Stuart Nash
MP for Napier
Police Spokesperson

22 September 2016

Police in the provinces are dissatisfied

Police in the cities of Gisborne, Napier and Hastings are a lot more unhappy than their big city cousins says Labour’s Police Spokesman Stuart Nash.

“In fact the top four districts for enjoyable work within NZ Police are Auckland City, Counties Manukau, Canterbury and Waitemata districts. The fact that big city police appear far more engaged than their provincial counterparts is a surprise

“Results from the 2016 Police Workplace Survey paint a concerning picture of disengagement and dissatisfaction in the provinces with the bottom four police districts, Eastern, Central, Tasman and Northland.

“The districts that ranked bottom as an enjoyable place to work also ranked the question ‘Communication in my District is open and honest’ and ‘NZ Police is interested in the views and opinions of its staff’ lowest. This is a worry and needs to be fixed as an organisation.

“The lowest Auckland City District came top in terms of satisfaction in eight of the ten 'Key Driver Questions' in the Workplace survey, whereas Eastern came bottom in six out of the ten questions and Northland came bottom in three of the ten.

"What this also indicates is that when Judith Collins delivers on her promise to increase police numbers she can't forget the provinces, because this is where the majority of the disengaged and unhappy staff are.

"The Minister needs to gain a much better understanding of why there is such a high level of dissatisfaction in the regions compared to the big cities. This is a worrying trend that needs to be addressed before we see a mass exodus of unhappy police from the regions,” says Stuart Nash.

ends

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