Police ‘prevention first' wins 2014 Public Sector Excellence Awards

The New Zealand Police ‘Prevention First’ programme won the Prime Minister's Award at the IPANZ Gen-i Public Sector Excellence Awards held in Wellington last night.

The goal of ‘Prevention first’ is to redirect Police resources so that crime and crash prevention is at the forefront of everything Police do, ultimately enabling them to provide a better service to their communities. At the heart of this is encouraging all staff to look at prevention opportunities as part of their everyday work.

As a result, crime prevention activities have increased by more than 5% – this in turn has led to an increase in visibility of Police within communities and a 17.5% reduction in crime.

“This is a great example of an organisation that has responded to the call for “smarter, better public services for less,” said IPANZ President John Larkindale. “By challenging the accepted methods, they have transformed the way they operate to deliver better services to New Zealanders.”

The programme also won the Excellence Award for Improving Public Value through Business Transformation. Phil Royal, Wellington managing partner and government leader of PwC said, “Having assisted Police in the initial stages of this transformation, the extent of the culture change undertaken cannot be underestimated. The intelligence-led, risk-based approach to policing is world-leading.”

Promoted by IPANZ and Gen-i, the annual Public Sector Excellence Awards recognise and reward outstanding performances and achievements in the New Zealand public sector. The awards attracted 77 entries from 40 different organisations this year.

Tim Miles, CEO of awards sponsor Gen-i, congratulated the winners, adding theirachievements demonstrate that innovation and a commitment to excellence is thriving in the public sector.

“Gen-i is proud to have been supporting these awards since their inception in 2008, and to once again honour the exceptional talent demonstrated by tonight’s winners. It’s great to see how the level of award entries has grown year on year, reflecting the exponential growth in creative thinking and high performance within New Zealand’s public sector,” said Mr Miles.

Phil Royal, of event sponsor PwC added, “The winners have shown excellence in implementing proactive, forward-thinking projects that will create a legacy for the next generation public service.

“Celebrating these successes shows us we have a vibrant and innovative public sector that we should all be very proud of,” concluded Mr Royal.

2014 Award winners in each category:

Improving Public Value through Business Transformation and PRIME MINISTER'S AWARD

Police Model – Prevention First; New Zealand Police

Crown - Maori Relationships

Ngati Haua settlement of non-Raupatu historical claims; Ministry of Justice

Integrity and Trust

Leading by backing others to win; Ministry of Education

Improving Performance through Leadership Excellence

Joint winners
Transition: a cross-agency leadership development programme; New Zealand Police, Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand Defence Force, Inland Revenue

Management development programme for middle managers – Western Bay of Plenty District Council

Digital Government
Infrastructure as a service common capability; Department of Internal Affairs

Public Sector Communications

Safer Summer – speed enforcement campaign; New Zealand Police

Achieving Collective Impact

Hutt Valley Justice Sector innovation project; Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Police, Department of Corrections

Excellence in Regulatory Systems

Alternative environmental justice – Environment Canterbury

Poster Award for excellence in design of supporting poster

The Hazardous Substances Toolbox and public awareness campaign, Environmental Protection Authority

Details on all of the 2014 winners are at www.ipanz.org.nz/excellenceawards

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