The iwi community panel initiative Te Pae Oranga has taken out the Supreme Award at this year’s national Evidence-based Problem Oriented Policing (EBPOP) Awards.
Te Pae Oranga, administered by Police’s Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services group and iwi partners, was recognised for its success in using restorative community processes to keep people out of the courts for low-level offending, while holding them accountable for their actions and addressing the underlying causes of their behaviour.
The Evidence Based Problem Oriented Policing Conference and Awards final were held at Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, today (Friday 13 March) and yesterday.
Eight harm-reduction projects from Police districts around New Zealand and from national workgroups were selected as finalists (summarised below) and competed for the Supreme and four other awards.
Finalists had to show they had proactively identified and analysed recurring crime or disorder problems in their communities and how they had developed, implemented and assessed effective responses to these problems.
Mark Evans, Deputy Chief Executive of Service Delivery, says all eight projects were award-worthy and that picking the winners was a difficult decision for the judging panel.
“I am immensely proud of New Zealand Police and its partners – all eight projects are making a difference across the country every day,” he says.
These are the 7th EBPOP awards held by New Zealand Police. A number of previous winners have subsequently presented their projects at the Herman Goldstein international awards in the United States.
“This year the standard of entries was exceptional – I am proud of the work that these entries have done in responding to problems in their communities,” says Commissioner of Police Mike Bush. “Underlying each of these entries is Police’s national operating model Prevention First, which calls on police to take every opportunity to prevent harm.”
