do the right thing” and create more         to start feeling guilty about where it was          be carefully looked at. Recycling is the
sustainable police stations.                    headed,” he says.                                   ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
  Detective Mike Bracegirdle is chair             “Particular issues were station clean-up          Purchasing decisions are key to preventing
of Dunedin Central Police Station’s             days, when e-waste, old desks and other             waste.”
Sustainability Committee. Never heard of it?    office furniture were just tossed into mini-          Mike is optimistic about what can be
You’re not alone. Such groups are a rarity      skips and sent to the landfill.”                    done: “With just a modicum of leadership
in Police, but Mike and his small team of         In the early 2000s, his proto-action group        and direction from the top, we could
about eight are hoping that will change.        instigated three-colour stacking recycle            start moving in the right direction. We
  At the moment, he says, Police’s              stations, which, he says, was soon copied           are a potent force when we choose to
performance on sustainability is “a national    in many other stations.                             pull together on any challenges and the
embarrassment”.                                   Even now, though, he notes, it can still be       sky is the limit for what we could achieve
  He would like every police station,           tough getting a hard-working cop on his             in being an environmentally responsible
including the “flagship” Police College         lunch break to dispose of his rubbish in the        organisation.”
premises, to start having a conversation        proper way.                                           He would like to help create a movement
about sustainability in their patch, as has       “A minority of staff are fantastic, but, sadly,   within Police and a national network of
happened in Dunedin.                            in our busy working days, recycling is not          sustainability groups. He’s sending out
  The key, though, says Mike, is that the       at the top of our tasks. Education is the           the call and hoping that younger staff
change has to come from the top, with           key with staff and our attitude is that every       especially will take note. “New, young
policies integrated into organisational         single piece of plastic or glass put in the         police officers and non-sworn staff of
strategies, even recorded within Our            right bin is a win.”                                today must see sustainability as quite
Business.                                         One piece of good news at Dunedin,                the norm. Where are their voices?”
  “What is happening to the thousands of        Mike says, is that funding has been                 – ELLEN BROOK
tonnes of refuse generated by our stations      approved for soft-plastic collection stations
every day? Where does our voluminous            to be installed on all four floors of the           What do you think Police should be doing
e-waste end up and what about the               station. A committee member has been                about environmental sustainability within
thousands of worn-out patrol car tyres sent     tasked with tracking monthly electricity            the organisation? Email us your ideas to
to the landfill every year?                     usage to see how it might be reduced.               editor@policeassn.org.nz.
  “We are leaders in so many other fields         Mike says that while the bosses are happy
within government departments. We need          for staff to implement changes themselves,
to add responsible eco-citizenship to our
sworn, day-to-day duties and address the
environmental impact of our stations and
services in our regions.
  “I wonder if our executive understands
that instituting intelligent energy efficient
and sustainable practices can lead to
budgetary savings?”
  Sustainability and the environment are
big topics elsewhere, Mike says, but, sadly,
there seems to be little in-house discussion
within Police, despite the fact that these
days most successful and innovative
                                                                                                        Members of Dunedin Central Police Station's
corporates have such policies.                                                                          Sustainability Committee; from left, Sally Cargill,
                                                                                                        Detective Inspector Reece Munro, Heather
                                                                                                        Dunne and Detective Mike Bracegirdle.

8 | AUGUST 2018
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
NEWS AND VIEWS

                                                                                 This column is written by a frontline police member. It does not
                                                                                         represent the views or policies of the Police Association.

Inhuman resources?                               Never mind fighting crime, when you’re             Although, I could only speak one language!

I  ’ve heard that the human resources cabal      busy battling your own bureaucracy.                  Which reminds me that I’ve also been
   appear to be having a few problems.                                                              impressed with reports that more and
Maybe they are sick to death of working
                                                 Diversity in the ranks                             more people throughout the country are
with MyPolice – everyone else certainly is.
Or maybe there are not enough of them.
                                                 A     ll the talk we’ve heard about diversity is
                                                       starting to become a reality judging by
                                                                                                    signing up to learn te reo. Ka pai!

                                                                                                    Justice Canterbury styles
                                                 the make-up of the largest ever Auckland-

                                                                                                    N
  Whatever it is, we at the coalface seem
                                                 only Police wing in 40 years that graduated              ext time you find yourself in
to be experiencing, to put it kindly, an
                                                 from the Police College in May.                          Christchurch, get in touch with a local
“irregular” service.
                                                   Among the 78 graduates of Wing 314               copper for a tour of the Justice Precinct.
  For example, a mate of mine can’t figure
                                                 were officers of Māori, Pacific Island, Asian      It’s an impressive beast… now that the raw
out if he’s being paid right. Apparently, it’s
                                                                                                    sewage issue has been resolved. Basically,
done automatically by MyPolice, but no           and New Zealand European descent and
                                                                                                    everything has been turned into an old-
one actually knows what the calculation is!      some speak second languages such as
                                                                                                    school muster room. You have your locker
  When he questioned it, HR decided to use       Māori, Afrikaans, German, Hindi, Punjabi,
                                                                                                    and your little tray of goodies and you sit
a “service desk job” autobot reply to get it     Korean, Mandarin, Thai and Samoan.
                                                                                                    yourself down anywhere you can find a
resolved. Like when your computer breaks.          It certainly reinforces Auckland’s status as
                                                                                                    spot. It’s worked brilliantly for us frontline
And, just like when your computer breaks         a multi-cultural melting pot. The officers
                                                                                                    staff for years…
and they fix it and send you an e-mail           were posted to Auckland, Counties
telling you the problem has been resolved,
he got an automated response saying: “This
                                                 Manukau and Waitematā.
                                                   Let’s hope they stick around. Some of
                                                                                                    Stay safe out there...
job has been resolved. The pay is correct.”      the stories I’ve been hearing about attrition      Constable Iam Keen
  He doesn’t think so, which was the whole       rates this year have got me wondering              To update Iam Keen
point of his original complaint. Geez, it’s      about whether policing is still the long-term      with information, email
enough to send a good bloke off the rails…       career that it was seen as when I started out.     iamkeen@policeassn.org.nz

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                                                                   out on great discounts
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                                                                    for members through the Police Association
                                                                    Member Discounts Programme.

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                                                                                                                                 AUGUST 2018 | 9
Auckland blues Just how tough is it? - Plastic patrol - Police Association
NEWS AND VIEWS

                   Bolder & wiser
                     All five of our Wing 276 graduates say they can hardly
                    believe it’s been five years since they left Police College
                              to begin their careers as police officers.

            T
                      wo of the Wing 276 graduates have also              Sam Hutcheson, who is single, says the high cost
                      been doing their bit to add to the police         of living in Auckland is a challenge, but not unique
                      family, producing twin boys and a girl.           to police. “It needs to be addressed within Police,
               All have spent time working with tactical crime units    but it’s a distraction from the wider issue that police
            and all continue to broaden their policing skills.          officers everywhere in the country face – that
               Three of the five are based in Auckland, where,          our pay does not acknowledge and reflect the
            as detailed in this month’s cover story, some of our        high-stress situations we are in on a regular basis,
            members are doing it hard.                                  the responsibility we hold and the high level of
               Amy Flower says there is no doubt that the costs of      accountability that we are, rightly, subject to.
            living and working there are very high. “We’re forced         “It also doesn’t account for the price police officers
            to move further and further away from the centre due        pay in donated overtime and the toll the job takes
            to rising rent/house prices and end up spending more        on their wellbeing. It generates resentment in the
            on fuel and time travelling to and from work, which         ranks, particularly in an environment that prioritises
            impacts on family life. I feel for those with even larger   social media campaigns and recruiting while we
            families to provide for.”                                   haemorrhage quality people to other industries and
               Catherine Sieczkowski says she would like to take        overseas. It goes deeper than a bunch of Aucklanders
            a whole year off with her twins, but she and her            wanting a few more pennies in their pocket on pay
            partner simply won’t be able to manage on one wage,         day.”
            even though the costs of daycare are going to be              Police News has been following the group since
            “ridiculous” – almost $600 a week for the two boys –        2013. Here’s what else they have to say about their
            “Most of my pay gone in a fortnight.”                       professional and personal lives this year.

                                              5 years ago...

                                                                                                                                   Sam
Mefiposeta                          Amy                                                        Catherine
                                                                  Mel

10 | AUGUST 2018
Making a                                       as not to draw negative attention to my
                                               family. My daughter has said she wants to
                                                                                                “Promotion has financial rewards
                                                                                              attached to it, but I don’t feel that an

difference at                                  be a police officer too, and I’m okay with
                                               that.”
                                                                                              increase in pay is enough to warrant me
                                                                                              taking on the stress and responsibility of a

the coalface                                      Mel says that in the course of her work,
                                               she always attempts to defuse difficult
                                                                                              supervisor’s role at this point in time.”
                                                                                                The move to working in Foxton wasn’t
                                               situations without resorting to her            planned, Mel says, but has quickly
C      onstable Mel Kingi, 37, has found
       herself in a role where she feels she
can bring all her skills to the workplace –
                                               appointments, and to date has used only
                                               her OC spray.
                                                                                              become a highlight of her career.
                                                                                                “I’m able to incorporate all of my
frontline at the Foxton Police Station.           “Maybe it’s because I’m female.             passions within policing, working in
  Since graduating from Police College,        Maybe it’s because I’m Māori and have          a small community, getting to know
Mel was working in her home town of            a connection with the large Māori              people on a first-name basis, helping
Levin doing general duties, including          population I deal with in this job. Whatever   to educate those needing to break free
six-month stints in family harm and with       it is, I try to connect in some way with the   from the criminal system, protecting
the tactical crime unit (TCU). That work       people I deal with and to avoid presenting     and supporting those affected by crime
helped clarify where she felt her policing     as intimidating or threatening. I think that   and ultimately feeling that I am helping
future was heading.                            has helped me avoid potentially hostile,       people.”
  “TCU focused on volume crime,                physical altercations.”
gathering information and intel from              Mel says she is not interested in
covert sources, executing search warrants      climbing the ranks within Police at
and with a strong focus on getting ‘bad        this stage in her career.
guys’ off the streets,” she says. “While I        “While some strive for
loved the experience, my passion and           promotion, I get satisfaction
purpose for joining Police was not to ‘lock    from working directly with
up baddies’, but to help people break free     those needing immediate
from the criminal system and to work           police assistance. I rate my
closely with those affected by crime.          successes on establishing
Working with the family harm team gave         trusting relationships with
me more opportunity to do that.”               people who may previously                                             Mel Kingi says working
  It’s an ethos she has had since she went     not have been willing to                                              frontline in Foxton has
                                               interact with police.                                                 become a highlight of
to the college. Back in 2015, a year after                                                                           her career.
graduating, she told Police News: “Every
person has a story, yet I am only given an
insight into one chapter. Whether they are
drunk, homeless or have been beaten, I
want to help them.”
  And when it comes to family harm
incidents, that is where police can really
make a difference, she says.
  This year, she is based at Foxton
Police Station, about 15 minutes’ drive
north of Levin. “We work in pairs, but,
as is expected, we often find ourselves
working alone. There are challenges
that come with that, but it suits me –
talking to people, establishing trusting
relationships and helping create a
positive rapport between community
and police.”
  Mel’s daughter, who was 10 when
she started with Police, is now 15.
“I used to worry about the effects
that my job would have on my
family, but I think that being
a mother makes me a better
officer. I strive to establish fair
and positive interactions so

                                                                                                                        AUGUST 2018 | 11
NEWS AND VIEWS

At a crossroad                                                                                           He’s considered exploring negotiation
                                                                                                       work and did some training with the

C      onstable Sam Hutcheson is the                                                                   Auckland police negotiation team, but even
                                                                                 Sam Hutcheson
       youngest of our five Wing 276                                                                   that was still a bit far from the action for
                                                                                 says he's more
graduates. At 25, he admits he is at a bit                                       at home doing         him. “The AOS is my next challenge, but I
of a crossroad in his career. “I was only 19,                                    "hands-on",           need to get a lot fitter for that.”
                                                                                 operational
just turning 20, when I started. I’ve grown                                                              Right now, he’s considering doing the
                                                                                 work, dealing
up a lot in the past five years and now I’m                                      with people,          CPK sergeant’s exam.
going through a transition period, trying                                        than sitting            During his first year on the job, Sam was
                                                                                 behind a desk.
to figure out what I want to do.                                                                       part of TV’s Police Ten 7 cop show. Looking
  “I don’t feel at the moment that I would                                                             back, he says, it was certainly strange being
necessarily spend my whole career in                                                                   followed by the cameras and he was a bit
Police though I’ve gained experience and          sort of work, but at the moment I would              more conscious of what he was saying.
skills and learnt a lot about humanity.”          quite like to spend some more at the                 “The programme has become more and
  Up till June 2017, Sam had spent time           coalface.”                                           more ‘PC’, and so has Police, I reckon. We
with several workgroups – the public                 He definitely prefers frontline, operational,     do serve the public and we are accountable
safety team, as a field training officer and      “hands-on” work, dealing with people,                to the public, but sometimes we seem to
acting sergeant, Crime Squad and Auckland         rather than sitting behind a desk.                   bend over backwards to avoid offending
Metro, attending a lot of major incidents.           That was evident when he was on a PST             anyone. It’s a shame we can’t show real
He spent the past year in CIB. “It was            patrol in 2017 in Auckland and drove by a            policing on TV.”
never my ambition, but I wanted to do it          young man standing on the edge of the                  Off-duty, Sam has been trying to build
to see what it was like. It has been a good       Grafton Rd overbridge, “obviously about to           a race car – a mid-90s Honda Integra –
experience, but I haven’t enjoyed the file        jump off”. Sam stopped and spoke to the              but about two months ago, it was stolen
preparation aspect of the job.”                   man, spending about 20 minutes negotiating           from outside his house. “It’s completely
  He was part of the team that put together       to get him down. “It was a good day’s work.          disappeared and is probably in parts
the case on Rollie Heke, the fugitive             I’ve come to realise that I operate on a             somewhere now.”
gunman who shot at police with an MSSA            more instinctive and intuitive level. I don’t          It’s been a disappointing setback, but
weapon, and who last month pleaded guilty         really work so well in a slow, methodical            he’s consoling himself with a planned
to using a firearm against police officers.       environment, but I thrive at working under           snowboarding trip with his friends to the
  “Down the track, I will likely return to that   pressure and making quick decisions.”                north of Japan next year.

  Opportunities                                     homicides, robberies, burglaries and arson.
                                                    His last job with TCU was another first, and
                                                                                                                                               Mefi Taele is
  keep coming                                       another learning experience, working on
                                                    reviewing CCTV footage and collating that
                                                                                                                                               now part of
                                                                                                                                               Police's Pacific

  F    ormer professional rugby player              information.                                                                               Island officer
                                                                                                                                               network.
       Constable Mefiposeta Taele, 42, is the         Mefi has always been keen on picking up
  oldest of the Wing 276 graduates being            new skills. “I just keep working on upskilling
  tracked by Police News since 2013.                a little bit more and applying for jobs as
    Mefi was a relatively late starter to join      they come along. There are so many
  Police, at 38, as his talent on the rugby         opportunities in policing.”
  field had sent him to France for 10 years,          One of those opportunities came along
  then he owned a sports business and               in 2015 when he was chosen as one of 50
  later worked for the Ministry of Justice in       Samoan police officers from New Zealand
  Tauranga. He’s always said that if he could       to help police the Small Islands Developing
  have turned back the clock, he would have         States Conference in Samoa, providing
  become a police officer much earlier.             security and looking after delegates.                Mefi acknowledges there were hurdles
    Now, he’s well settled into his job in            Meeting so many other Samoan police                along the way. A couple of years ago he
  Tauranga where he lives with his wife,            officers was a revelation for Mefi as                was struggling with the shift work and file
  Joanne, and their two children. This year,        previously he didn’t know any. Now, he’s             management was an issue, but that had
  he has completed 12 months with the               firmly a part of Police’s Pacific Island officer     been more manageable while working in
  tactical crime unit, which he says was very       network and keen to find more ways to                TCU where the hours were more regular.
  different from his previous work with the         make use of his heritage within Police.                He finished that deployment in June and
  Public Safety Team.                               He is also keen on community policing.               is back on the frontline and ready for his
    He’s been working on “high-end stuff”,            It has been “a great journey so far”, but          next opportunity.

12 | AUGUST 2018
Twins take
hard work to
a new level
C    onstable Catherine Sieczkowski, 31,
     recalls the moment she found out
she was having twins. “It was a complete
shock. I had to asked the sonographer to                                                                                 Twins James and Max
                                                   Catherine Sieczkowski and her partner, Nick.                          were born in April.
double check what I had just been told.”
  The unexpected news took some getting
used to. “We started to worry about
whether we could financially afford to have       On April 9, baby boys James and Max               In fact, she says, prosecutions proved to
two babies. I also worried about how we         were born at 35 weeks. Catherine and her          be an “eye-opener” and a steep learning
would cope.”                                    partner, Nick, couldn’t be happier. “Despite      curve, but she developed new-found
  Catherine had not long heard the news         our worries, we wouldn’t change them for          confidence in court procedures, something
before she started a challenging CIB            the world, although I think it’s been the         she had previously struggled with as nerves
selection and induction course. “It was         hardest thing that we have ever done.”            sometimes got the better of her.
a pretty tough four weeks and I often             When we last caught up with Catherine in          Before the birth of her boys, Catherine
wondered if I would make it to the end,”        2016, she had made the switch from general        had been on light duties with Auckland City
she says.                                       duties to the tactical crime unit. Halfway        Area CIB.
  However, the course, run through Unitec       through 2017, a secondment opportunity              For now, she says, she is enjoying her
in Auckland, was really well put together       came up with Auckland Prosecutions. “I was        parental leave before she gets “back
and the trainers, particularly Detective        happy in TCU, but I’ve always had an interest     into the thick of it all”. She is considering
Sergeant Matt Lynch, helped make the            in that aspect of policing and it seemed like     returning to work near the end of the year,
course the success it was, she says.            the right time to give it a go.”                  either FEO or fulltime.

                                                                                                     Search and rescue
                                                                                                     enthusiast Amy Flower

Challenges                                      she had been with at Glen Innes Police               is passing on her love
                                                                                                     of the outdoors to
                                                Station when she last spoke to Police News           daughter Zara.

come in many                                    in 2016. At that time, she had also just been
                                                made a permanent member of the search

forms                                           and rescue squad.
                                                  With the change in roles she went from

W        hat’s worse for sleep deprivation –    investigating burglaries and other crime
         on-call police shift work or looking   to visiting schools and taking part in
after a baby?                                   community events, even doing a dance
  Before she had her baby girl, Zara,           performance at a school disco. For an             on-call SAR role.
Constable Amy Flower, 35, thought she           officer who enjoys the testing environment          Outside of work, Amy’s focused on the
was well prepared for broken sleep patterns     of wild search and rescue ops, this was an        needs of her active one-year-old who
having done a few years on the Police           experience that took her “right out of my         apparently shares her parents’ love of the
roster.                                         comfort zone”.                                    outdoors. “If she ever needs settling down,
  “I’ve been quite shocked at how tiring          It just goes to show that the challenges of     we just take her outside!”
being a parent can be,” she says. “The thing    policing can come in many forms.                    In terms of how parenthood will work
is, when you’re doing shift work, you know        Now she’s juggling motherhood with              with her career, Amy is philosophical.
that it will come to an end in a week or so.    another new role on the enquiries team            “Police has been very accommodating with
That doesn’t happen when you’re looking         while she works on becoming recertified.          regards to FEO,” she says, “but I think it can
after a baby. There are no sleep-in days!”      She has recently completed her PCT and            put limitations on your career in terms of
  Amy went on parental leave in May last        two of three integrated training packages         the childcare responsibilities that you have
year, returning to work three months            that she needs to finish before she can get       outside work, which mean that you can’t
ago, working FEO three days a week in           back into uniform.                                always be on call or available for shift work.”
the enquiries section at Avondale Police          She has also successfully completed               There was never any question about
Station.                                        the Core Investigation Knowledge (CIK)            returning to the job, though, she says.
  Before Zara came along last year,             exam that brings her a step closer to             “Even though I needed to go back to work
Amy had been working as a community             being eligible for CIB training. Becoming         for financial reasons, I was also definitely
constable at Mt Roskill Station. It was quite   a detective is one of her goals, along with       ready to go back. I still love my job and I
different work from the tactical crime unit     returning to work fulltime and resuming her       missed it.”

                                                                                                                              AUGUST 2018 | 13
NEWS AND VIEWS

                            Committee
                            newsflashes
   The Police Association’s 34 committees held their annual meetings over June and July,
  attended by either Association president Chris Cahill, national secretary Greg Fleming or
  Welfare Fund manager Pete Hayes. The committee chairs reviewed the past year, giving
                 insights into the issues that were top of mind for members.

C
          hristchurch City chairman Lachy        Members were still faced with near            Gisborne chair Brent Griffiths said that
          Garrick was in a nostalgic mood      constant reviews and the daily scramble         over the past year, his area had carried up
          when he delivered his report to      to ensure minimum response levels were          to 16 vacancies at any one time across all
the committee this year.                       met, which all took a toll on Police’s most     workgroups, due to promotions, welfare
  He noted how much Police had changed         important resource – its people.                transfers, leave without pay, appointments
since he joined in 1989, when “we were           On that note, just about every committee      to national vacancies and resignations.
all quite happy with our green screen          chair had something to say about the plan
Whanganui computers, hand-written notes        to inject 1800 more staff into Police over      Pleasingly, several chair reports also
and the occasional report courtesy of a        the next three years. While welcoming           showed that committees had taken on
typewriter”.                                   the prospect, many said the fear among          board the Association’s desire for more
  “I recall a revamped AOS command bus         members was that there would either not         diversity and gender balance among reps.
specially fitted with PCs – a new term –       be enough money and recruiting standards
that moved around stations in Canterbury       might fall, or attrition levels would make      Jesse Mowat, chair for the North Shore,
allowing staff to become familiar with the     that an impossible target.                      Rodney and Auckland Motorways
Windows operating system, complete with                                                        committee, said they had achieved a 50-50
a mouse!”                                      Rotorua chair Mike Membrey said the             gender split, and a 66-33 constabulary-
  Now, the committee was holding its first     promise of 700 extra staff for fighting         Police employee split (equating to two
annual meeting in the modern, safe, state-     organised crime was welcome, “but we            Police employees).
of-the-art $300 million Justice Precinct       also need to balance the removal of
where police worked alongside other            experienced staff from the frontline. We        Not to be outdone, Waitakere chair
agencies serving the community.                do not want to put undue pressure on new        Michael Colson reported that his
  But despite all the advances, he said, the   staff starting their policing careers”.         committee had assigned an ethnic
issues that members faced daily remained                                                       liaison rep.
as complex as they ever were “in an            In Tauranga, chair Wayne Hunter said the          On a more prosaic note, Michael also
environment that demands the best and yet      number of new recruits coming out of the        reported that the new locker room at the
is increasingly less forgiving when things     Police College was failing to keep pace         Henderson Police Station was going to be a
don’t go as planned”.                          with attrition there. The public safety teams   unisex facility, “which is a big change from what
                                               were particularly hard hit and those left at    we are used to”. Staff would have to “change
                                               the coalface were having to take up the         with the times, and not get changed in front of
                                               slack.                                          their locker, as is the current practice”.

                                                                                                                   The Palmerston North committee
                                                                                                                   had the biggest turnout for its annual
                                                                                                                   meeting with 70 people attending.

14 | AUGUST 2018
Several chairs said they wanted a broader        In Nelson, chair Brett Currie said there was      real relevance to members, “advocating
cross-section of staff from all work groups        obviously a problem with planning around          for them in a manner that removes
joining the committees, especially younger         recruitment, resulting in large “peaks and        personalities and places the onus on Police
members.                                           troughs” of staff numbers there. “Given that      to follow best practice, or sometimes
                                                   it takes the better part of a year to get a       simply their own policies”.
In Waikato, chair Derek Lamont reported            recruit in place, trained and back to district,     Turnout at this year’s annual meetings
on a busy year for his district, including two     Police should be able to plan ahead and           was variable around the country, with the
critical incidents – the Morrinsville shooting                                                       standouts being 70 people in Palmerston
                                                   keep the actual staffing levels at a relative
and the River Road fleeing driver death.                                                             North and 60 in Invercargill. And the
                                                   constant.”
  In relation to the first incident, Derek said                                                      metropolitan centres? Well, not so good.
that an unarmed officer coming under                                                                 President Chris Cahill has acknowledged
fire was totally unacceptable. “So I would                                                           that the logistics of getting to meetings in
ask Police and the Government to ensure                                                              the bigger cities can be difficult, but thinks
that the health and safety of staff and                 Members are still                            better communication could help.
public can take a serious step forward to
routine arming and provide a safe working               faced with near
                                                                                                     The value of the committee system was
environment for staff.”                                 constant reviews                             highlighted by several chairs, including
  Of the second incident, he said that failing
                                                                                                     Marlborough’s Barrie Greenall who also
to stop for police should come with a                   and the daily                                praised the Association’s office holders
mandatory prison sentence.
                                                        scramble to ensure                           training course, held earlier this year in
                                                                                                     Wellington, for raising the skill level of the
Whanganui chair Zak Thornton said his                   minimum response                             committees.
committee had a wish list for the future
that included:                                          levels are met,
                                                                                                     Wairarapa chair Mark Brown wanted to
• Continued rollout of cross band radios in
  vehicles so that communication was not an
                                                        which all takes a                            get the message across that being a
                                                                                                     committee member did not come with
  issue for staff attending jobs in rural areas.        toll on Police’s most                        an obligation to be an office holder,
• Sufficient numbers of firearms sets and
                                                        important resource                           unless you wanted to, in case anyone
  suitable access for all work groups.                                                               was confused about that.
• That deployment of staff, especially                  – its people.
  PST, below minimum numbers would                                                                   And Taupō chair AJ Munro had this
  become a thing of the past.                                                                        message: “Being a committee member,
Lack of PST numbers was a concern in                                                                 you are asked to keep in touch with what
                                                     Uncertainty over the upcoming                   is going on at the coalface. By doing this,
many other areas, including Palmerston
                                                   restructure of file management centres            we ensure early detection and provide
North, where chair Allan Wells said there
                                                   is on the radar for several committees as         appropriate information. If we do not hear
were shifts where minimum numbers
were not being met. “Many members are              they deal with member concerns about              or identify current trends and concerns
concerned not only for their own safety,           their future employment, particularly in          to our national office, then they will be
but about the service we give to our               provincial areas.                                 oblivious to what is really happening. All
community.” Sadly, he said, many staff                                                               members have a part to play. If your gut
were simply afraid to speak up about the             On such issues, it was in the advocacy          feeling tells you your mate is not right,
problem for fear of “not being on board”           space, said Timaru chair Paul Hampton,            either talk to them or advise someone who
and doing themselves out of a job.                 that the Association continued to prove its       can have that discussion.”

                                                                                                                                  AUGUST 2018 | 15
NOTEBOOK

                                                                             Keeping you up to date with evolving
THE TECH FILES                                                                   technology at work and at home

       An eye for details                                               The system has now been rolled out to 16 provinces.
                                                                          Skynet has a database of blacklisted individuals and officers

      I
            f you want the skinny on the best of surveillance and       are supplied with the name and address of each person. This
            security techniques, ask the Chinese.                       helps them identify and locate wanted people and can also
              China already lays claim to being the world’s largest     be used for intel gathering.
       surveillance state with about 170                                                                The specs look almost exactly
       million CCTV cameras keeping an eye                                                           like sunglasses from a distance,
       on its multitude of citizens.                                                                 making discrete observations
         Naturally enough, its police are all                                                        possible.
       over that technology and this year a                                                             Information gathered in such a
       new gadget has joined the ranks –                                                             way has raised concerns among
       smart glasses.                                                                                some human rights groups, which
         The concept that was dumped by                                                              have warned about China’s big-
       Google has been embraced by China,                                                            data “police cloud”.
       in sunglasses form.                                                                              For me, it’s about how that
         The tinted glasses are equipped with                                                        information can be used to keep
       facial recognition technology and                                                             people safe, and I like the idea
       hooked up to a national database,                                                             of having access to an extra
       powered by a system called Skynet.                                                            intelligent set of eyes – almost like
       Photos snapped by the glasses are compared against police        “having eyes in the back of your head”.
       intel to identify suspects, retrieve addresses and track the       I don’t suppose it will be in the next budget, though. The
       movement of people.                                              cost could be somewhere in the ballpark of NZ$2200 each,
         While it sounds spookily like something from the               even before the software development necessary to hook it
       Terminator movies, based on the reviews I have read, it has      up to NIA. – BEN RUTHERFORD
       the potential to be a real success story.
         Police trialled the specs over the Chinese New Year in
       February at a busy train station in the city of Zhengzhou and      Constable Ben Rutherford works in road policing and is an
       reportedly caught up to 35 people using fake IDs.                  administrator of the Christchurch Police Facebook page.

       Vintage tech                                                                                The classic gadgets from your
                                                                                                 youth are creating a buzz among

       in demand                                                                                 collectors who see them as
                                                                                                 representing a golden age of

       W
                    hile most people are looking                                                 innovation, particularly in gaming
                    to the future of technology,                                                 and music.
                    some are going back in time,                                                   A 1990s Tamagotchi digital pet
       searching out old-school devices such                                                     recently sold for NZ$1200 and a
       as Game Boys and Walkmans.                                                                first-generation Apple iPod from
         And it’s not just for the sake of nostalgia.                                            2001 has been listed for more
       Vintage tech from the 80s, 90s and even                                                   than NZ$23,000.
       early 2000s is selling for big money on                                                     Old Nokia phones, particularly
       overseas online trading sites.                                                            the 3310, are making a
         According to reports in Britain, an original Nintendo         comeback, partly because of their long battery life. Retro
       Game Boy that would have cost about NZ$120 in 1989,             PCs are also popular, with Apple Macintosh computers
       recently sold for NZ$1700 on eBay. It was in its original       dating back to 1984 selling for between NZ$2000 and
       polythene wrapping, but enthusiasts say that even an            NZ$3000 on eBay.
       unwrapped model in good condition might fetch about              It might be time to have a rummage around in the
       NZ$320.                                                         garage.

16 | AUGUST 2018
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