“Much of the feedback from staff and the community has been supportive. The reality is that the proposal was not acceptable to many of the communities affected, and in my view their buy-in was a critical element in the proposal’s success. We could not proceed without that support,” Hill said.
District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill says community support was vital for the proposals to go ahead. Photo / RNZ
News of the proposal sparked a public backlash and led to a series of public meetings being arranged for Culverden, which hundreds of people attended.
“After considering staff and community feedback, it has been decided that Canterbury Police will not proceed with our proposed district review,” said Hill.
While the restructure has been scrapped, elements of the proposal could still be employed.
“Some of what we aimed to do can be achieved without the wider restructure and we will now work carefully through the options to decide what is possible.
“Every district has its own priorities and demands and those can often be met through deployment decisions. Canterbury District’s Gang Disruption Unit, Beat Teams and a Retail Crime Team in Christchurch were not contingent on the restructure and will still go ahead,” said Hill.
He thanked those who considered the proposal and discussed it with him.
“Lastly, I want to say it has been heartening to see the strong backing our staff working in the rural communities have from the public they serve. Our staff are very dedicated and I can assure you we are committed to serving the people and businesses of Canterbury,” said Hill.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers says he supports the decision made by Canterbury Police. Photo / Mike Scott
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said he supported the District Commander’s decision.
“While the review proposals had merit, including the proposed 24/7 response model, I have long believed in the value of visible and engaged police who know their communities and the people in them. That is effective both for prevention and law enforcement, in both cities and rural areas,” said Chambers.
The news has been well received in Canterbury’s rural communities.
North Canterbury Federated Farmers president, Bex Green told the Herald police had “listened”.
“We’re just so happy that the community is keeping our local cops,” said Green.
The Culverden farmer was a driving force in making sure her community’s views were heard.
“I’m super proud of the way our community came out in force and really showed how they were feeling about this proposal. It has taken a lot of work behind the scenes and I’m just super happy that from all those thousands of submissions that we got the result that we were hoping for,” she said.
Green said she expects it won’t be the last time a rural restructure is tabled by police, but she hopes lessons have been learned.
“I do hope this process has showed them that perhaps their process wasn’t quite right and that they do come out to the communities next time and actually seek to understand what we need and what we want from our local police.”