Heather du Plessis-Allan: Andrew Coster not seeking a second term will upset almost no one

So Andrew Coster has revealed he will not be seeking a second term as Police Commissioner.  

Which will upset...almost no one. 

I think most of us will be happy to see the back of him. 

Because while he does seem like a decent and smart guy, he has been rubbish at the job. 

This will be good for Police morale, I think, because they have been quite vocal about the fact that they have been unhappy being led by a man who doesn’t seem to actually want to chase down the bad guys quite as much as they do. 

And it will be good for public confidence too because I think we would also prefer a Police boss who wants to lock up the perpetrators of this current crime problem we’re experiencing.  

Now to be fair to Andrew Coster, the fact that he’s not seeking a second term isn't really that unusual in Police bosses - we haven’t had one go longer than six years since the 1940s. 

But the trouble for him is that we all know at least part of the reason he’s going is because he isn’t wanted. 

I mean, that was made abundantly clear when after the election, the new Police Minister wouldn't express confidence in Coster. It was even more obvious when Mark Mitchell published that letter telling Coster how to do his job. 

Even if he wanted the job, he would've already been told by now behind closed doors that that ain’t happening. 

To Coster's credit, he has lifted his game under the new Government, but it's never been convincing. Everything just happens too slow. 

I mean, the foot patrols in Auckland are great, but Auckland retailers had to beg for months and hold public meetings to get them. 

The crackdown on the boy racers was great, but first, we had to witness officers in Levin retreating from a mob of boy racers. 

It just never felt like being discipline daddy was in his nature, even when he tried. 

So probably we’ve just got the best outcome for everyone by Coster and the New Zealand Police Force consciously uncoupling in April next year. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Andrew Costa has revealed he's not going to be
seeking a second term as police Commissioner, which I think
is going to upset almost no one. I mean, I
think most of us are going to be happy to
see the back of them, aren't we, Because while he
absolutely does look like a decent and very very very capable,
smart guy, he's just been really rubbish at the job,
isn't he. I mean, I think for a start, this
is going to be great for police morale, because they

(00:22):
have been quite vocal about the fact that they've been
quite unhappy about being led by a man who doesn't
seem to actually want to chase down the bad guys
quite as much as they do. But I also think
it's going to be good for public confidence too, because
I think we would all prefer to see a police
boss who wants to lock up the perpetrators of this
current crime problem that we're experiencing now. To be fair

(00:43):
to Andrew Costa, the fact that he's not seeking a
second term really isn't all that unusual Historically for police bosses.
We haven't actually had one go much longer than six
years since about the nineteen forties. But the trouble for
him is that no one cares about that. What we
all care about is that everybody knows he isn't wanted
in the job, right. I mean that was made abundantly

(01:03):
clear when after the election the new Police Minister Mark
Mitchell wouldn't express confidence in Costa. That said everything you
needed to know. It was even more obvious when Mark
Mitchell published that letter telling Andrew Costa how to do
his job. So even if Andrew Costa did want to
have a second term, which you may well have, he
would have probably by now have had a little chat
to Mark Mitchell and have been told that ain't gonna happen. Mate. Now,

(01:26):
to Costa's credit, he has lifted his game under this
new government. But it's never really been convincing, has it,
because everything just happens so slowly. I mean, for example,
the foot patrols in Auckland absolutely wonderful. I welcome them,
but Auckland retailers had to beg for months and they
had to hold public meetings to be able to get
those foot patrols announced. And the crackdown on the boy

(01:47):
races again brilliant, happy to see it, but first we
had to witness offices and live in retreating from a
mob of wild boy racers, Like, why does it have
to get to the point where you desperately need the
thing before the thing happens? This should be obvious to
a place spots to do this stuff. It just never
felt like being disciplined. Daddy was in his nature. He
was the soft guy. He's always going to be the
soft parent. So probably I think we've just got the

(02:09):
best outcome for everyone. By Andrew Costa and the New
Zealand Police consciously uncoupling in April next year. For more
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