Richard Chambers: Police Commissioner on the new Police training centre on the Massey University Campus

There’s a belief Auckland's new Police training centre will make recruitment more accessible. 

The new space on the Massey University campus includes multiple classrooms, along with gym and recreation areas. 

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told Mike Hosking over the years some people have steered away from a career in Police because they couldn't go to Porirua for training. 

He says it's about creating more opportunities for those who might find Porirua for 20 weeks a challenge. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's a lot going on in the crime and justice

(00:01):
space this week. One punch laws to talk about shortly,
but also today we've got the new police college opening.
The Royal New Zealand Police College Auckland campus will have
its ribbon cutif in fact there is a ribbon. The
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers is with us on this Richard morning.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Is there a ribbon?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, I suspect there may be. There will certainly be
a plaque.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Is a we should have done this years ago vibe
about it?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, look, we had done it before, Mike, not for
some years. But you know, we are obviously putting through
a lot of recruits at the moment, and I know
that over the years some people have steered away from
a career in the police because you're traveling down to
our PARRIU college for twenty weeks since it's quite a
challenge for some family. So this is about creating opportunities
for those that might find Pari EU for twenty weeks

(00:50):
a challenge and a bit more local. So the forty
that we have getting underway today, thirty three of those
are from Tomaki, Mikoto, and seven of them are from Norton.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, I was going to ask, so what are you doing?
Are we getting more police or are we just getting
the same number of police shuffled about in two different
locations around the country.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Well, any one wing we can manage up to one
hundred recruits and the reason for that is that our
numbers per recruit and our trainers is very important. We
can't overwhelm the trainers. We need to be able to
create opportunities for one on one as best we can.
So the more recruits we have, the less that personal time.
So we operate to a maximum one hundred. So yesterday

(01:28):
we had sixty start in Pariua College and today we
had forty up here in Auckland. But right now we
have five wings going through, So we have four wings
down in pari Rua and at the moment, over three
hundred and fifty recruits are training to join New Zealand place.
And I don't remember a time where we've had so
many recruits training at any time encouraging.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Why are they Is this the promotion? Is this the
noise around it? Or what?

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Look? I mean, I've been around for thirty years and
policing fantastic career and there's no doubt there are. So
they thousands more out there to join can very keen
to join the zen On Police, and we have been
putting a lot of effort into our recruitment. We've got
a five hundred more come in our way, as you know,
and we're working really really hard to recruit when you
have thousands in the pipeline. But we take very seriously

(02:16):
our recruitment process, and of the ten who say may
apply to join police, we actually only get one coming
to the college because we have very intensive expectations, you know,
processes be the physical, medical, or academic. So it sounds
like quite a low number ten percent, but you know,

(02:38):
we do have standards in place which is on as
you know, determined to ensure we look.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Up to the legal stuff that we're talking about this week,
the one punch, the discounts and courts, all of that
sort of stuff the government are moving on.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Does this help you, Well, Look, our job, Michael, is
to enforce the law, whatever the law is, and we
certainly welcome the new coward punk flaws. I mean, you know,
in New Zealand people have lost their lives as a
consequence of coward punches when victims are distracted and you know,
can't defend themselves. And you know, I appreciate the some

(03:11):
perspectives out there, but either they will enforce the law,
and we have experienced some tragedies in our own country
through coward punches.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
All right, Richard, appreciate your time very much. Richard Chambers,
who's the police commissioner with us for more from the
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