A refreshed national community policing initiative is being implemented by New Zealand Police in accordance with the NZ Police strategic goal of community reassurance. Over the years 2006/7 to 2008/9 250 new positions were allocated to community policing. NZ Police and Government needed to be informed of the effectiveness of this significant new investment and existing Community Policing initiatives were evaluated.
The purpose of the evaluations were to:
- provide an overview of the operation of the new initiatives;
- assess progress towards achieving the desired outcomes;
- outline the strengths and challenges of the initiatives; and
- determine ways the additional community policing positions contribute to the goals of the national community policing strategy.