Te Kūiti gets visit from police commissioner

The Commissioner of New Zealand Police has a better understanding of what policing looks like in the King Country after a visit to Te Kūiti last week.

After speaking to media in Hamilton about the outcome of the Independent Police Conduct Authority report into last year’s protest at Parliament, Andrew Coster left all the cities behind to meet the team on the ground in Te Kūiti.

“It’s really nice to hear from the team about what’s on their minds. They seem to be going very well,” he said.

Andrew Coster became Commissioner of Police three years ago in April 2020 and is based in Wellington.

He said he tried to visit as many stations around the country as he could in the course of a year, but this was the first time he had been to Te Kūiti.

This was a deliberate trip to see Te Kūiti, with Tokoroa and the Bay of Plenty next on the agenda.

“It can be a bit of a challenge to break away from the other things that need to be done, to do the visits – but it’s really important,” he said.

“It gives you a good sense of how the front line is going and you will always pick up on something that you take back, whether it’s positive feedback or something we can work on.”

Andrew said he was particularly interested to hear how the rural officer position, filled locally by Collette Corley, was going in terms of building community relationships.

“It’s quite an exciting initiative I think for an area like this, which has such a big rural element.”

The commissioner said local staff had done a good job of building relationships with their community.

“These small stations are good, really. They typify that kind of relationship you want to see between police and the community, because people get to know each other [and] word of mouth ensures local police understand the views of the local community.

“That works well in this sized place.”

Andrew’s visit coincided with a day Te Kūiti District Court was in session, meaning there was more than usual happening on the police station’s doorstep.

“It’s great to hear there’s a connection between our prosecution section and the staff here, which always helps them keep lifting the quality of what they do.”

Waikato West Area Commander Will Loughrin, who was also at the meeting, said it was good for the commissioner to engage with the local team and get the opportunity to hear their particularly rural perspective.

“We always welcome it and it’s great when the commissioner gets out and about so staff ... get to talk to the boss and just explain what their role looks like and all the really good stuff we do in the community.”