KEY POINTS:
Almost a quarter of New Zealand's police officers are unhappy in their jobs, and another two-thirds are merely going through the motions at work, a survey of police morale has found.
The $187,500 survey - the result of a recommendation made during the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct after the Louise Nicholas case last year - reveals a police force in which many officers are "psychologically absent" from the job.
The results have shocked senior police.
The Gallup Employee Engagement Survey, obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act, revealed that only 13 per cent of police staff were loyal and committed to the job.
The average over New Zealand's working population is 25 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, 22 per cent of police were so unhappy in their work situation that they were "psychologically absent" and insisted on sharing their unhappiness with colleagues.
Heavy workloads, lack of staff and resources and poor management were given as the main reasons stopping officers doing their best.
A separate survey of CIB staff, completed months before the overall survey of sworn and non-sworn staff throughout the organisation, produced similar results.
The overall survey findings put the police force in the bottom quarter of the 455 organisations around the world that have been the subject of such surveys in the past three years.
Police Association president Greg O'Connor said the findings were no surprise to police officers, who had been expressing their concern for years.
"You can't fix a problem until you acknowledge it, and that is the real positive for us that has come out of this."
Police managers say they accept the results and are working to make improvements, starting with three main areas identified in the survey.
They are giving staff more recognition for work well done, ensuring officers have resources to do the job and improving the trust staff have in the organisation to be fair to them.
Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope said the survey was a chance for staff to have an honest say about what was working well in the police and what could be done better.
But there would be no "quick fix" to the problems.
"We are seeking to improve the way we do things, and this initial survey provides us with a baseline against which to measure our progress," he said.
Mr Pope said the New Zealand police force was the first in the world to be audited by Gallup.
The survey would be a "powerful tool for driving and measuring change in police culture".
"The findings of future surveys will be used to plan and assess work designed to improve the working environment for all police staff."
Mr O'Connor said a breakdown of the survey findings showed staff at the communications centres were happy, and that was a key for management looking to make improvements.
"They have just had $45 million spent on them," he said.
"Now comms are in quite a reasonable shape and that's reflected in the survey because they had some investment put into them.
"We would like to think thatwe could do that for the rest of the organisation."
National Party police spokesman Chester Borrows said the findings backed what he had been hearing for some time about officers feeling "undervalued and overworked".
He urged Police Minister Annette King to tell officers that she would urgently address the situation.
Ms King said the survey was a matter for police to comment on, but it was a benchmark for the organisation to measure itself against in the future.
Detectives share the glum mood
For every contented member of the overworked CIB, there are four unhappy detectives who are physically present but "psychologically absent".
The low morale stems from officers' feeling that they are not able to do what they do best every day, partly because of what they see as lack of resources and management support.
The findings, from last year's Gallup CIB Engagement Survey, have shocked top police officers, who see them as a much-needed "wake-up call".
"There's some good things but from my perspective it's not pretty," said the national crime manager, Detective Superintendent Win van der Velde.
"I think there's a lot of things we can do better and that's what's being introduced now."
Police Association president Greg O'Connor said a 2006 survey produced similar findings, but was met with scepticism by police management.
"We told them they had a problem and there was some criticism of our methodology so police then embarked on their own CIB survey which - surprise, surprise - came back with the same findings at great expense."
The new $67,500 survey found 27 per cent of CIB staff were actively disengaged from the job - meaning they were unhappy at work and shared their unhappiness with colleagues.
Sixty-seven per cent were productive at work but not psychologically connected to the police force.
But although only 6 per cent were happy and committed to the police, Mr O'Connor said, the majority of CIB staff were doing a good job.
He said the survey found that they were committed to their immediate bosses and had respect for their colleagues. They were also committed to their files and the victims they were ultimately working for.
An experienced member of the CIB told the Herald his colleagues were overworked and experiencing low morale, but they still investigated cases with a passion.
CIB ENGAGEMENT
* Engaged - 6%
* Not engaged - 67%
* Actively disengaged - 27%
