A Force delegation visited the New Zealand Police (NZP) between March 19 and 23 to learn about their use of information and communications technology in policing, the deployment of health impaired or injured officers as well as decision log keeping in major operations.

With arrangements made by the Hong Kong Police College, the delegation comprised Senior Superintendent Mark Anstiss, a Chief Inspector, three Senior Inspectors and three Sergeants. They called on the NZP National Headquarters and the Royal New Zealand Police College as well as the Central Communications Centre, District Command Centre and District Custody Unit at Wellington Central Police Station.

One of the highlights of the programme was a tour of the Mobility Innovation Laboratory, a joint venture between the NZP and a local telecommunications service provider, in which frontline staff work together with technical experts to develop mobile applications to support daily policing tasks. Their frontline officers can now use smartphones to submit real-time criminal intelligence reports; verify people, vehicles, addresses and serial numbers; conduct traffic accident investigations; issue traffic fines and even update major operation logs. With improved access to information previously not available over radio transceivers, frontline officers can instantly conduct high quality risk assessment before responding to potentially hazardous calls, thus improving their work safety. Furthermore, the electronic work log system has enhanced their capacity to handle complicated cases and human resources management.

The visit provided opportunities for the Force delegates to exchange views with NZP managerial and frontline officers on policing strategies and challenges.