To help boost numbers of wāhine in blue, parts of the recruitment process had to change. Photo / Peter de Graaf
By Ashleigh McCaull of RNZ
Wāhine Māori police graduates say they can help make a difference in their communities as a record number join the force this year amid a drive for more diversity.
Out of 70 constables who graduated in Wing 355 on Thursday, 24 are wāhine Māori - a record number.
In 2017 there were only 22 out of the entire year's 496 graduates.
Commissioner Andrew Coster called it a good sign but he recognised there was still a way to go.
"It's fundamentally important that when New Zealanders look at their police service they can see themselves in it," Coster said.
"We deal with really diverse communities with really diverse problems and the best way for us to properly understand what's happening inside those communities is to be able to have insight from our own people and that's what that's all about."
Graduate Chanya-Rose Ruka was very clear about why she joined the force.
"I had a lot of family trauma, a lot of abuse that happened in my family," Chanya-Rose said.
"So if there was ever an encounter with police it'll be for that reason and in honesty all the police encounters that I've had have been really really just so inspirational. They've always been there to help and it didn't take me long to realise that I wanted to be that person as well."
That was echoed by another graduate, Sophia Herewini, who said it was important to have more wāhine officers who understood Tikanga Māori and could better connect with Māori communities.
But to help boost numbers of wāhine in blue, she said parts of the recruitment process had to change.
"There are some harsher things, especially within backgrounds of certain wāhine and just Māori in general with family. So, if they could look past their family history and just focus on the person themselves 'cause everyone is their own person."
The campaign to recruit more wāhine is called Puhikura.
The documentary series features five women reflecting on their trials and tribulations to get them to where they are now.
Anamia Paul, who is currently applying to join the force and went to the campaign launch in Lower Hutt, wants to help put her community at ease.
"When I grew up cops were the ones that you didn't want to see and whenever we did it was because something bad had happened, and it was always a white male. None of us felt comfortable near cops or anything like that. I think as a kid I would have felt way more comfortable if I saw a Māori woman standing there in the uniform as well as the Pākehā men that were there."
Police last year launched an investigation into "unconscious bias" against Māori, but refused to say it was an inquiry into racism.
People Against Prisons Aotearoa spokeswoman Emilie Rākete said adding more wāhine Māori into the force was a cop-out.
"They are trying to counter the perception that they are a racist organisation," she said.
"It's a factual perception that the police are a racist organisation. Every year they release data showing how they use violence and we can see that for that entire decade Māori have been seven to eight times more likely than Pākehā to be the victims of police violence."
- RNZ
Te Pāti Māori has been advised of the committee's decision.