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Ghosts of Policing Strategies Past: Is the New Zealand Police ‘Prevention First’ Strategy Historic, Contemporary or the Future?

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Abstract

Since the 1990s the New Zealand Police have introduced three extensive change management programs to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their core services; Policing 2000, Policing Excellence and Prevention First. Each program has been fundamentally different, with the more modern programs influencing the way that New Zealand Police deliver services. Policing 2000 evolved from implementation of the first strategic plan, while Policing Excellence and Prevention First were introduced in response to the 2007 fiscal crisis. The programs are compared to identify the differences, and whether these later programs can increase service delivery efficiency and effectiveness.

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Notes

  1. Project Blueprint comprised of establishing a number of Community Police Centres (CPC) or small police stations. The organization and staffing of each was replicated across the country. By the late 2000s, the majority of CPCs had either closed or had been down-graded to patrol bases. As a result, the NZP has only implemented a limited version of Community Policing into its policing approach.

  2. The five drivers of crime where identified as: Alcohol, families, organised crime and drugs, road policing, and youth.

  3. The Deployment Model has often been referred to as the “New Zealand Police Model”.

  4. Critical Command Information has five parts: intelligence products, demand for services, performance, strategic priorities and actual strength (New Zealand Police, 2011b, p. 8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Garth den Heyer

  2. Police Foundation, Washington, DC, USA

    Garth den Heyer

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  1. Garth den Heyer
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Correspondence to Garth den Heyer.

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den Heyer, G. Ghosts of Policing Strategies Past: Is the New Zealand Police ‘Prevention First’ Strategy Historic, Contemporary or the Future?. Public Organiz Rev 16, 529–548 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-015-0323-1

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