Building Trust and Confidence
Community Safety Patrols, New Zealand Police
Community Safety Patrols in Auckland have added an extra 500 hours of crime prevention patrols each month alongside Police, while building the trust and confidence of ethnic communities in the Police.
Community Patrols, made up of volunteer recent migrants, help communities feel safer, increase their confidence in reporting crime and their trust in Police. For example, community patrols were positively received at a Filipino festival in October 2016.
The Auckland patrol has 210 volunteers from 43 ethnicities, speaking 56 different languages; and the patrol programme has expanded to Wellington and Canterbury. It has also contributed to greater ethnic diversity in the Police: over 85 patrollers are now Police officers. This has increased Policeâs ability to assist and build trust with ethnic communities.