Opinion: For years, the New Zealand Police used the catch phrase “Get better work stories” in recruitment campaigns, highlighting the fact that being in the police was meant to offer excitement, variety, and a sense of personal fulfilment.
Our police officers have generally been a guarded lot, loyal to the force, King and country and reluctant to air dirty laundry. That loyalty extends to not being able to strike, so it means when they’ve got not-so-good work stories to tell, they have to find some other ways.
So, this column is about what I’ve been told this week by a number of senior police officers who wish to remain anonymous. It’s fair to say that the “better work stories” no longer seem to exist this side of the Tasman, where the thin blue line seems to be very thin indeed.
Let’s start with something that is public. Chris Cahill, the president of the NZ Police Association, told me that we have 267 police vacancies right now. That shortage goes some of the way to explaining what others have told me: that police are having to say no to far too many callouts and because of this, feel like they’re letting NZers down every day.
Serious family incidents are, in some cases, either not being attended or taking days to get out to the house where the allegations came from. Let’s be clear, this hasn’t been the case for everybody and police do their utmost to show up to violent crimes. However, any delays have implications for public safety. Which brings me to retail thefts.
I asked Police Minister Mark Mitchell six months ago whether shop security guards and shopkeepers should have more powers to detain shoplifters. Mitchell said he’d look into it; there’s been nothing since. You might say the silence has been deafening.
Shopkeepers are likely better off using a power-less security guard, a trip wire and a bucket of instantly setting superglue that traps an offender and stops them from walking away. I hold little hope that greater powers of arrest will be given to anyone, and accompanied by the right training. Even then, it would be a dangerous thing to do.
I fear it will only get worse, given our police have a fresh incentive to walk away since their pay claim was rejected. Short staffed, feeling as if they’re not getting paid what they’re worth, and stressed about the impact of this on their fellow NZers, it means morale is incredibly low.
Not surprisingly, a number of cops have contacted me to say they’re looking at moving to Queensland. You can see why, when just three hours west (by plane) they arrive in a place where there’s more pay, perks and allowances.
Australian police were last year offering cops the opportunity to earn “more than” A$136,000 (NZ$148,127) in their first year – at least double what they could expect to earn here. That included a $20,000 relocation allowance and police in Northern Territory get free housing for as long as they serve. Free housing. It makes all the difference. The salary is yours to spend.
Relocation bonuses, free housing for a lifetime, perks and penal rates not available here and six weeks’ leave to boot - the sunshine comes free. Frankly, it surprises me that more haven’t left.
It’s thought 17 NZ officers quit and took up the offer from Northern Territory last year and despite NZ not keeping records of where our police officers depart to, Australian figures suggest about 20 former Kiwi officers now police in the far-flung north of Australia.
Australian Police say almost 80 NZ officers are now working in Queensland. Further south, in New South Wales, police start on A$80k and can be on more than A$100k within the first five years on the job. In Western Australia, with all allowances included, a police officer will start on a staggering $103,000. Our starting salary of $72,000 just doesn’t compete.
I wrote earlier this year about how a train or bus driver will earn more in Sydney than an NZ police officer with 10 years’ experience makes here. One police officer, who has served for 10 years and who has asked to remain anonymous, says he’s on $92,000 after his superannuation comes out. That’s the same salary as an Australian officer in their second year on the job in Queensland.
It completely shattered this officer who told me he loves his job, doesn’t mind the night shift, the long hours or the abuse from the criminals. He says he can deal with most things but he’s no longer sure he has the heart or patience to continue putting up with his own organisation.
One officer emailed me to say he’s 30 years old, has a long-term partner and has been lucky enough to afford their own small new-build home. They’d like to get married and start a family, but there’s just no money for that.
“We’re struggling,” they wrote, adding that since arbitration went against the police in their long-running pay negotiations, wages won’t keep pace with inflation. “My pay is now actually worth slightly less in purchasing power. To hear that the arbitrator says that when making her decision, she took into account that police and the government essentially ‘have no money left’ is ridiculous and insulting. “Imagine, Duncan, if I came to you and asked for a small loan on your payday … then you get to your last day before payday and you respond saying ‘sorry got no money’.”
They went on to write that they felt betrayed by the government, especially when they voted on the basis that this government would have the police’s best interests at its heart. They want to know how much was spent on contractors and reports for the drawn-out negotiations. They ended with this:
“I’ve applied for Queensland Police Service this morning and I’ll be taking myself over the ditch for some opportunities and a new start. I would have actually loved to have stayed here and I love New Zealand but I can’t take any more of the almost embarrassing flogging of the country’s backbone service. I need better.”
It’s sobering stuff.
Surely we have to drag ourselves onto a playing field where we can compete with the Aussies, not simply just hand over our best and brightest NZ trained officers? It’s called investment in people. Now, our government faces the prospect of having to spend money recruiting and training more officers who, in a vicious cycle, might well decide they’re better off across the ditch. The cycle begins again.
So, why not break it – and do some long-term good – by “frontloading” and save those officers, who would much prefer to stay but are fleeing because of finances, by giving them a decent pay rise?
Right now, NZ police officers feel shafted by a government they thought would be different. Planting our heads in the sand and pretending this unfolding crisis doesn’t exist is the worst thing we can do.
This is a time for someone with leadership skills and a backbone to do something remarkable and different. Is there anybody – like our prime minister or the minister of police - out there and willing to take action?
