John Wilson: Outcomes improve as police work evolves

John Wilson when he joined the police in 1988.

In late 1988 a much younger version of myself arrived at the Royal New Zealand Police College to begin my recruit training.

That's now more than 25 years ago. I have certainly changed, so has the world, and because of this, so has policing.

Back then policing in New Zealand was divided up between the "Police" and the "Ministry of Transport". This meant the roads were policed by the traffic officers and the police did everything else. Police cars were white and had blue lights, traffic cars were black and white and had red lights. We got along pretty well, and in a city like Rotorua knew each other and backed each other up when we needed to.

In what I now see as a natural progression, in the early 1990s the government decided to amalgamate Police and MOT. This took effect on July 1 1992. The result is what is seen today with "one force" doing everything.

By way of another comparison, personal safety equipment when I left the Police College consisted of a (very) small wooden baton, and a PR24 (long baton). When you came out of Police College you were sent out to walk the beat (by yourself) and so you learned to talk to people. You soon realised that you were way better off learning how to communicate with people, rather that trying to make them do what you want by force. Twenty-five years on, I count myself lucky that I have never been badly assaulted and have only had to use my baton once.

Now when you leave the Police College you get: Stab Resistant Body Armour, Asp Baton, Pepper spray, and have available to you a Taser.

In the old days often we would deal with dangerous situations armed only with a notebook and force of personality!

Then, and now, unfortunately "domestics" formed a significant portion of the work of the frontline officer. There was a standard response when attending the scene, separating the parties, and sometimes that was it. Our response now is much improved, with dedicated officers working in conjunction with partner agencies to make real changes.

So, yes, things have changed in the police force, but after 25 years, I still think it is the best job ever.

Detective Sergeant John Wilson has been a member of the Rotorua CIB for several years.