Mike Johnson: Police Assistant Commissioner on keeping Kiwi's safe over the NYE holiday

Kiwi's are being urged to stay sensible this New Year's Eve as the Police ramp up their presence across the country.

"If people behave well, look after their mates, and have a great time, that will be success for us." 

Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson talks to Tim Beveridge about how the police are patrolling as midnight rolls in. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's New Year's Eve and bad weather. It's not going
to stop thousands from gathering across the country to ring
in twenty twenty five, but Kiwis are being urged to
stay sensible and look after themselves by celebrating. So if
you're looking to cause trouble, be warned. Officers will be
visible around New Zealand to keep people safe as midnight
closes and Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson's with me, Mike,

(00:40):
good morning, Good morning to So in a perfect world,
how will tonight go.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
A perfect world, people will enjoy themselves, have a great
time and celebrate New Year's Eve without being in a
midget seat department or a police station.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
So what are your plans to keep people safe while
the celebrations are happening.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
We've got some amazing young men and women policing right
around the country. We're well used to New Year's Eve
and other events as we're across the year. And as
I said, if people behave well, look after their mates,
and have a great time, that will be success for us.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Is the key for you guys? Is it simply safety
and numbers? And what I mean is numbers of police
out there?

Speaker 3 (01:33):
No, it's about effective communication and interaction. Yes, we've got
a police staff. I asked them. We ask them to
go forward and deal with things that others are moving
away from. And there's times where numbers as a factor. Obviously,
as I said, we're used to these in our holiday
hot spots and other places, and we police and resource accordingly.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
What part does the weather play with the police doing
the job on New Year's Eve? And cynically speaking, are
you hoping for rain because it keeps more people indoors?

Speaker 3 (02:08):
The weather is a bit of a mixed bag. As
I think you mentioned in your news broadcast, it's going
to be interesting to see the effect of that. Look,
there'll still be people out. What it does have a
real significant effect on is the roads and the driving behaviors.
So you know, I would absolutely put out a plea

(02:28):
to people to drive to the conditions. You know, impairment
is a significant factor and a disproportionate amount of fatal
in serious injury crashes, and we really don't want to
see any over this period. But the weather is absolutely
a factor. It looks like over this twenty four hour period.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Just on the road safety thing, are we heeding the
messages that are being pumped across the media and telling
us to don't drink and drive or how are we going?

Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, Look, we've still picking up people who are drinking
above the limit safe limits, and that's right across the country.
We've over time seen an effect as you'll be aware
of social effect, which is in a positive direction, but
we still see those fatal crashes. When I last checked,

(03:23):
two hundred and eighty eight New Zealanders had lost their
lives in the last year. That's not an exact figure.
Coming into the new year's period with our road policing partners,
we'll firm that up. But that's a lot of people,
a lot of fun our a lot of families affected
by that term. And you know, I recall going to

(03:45):
fatal accidents as when I was on the front line.
Our starts deal with every one of those and that
has an effect as well. So that's hence that's the
basis for me. Please let's be careful on the road, yep.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Excellent Mike, our best wishes and I hope you guys
have a safe new year and we see the least
trouble possible as that is. By the way, that's Police
Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson. It's ten past seven.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
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