Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I hope our next Police Commissioner is tougher on crime

So, Andrew Coster has resigned as Police Commissioner and he's got himself a new job.

He's going to be running the Government's new Social Investment Agency - and I reckon he's going to be good at this.

I acknowledge this might not be a popular appointment, I think a lot of people will see this for what it probably is - which is that it feels an awful lot like a job that’s been given to him to get him to leave the police because the Government doesn't want him there.

It also reinforces the idea that there's a job merry-go-round in Wellington, which is obviously true.

Plus, there'll be questions about why you'd reward somebody for being pretty bad at their previous job, which Coster definitely was. He was a shocker of a Police Commissioner.

And all those of those criticisms - many of which are already in my inbox - are completely valid.

But setting all that aside, I still think he will be good at this job.

This is in his wheelhouse. Andrew Coster never was a crack down on crime guy, he's a cotton wool guy, a believer in people’s potential guy, a 'give them another chance' guy.

He believes so much in the fence at the top of the cliff that he forgot his job was to actually run the ambulance at the bottom.

But this job is fence at the top of the cliff stuff. The point of this agency is to help people before they become criminals and invest in them when they’re still babies.

That's right up Coster’s alley, isn't it?

For all of his failings as a Police Commissioner - his inability to be tough on gangs or clear out the Parliamentary protest before it got out of hand - he's actually a very bright and decent guy.

I think it was just a case of the wrong job for the wrong guy and I'm happy he's leaving the police.

I hope we never have another Commissioner as weak on crime as him, but I think he'll be very good at what he does next - and it is a very important job.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Andrew Costa has resigned his police commission He's got
himself a new job. He is going to be running
the government's new social investment agency. And I reckon he's
actually going to be good at this job. Now. I
acknowledge this may not be a popular appointment. I think
a lot of people will see this for what it
probably is, which is that it is a job that's
been given to him to get him to leave the

(00:21):
police job because the government doesn't want him an there anymore.
And also this will reinforce the idea that there's a
job Mary go around in Wellington, which is obviously true.
And also there will be questions about why on earth
you'd reward someone for being pretty bad at their previous job,
which Costa definitely wasn't and he was a shocker of
a police commissioner, and all of those criticisms, many of
which are already in my inbox, are completely valid. But

(00:44):
set all of that aside. I think he's going to
be good at this job because this is his wheelhouse, right.
Andrew Costa never was a crackdown on crime guy. He's
a cotton wool guy. He's a believe in people's potential guy,
he's a given them another chance. Guy. He believes so
much in the fence at the top of the cliff
that he forgot that his job was actually to be
running the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. But

(01:04):
this job that he's just been given is the fence
at the top of the cliff job. The point of
the Social Investment Agency is to help people before they
become criminals, right, put a lot of money and a
lot of resource into them to try to stop them
going down the path that leads them to criminality. You
even start investing in them when they're babies. Now, that

(01:25):
is right up Andrew cost as Ali, isn't it. And
for all of his failings as a police commissioner, his
inability to be tough on gangs, his inability to even
do the basics like clear out the parliamentary protest before
it got out of hand. Remember how he kept saying
I'm gonna tell your cars no, no, this time, I'm
really gonna tell your cars no. Okay, today I'm really
going to tell your cars. And it never happened. Remember

(01:45):
all of that stuff. For all of that, I actually
think he is still a very bright and decent guy.
So I just think what this was was a case
of the wrong job for the wrong guy. I am
very happy he's leaving the police. I hope we never
have a comission as Week on Crime as him again.
But I think that there is a very very good
chance that he's actually going to be very very good

(02:05):
at what he does next, and I hope he's good
at it, because this is a very important job. For
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