WEBVTT - Inside NZ's Police college: A leadership shakeup, target backdown, and new cops 'barely' equipped

0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:08.719
<v Speaker 1>Chioda. I'm Chelsea Daniels and This is the Front Page,

0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:16.279
<v Speaker 1>a daily podcast presented by The New Zealand Herald. There's

0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:20.440
<v Speaker 1>been a leadership shakeup at the Royal New Zealand Police

0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:25.720
<v Speaker 1>College after a recruiting debacle. It's while a newly released

0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:30.200
<v Speaker 1>survey of training officers has found two thirds were concerned

0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:36.600
<v Speaker 1>about probationary cops understanding of police responsibilities when holding suspects

0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.560
<v Speaker 1>and custody. It also found fifty five percent of them

0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.960
<v Speaker 1>feel new cops were barely or not at all well

0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:49.239
<v Speaker 1>equipped with knowledge of arrest and charge procedures. All of

0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.920
<v Speaker 1>this while the government is slowly backing away from its

0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.200
<v Speaker 1>hardline promise of five hundred new cops on the beat

0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:01.360
<v Speaker 1>by November. And at Herald, senior investigative porter Michael Mourra

0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.200
<v Speaker 1>has been looking into the police recruitment process and joins

0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:11.080
<v Speaker 1>us now on the Front Page. First off, Mike, tell

0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:12.440
<v Speaker 1>me a little bit about this survey.

0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.199
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So, the survey got the views of two hundred

0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:21.399
<v Speaker 2>and thirty senior training officers or very experienced police officers

0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:25.840
<v Speaker 2>and sought their feedback on the competency and standards of

0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.440
<v Speaker 2>the product that was coming out of the Police College,

0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.280
<v Speaker 2>ie the recruits were they up to scratch?

0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:32.479
<v Speaker 3>It was a.

0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.399
<v Speaker 2>March survey, so very recent and a look back over

0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.600
<v Speaker 2>a six month period in two hundred and thirty senior

0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.600
<v Speaker 2>police giving their opinion is obviously, you know, pretty substantial.

0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.720
<v Speaker 2>So the survey in summary showed that there was many

0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:50.080
<v Speaker 2>areas where police recruits coming out onto frontline duties were

0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:54.720
<v Speaker 2>performing reasonably, okay, adequately or in the survey's words.

0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:55.240
<v Speaker 3>Quite well.

0:01:55.480 --> 0:02:00.320
<v Speaker 2>And that was driving firearms, tactical gear like use of

0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:04.280
<v Speaker 2>pepper spray and tases, and road policing. Those were all,

0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.080
<v Speaker 2>you know, pretty okay. But then there was some really

0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:13.560
<v Speaker 2>concerning findings which were related to what many would see

0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.399
<v Speaker 2>as relatively basic policing. So there were issues with custodial

0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.840
<v Speaker 2>duties i e. What are the rules and procedures for

0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:26.040
<v Speaker 2>holding a suspect in custody. There were issues around arrest

0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:31.000
<v Speaker 2>and charging procedures, and use of police systems like the

0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.440
<v Speaker 2>NEAR application, which is the National Intelligence Application. This is

0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.880
<v Speaker 2>the database that police officers can look up and find

0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:42.480
<v Speaker 2>out addresses, convictions, any other intelligence about a suspect.

0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:44.639
<v Speaker 3>So all of those areas.

0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:48.440
<v Speaker 2>And particularly file preparation, that was the worst came in

0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:52.440
<v Speaker 2>for pretty bad scrutiny. Essentially, the senior police who were

0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.320
<v Speaker 2>taking part found that in all of those areas, the

0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.640
<v Speaker 2>new recruits coming out onto the front line were either

0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:03.520
<v Speaker 2>barely prepared or not well at all prepared in those roles.

0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.399
<v Speaker 1>Right, So, when we talk about things like, say, procedures

0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.480
<v Speaker 1>for making an arrest or laying charges, is that kind

0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:12.440
<v Speaker 1>of like the Miranda rights thing that we see on

0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:13.680
<v Speaker 1>NCIS or something.

0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:18.480
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly, So it could be anything from the requirement

0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.800
<v Speaker 2>to read to suspect their rights. You also have to

0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:25.680
<v Speaker 2>inform them precisely the reason why they're being arrested. In

0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:31.520
<v Speaker 2>other cases, if you executing a warrant and arresting someone

0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.760
<v Speaker 2>with a warrant it requested, you must provide that warrant

0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.040
<v Speaker 2>within a reasonable timeframe to the suspect. And there's a

0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.600
<v Speaker 2>whole lot of other things that I'm not really aware of.

0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.040
<v Speaker 2>I'm not a cop, But yeah, it's those procedures around

0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.880
<v Speaker 2>the arrest in laying charges potentially, also that the administrative

0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:54.160
<v Speaker 2>work involved in that and quite a few gaps in that.

0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.280
<v Speaker 2>In fact, more than fifty percent of respondents felt that

0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.480
<v Speaker 2>the new police on the front line were barely equipped

0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.320
<v Speaker 2>or not well at all equipped in those areas of

0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.640
<v Speaker 2>making arrests and laying charges, which is you know, relatively

0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.200
<v Speaker 2>concerning and will certainly give the bosses at the Police

0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:13.480
<v Speaker 2>College and the executive level food for thought in terms

0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:14.680
<v Speaker 2>of going forward.

0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:16.680
<v Speaker 1>Well, you can be the best driver in the world,

0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.680
<v Speaker 1>you can be the best at pepper spraying in the world,

0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:23.000
<v Speaker 1>but if you can't get those charges correct and do

0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.200
<v Speaker 1>the paperwork involved, it all falls falls down in court,

0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:26.720
<v Speaker 1>doesn't it.

0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So file preparation was by far the most serious.

0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:33.920
<v Speaker 2>This is the this is the report we got under

0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:39.960
<v Speaker 2>the Official Information Act and file preparation. It is eighty

0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.880
<v Speaker 2>three percent of respondents. So you know, that's well over

0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.599
<v Speaker 2>one hundred and twenty police who were part of the survey.

0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:52.159
<v Speaker 2>Their findings are that the officers coming out of the

0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:55.920
<v Speaker 2>college were barely or not at all well prepared in

0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.800
<v Speaker 2>those respects. So file preparation, as you say, that might

0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.920
<v Speaker 2>be making a witness statement from someone. It might be

0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.839
<v Speaker 2>a witness, it might be an offender. All of that stuff,

0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.479
<v Speaker 2>that paperwork, how you make those notes, where those notes

0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.400
<v Speaker 2>are filed, what you do after you've done that interview.

0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.080
<v Speaker 2>All that stuff has to be logged. Then is of

0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:22.039
<v Speaker 2>course the file preparation, but file preparation also relates to

0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.200
<v Speaker 2>going to court. It also relates to the chain of

0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:31.480
<v Speaker 2>evidence during investigations into serious crime. If you don't get

0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:33.839
<v Speaker 2>that stuff right and you get all the way to

0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.479
<v Speaker 2>court and you get a fancy defense lawyer, then they

0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.560
<v Speaker 2>will rip police apart and the case will fall apart,

0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:42.920
<v Speaker 2>and a lot of effort goes into that, and so

0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.960
<v Speaker 2>that is clearly an area that they must improve on.

0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:51.600
<v Speaker 4>Look, they've pointed out a number of areas that we

0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.599
<v Speaker 4>need to pick up and improve, and as we go

0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.159
<v Speaker 4>forwards what they've shown us and what we've seen in

0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.599
<v Speaker 4>other evaluations, we'll be pulling together and looking at whereas

0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.320
<v Speaker 4>our best investment in terms of enhancing and improving training.

0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.240
<v Speaker 4>Their feedback is really really valuable because they're on the

0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:07.960
<v Speaker 4>front line with the probationary comp So.

0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:11.440
<v Speaker 2>Does their feedback result in actual change here at the

0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:12.840
<v Speaker 2>college to improve.

0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:14.880
<v Speaker 4>Yes, So we've got a review team underway at the moment.

0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.039
<v Speaker 4>He'll be looking to put in place some improvements to

0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.560
<v Speaker 4>our current curriculum early next year, and we'll be doing

0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:20.560
<v Speaker 4>some longer term work.

0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.120
<v Speaker 1>You've spoken to the Royal and z Police College Director

0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:31.000
<v Speaker 1>Superintendent Sam Keats. Now he's pretty new in the role. Hey,

0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:31.920
<v Speaker 1>what did he have to say.

0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he's only actually been director for six weeks at

0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:39.279
<v Speaker 2>the college, so very new. But I think he was

0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.000
<v Speaker 2>very very clear during the interview we had that there

0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.039
<v Speaker 2>are going to be changes to the course at the

0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:51.160
<v Speaker 2>Police College as a result of this feedback. He couldn't

0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:56.120
<v Speaker 2>precisely say which areas needed to be tweaked, but of

0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.200
<v Speaker 2>course you when you look at far preparation and procedures

0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.760
<v Speaker 2>for arrest charges, those are obviously key areas that they

0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:06.400
<v Speaker 2>would be looking at. The other thing that I think

0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.680
<v Speaker 2>will be up for some debate at the moment is

0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:13.640
<v Speaker 2>just the duration that police spend at Police College. At

0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:18.000
<v Speaker 2>the moment, it's twenty weeks that was on Mark Mitchell's call,

0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:22.480
<v Speaker 2>increased from sixteen earlier this year, so slightly longer. But

0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.280
<v Speaker 2>we in New Zealand still have one of the lowest

0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.280
<v Speaker 2>training periods in the world according to the Police Association,

0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:34.880
<v Speaker 2>and Chris Carhill told me that essentially he doesn't think

0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.680
<v Speaker 2>twenty weeks is long enough. He'd like to see another

0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:42.960
<v Speaker 2>month added on. He also had concerns about the I

0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:47.880
<v Speaker 2>guess real life and environment of training, you know, actually

0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.920
<v Speaker 2>getting out to a station during that time that you're

0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.360
<v Speaker 2>within the confines of the college to see what policing

0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.520
<v Speaker 2>on the frontline is really about.

0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.000
<v Speaker 3>Now, Sam Keats told me at the moment.

0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:05.160
<v Speaker 2>There is a one week deployment out of that twenty weeks,

0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:10.600
<v Speaker 2>and listening to Tasha Penny from Police who's also made

0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.840
<v Speaker 2>comments on this story, I think that is an area

0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:18.960
<v Speaker 2>where she would like to see more time actually spent

0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:24.800
<v Speaker 2>in practical operational mode as opposed to reading books in

0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:27.880
<v Speaker 2>the police college. And Sam Keats is certainly open to

0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:32.600
<v Speaker 2>making changes in relation to making it more practical in

0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:35.160
<v Speaker 2>terms of the training, and he's also open to the

0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:41.040
<v Speaker 2>idea without making any sort of confirmation that the duration

0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.280
<v Speaker 2>of the time recruits spend there could increase.

0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:49.040
<v Speaker 1>Well, that duration actually surprised me. Twenty weeks and you

0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:52.640
<v Speaker 1>get handed a taser and a police car at the

0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:54.960
<v Speaker 1>end of it. I mean, I don't know how long

0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.480
<v Speaker 1>you spent studying to be a journalist, but I think

0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:58.800
<v Speaker 1>mine was three years.

0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:00.720
<v Speaker 3>I spent four.

0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.640
<v Speaker 2>But I think what you need to look at for

0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.080
<v Speaker 2>this is that you know, and Sam Keyes pointed this

0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.880
<v Speaker 2>out when we were speaking, is that when a recruit

0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:14.080
<v Speaker 2>has graduated from police College and they've done their twenty

0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.960
<v Speaker 2>weeks and they have the ceremony and they are then

0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:23.840
<v Speaker 2>dispersed to whichever district they're going to. It's not like

0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.680
<v Speaker 2>they are just left to their own devices. And sam

0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.120
<v Speaker 2>Keats words that the training aspect of the college is

0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:35.120
<v Speaker 2>just the beginning of the learning, because technically, once you're

0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:39.560
<v Speaker 2>on the front line, you are a probationary constable i e.

0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.600
<v Speaker 2>A junior for a two year period and during that

0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:47.960
<v Speaker 2>time you are supposed to be receiving mentoring and oversight

0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.120
<v Speaker 2>from senior police. I guess the question is is a

0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:52.880
<v Speaker 2>senior police officer looking after you.

0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.880
<v Speaker 3>The whole time? Well, I doubt it, because.

0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.000
<v Speaker 1>They've gone and taken a job in Northern Territory or something.

0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:04.319
<v Speaker 2>Well potentially, but you can't always, even as a probationary constable,

0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.240
<v Speaker 2>expect that a senior field training officer is going to

0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.080
<v Speaker 2>be your wingman all the time. But certainly you know

0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.240
<v Speaker 2>that there is this period once you're on the front

0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.920
<v Speaker 2>line that there is feedback and there is oversight.

0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.800
<v Speaker 1>When asked about this on Herald Now this week, Prime

0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.040
<v Speaker 1>Minister Christopher Luckson said, sort of it feels a little

0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.600
<v Speaker 1>bit also like you know a lot of workplaces where

0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:34.120
<v Speaker 1>the new generation is never quite as good as the

0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:35.680
<v Speaker 1>old generation. What did you think of that?

0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:36.480
<v Speaker 4>Oh?

0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.720
<v Speaker 2>Well, I think I don't really buy into that sort

0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:40.240
<v Speaker 2>of comment.

0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:43.880
<v Speaker 1>I think that bit of a boomer comment, isn't it.

0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.640
<v Speaker 2>Well, it is a bit of a boomer comment, But

0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.240
<v Speaker 2>I mean, yeah, I guess you could kind of make

0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.640
<v Speaker 2>that argument. But the point here is that the senior police,

0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:54.640
<v Speaker 2>the experienced police, they are the ones in the know.

0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.680
<v Speaker 2>And the fact of the matter is is that doing

0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.400
<v Speaker 2>surveys like this if you want to and pre the

0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.920
<v Speaker 2>standards of police that we're putting out on the streets

0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.720
<v Speaker 2>in New Zealand, is critical because otherwise how do you

0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:11.520
<v Speaker 2>actually improve or tweak or adapt the program that they're learning.

0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:15.360
<v Speaker 2>So look, I don't really buy into that comment. I

0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.520
<v Speaker 2>think it's more or less a throwaway remark, to be honest.

0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.840
<v Speaker 2>You know, this is clearly an important survey and it's

0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.880
<v Speaker 2>one that is going to prompt changes, and those changes,

0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.600
<v Speaker 2>according to Superintendent Sam Keats, will be made by early

0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:31.160
<v Speaker 2>next year.

0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.520
<v Speaker 1>And he gave us a tiny bit of insight into

0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:37.920
<v Speaker 1>this whole five hundred offices by November deadline.

0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:42.080
<v Speaker 2>Right, well, essentially the the you know, the national government

0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.280
<v Speaker 2>has had this target right, five hundred police. It was

0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.080
<v Speaker 2>always by the end of November. As the months have

0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:52.040
<v Speaker 2>gone on over this year, over the last six months especially,

0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:56.320
<v Speaker 2>it's gone from oh, look, you know, we're not sure

0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.920
<v Speaker 2>if we'll meet that deadline. I can't comment on that,

0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:02.280
<v Speaker 2>to hey, we're not too worried if it doesn't mean that,

0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.600
<v Speaker 2>And now the Prime Minister is actually essentially saying that

0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.520
<v Speaker 2>that target is dead in the water and that we'll

0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.640
<v Speaker 2>get there. When they get there, he'll say it may

0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:15.160
<v Speaker 2>take a couple more months until we get that extra

0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:19.400
<v Speaker 2>five hundred police on the front line. So he's left

0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.040
<v Speaker 2>himself a bit of riggle room. But obviously this is

0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.839
<v Speaker 2>politically embarrassing because it was a key commitment.

0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.600
<v Speaker 3>We know that law and order.

0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:35.120
<v Speaker 2>Is a national party and coalition plank, central plank of

0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.960
<v Speaker 2>their election and so when you're promising that we're going

0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.600
<v Speaker 2>to do this and you failed to deliver, it doesn't

0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.000
<v Speaker 2>look great. And so that the narrative, if you like,

0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:46.480
<v Speaker 2>from our politicians has been changing over the past few

0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:52.480
<v Speaker 2>months until you know, just recently on Herald now essentially

0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:54.920
<v Speaker 2>the PM saying nah, November is not.

0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:55.360
<v Speaker 3>Going to happen.

0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:59.520
<v Speaker 1>And we've spoken about concerns with the recruitment process before.

0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.880
<v Speaker 1>I think at the end of June, basically applicants being

0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:07.760
<v Speaker 1>led into college via exemptions, not passing fitness tests, struggling

0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.880
<v Speaker 1>through English language tests. Has there been any update on.

0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:16.760
<v Speaker 3>This, Well, yes, today, I've got emails.

0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.920
<v Speaker 2>This was around the period where I broke the story

0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:25.120
<v Speaker 2>about applicants who were applying to get into Police College

0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:31.200
<v Speaker 2>and the fact that they were bypassing or being exempted

0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.400
<v Speaker 2>from certain tests. When you were applying to get into

0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:36.480
<v Speaker 2>Police College, there are a whole lot of things you

0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.680
<v Speaker 2>have to do. You can't just rock up and say I, Mike,

0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.080
<v Speaker 2>I want to start at Police College. You know there's

0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.880
<v Speaker 2>background checks, et cetera. But you have to do psychometric testing,

0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:49.160
<v Speaker 2>you have to do a fitness test, you have to

0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:54.760
<v Speaker 2>pass literacy so English. Now, of course we know that

0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.120
<v Speaker 2>after that story and we revealed that there was problems

0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:02.480
<v Speaker 2>with the fitness test, that staff being exempted. This big

0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.120
<v Speaker 2>audit was undertaken and by Police, an internal audit to

0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.720
<v Speaker 2>find out how widespread the problems were, and of course

0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.640
<v Speaker 2>the audit found that they were very widespread. In fact,

0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.280
<v Speaker 2>it was common practice, in the words of the author

0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:19.040
<v Speaker 2>of the audit, that exemptions or discretionary decisions were being made,

0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:21.840
<v Speaker 2>including by some of the top ranked police in the

0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:25.560
<v Speaker 2>country who were exempting these applicants. So the emails I've

0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:30.040
<v Speaker 2>got were in May here from Richard Chambers where he

0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.960
<v Speaker 2>really clearly sets the tone saying changes needed.

0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.800
<v Speaker 3>We need to be bold, quick and clinical.

0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.160
<v Speaker 2>He talks about culture at the Royal New Zealand Police

0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.640
<v Speaker 2>College and says, I believe the college may be struggling

0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.360
<v Speaker 2>with its identity. This is a question of values, pride

0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:52.440
<v Speaker 2>and brand on standards. He's obviously very clear speaks for

0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:54.400
<v Speaker 2>itself and I'm the view that we need to make

0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.480
<v Speaker 2>some changes that make this very clear from the start.

0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:03.240
<v Speaker 2>So what's happened here is that there's been this embarrassing

0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:07.400
<v Speaker 2>revelation about police officers are not up to scratch getting

0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:12.320
<v Speaker 2>into college anyway. Subsequent to that, the Commissioner has come

0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.120
<v Speaker 2>in and said right, things need to change.

0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.240
<v Speaker 3>And what we know now is.

0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:22.200
<v Speaker 2>That the leadership at the Police College has been completely overhauled.

0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.520
<v Speaker 2>As I mentioned, Superintendent Sam Keats is in there. He's

0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.400
<v Speaker 2>only been six weeks in the role. He has taken

0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.920
<v Speaker 2>over from an acting director who took over from another

0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.040
<v Speaker 2>director who was in place before her.

0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:37.240
<v Speaker 3>Sam.

0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.680
<v Speaker 2>Superintendent Sam Keats has also got a whole lot of

0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:44.240
<v Speaker 2>other new leaders around him, so the message is pretty

0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.960
<v Speaker 2>clear from the police executive. They're not happy about how

0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.480
<v Speaker 2>this has played out, and they have launched into quite

0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:56.560
<v Speaker 2>a big overhaul at the Police College in terms of leadership,

0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.880
<v Speaker 2>decision making and oversight of the quality.

0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:01.640
<v Speaker 3>Of our place.

0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:03.720
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Mike.

0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:04.600
<v Speaker 3>Thank you.

0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.720
<v Speaker 1>That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You

0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:15.640
<v Speaker 1>can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage

0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.760
<v Speaker 1>at enzidherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is

0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.240
<v Speaker 1>produced by Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who is also

0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.920
<v Speaker 1>our editor. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to The Front Page

0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.560
<v Speaker 1>on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune

0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.640
<v Speaker 1>in tomorrow for another look behind the headlines.