No-one could ignore the mammoth in the room at this year’s Police Association area committee annual meetings – the 2023 constabulary pay round.

Some simply acknowledged they were eagerly awaiting the outcome while others vented their frustration at the long delays and the lack of ability to take any meaningful action to push the process along and improve members’ financial wellbeing.

Common adjectives in the chairs’ annual reports included angry, stressed, disappointed, undervalued, underappreciated and disenchanted.

Andre Barrett, chair of the Canterbury Rural committee, summed up the sentiment of many others: “In 18 years, I have not seen the toll that this pay round has taken on members. I have seen a staff foodbank set up, low staff morale, high disengagement and staff leave.”

Anthony Fielding, of Counties Manukau panned the “very slow” pay negotiations. “Every delay is seeing good police leaving the job, which is only increasing demand on those who remain.”

Derek Lamont, in Waikato, agreed: “[We] are extremely disappointed in the length of time that this has taken to resolve. It is unacceptable in the current financial climate that our members’ wellbeing has been forgotten and minimalised.”

He also criticised key issues not being addressed in negotiations. “Our inability to strike and the steps in band have been removed from [final offer arbitration] again and neither party, Police nor the association, has anything in their respective offers to address the issue. There has to be a commitment to address it.”

Jo Rusk, from the Police College, also raised a concern around whether Police employees signing up to the Public Sector Pay Adjustment would create a “formalised, irrevocable wedge between constabulary and non-constabulary staff into the future”.

Financial constraints

In Gisborne, Brent Griffiths noted that members were angry because: “Police’s financial sustainability efforts have resulted in ‘scaling back’ of expenditure… You will hear the Police executive explain that their people are their priority, and staff welfare is important, but unsurprisingly members struggle to accept that when confronted with executive-level decisions based solely from a fiscal perspective.”

Nowhere is this more keenly felt than in Tasman, where black mould and earthquake issues dominate daily life. Ben Wallace reported that the Blenheim station rebuild was “now a dead duck”, while Paul O’Hara said Greymouth station was still closed and news of a long-term plan to house staff was eagerly awaited. Greg Beer, of Nelson, vowed to keep the Tasman District’s building issues “at the forefront of the decision makers’ thoughts”.

The tightening of Police’s purse strings also drew indignation from several committees. Managers are refusing to allow members to cash up time off in lieu (TOIL), which had been allowed in the past. Many members rely on it financially. Roll on paid overtime.

The effects of Police’s “austerity measures” as well as the cost-of-living crisis have literally hit home for some. Christchurch’s Genevieve Craddock said many members were struggling to put food on the table. “This resulted in the setup of donation/collection boxes in [Christchurch stations]... for some this was not a surprise but for many it was a shock.”

In Waitākere, Mike Colson reported sickness and welfare support applications were on the increase. “Everyone is expected to just do more, but the downside to this is the mental and physical health and wellbeing of staff are compromised.”

Piki Ki Te Ao and Counties Manukau also dealt with more welfare requests than previously and were surprised how many had to be declined because they came from staff who were not Welfare Fund members.

“Staff are struggling with the cost of living,” Hutt’s Stephen Cross said. “This is just adding to their daily worries… It would be fair to say that the financial constraints imposed by the Government are impacting all areas in Police. The question is how long can we all go on?”

RATs and jumping ship

In Horowhenua, Bernie O’Brien said he felt like a broken record: “Police is haemorrhaging staff, which only adds to the low morale. This time last year I spoke about the exact same thing and felt that morale was at an all-time low then.”

Eastern Bay of Plenty’s William Searle agreed: “We are vulnerable across the business in terms of service delivery, resilience and morale… We have lost a considerable number of staff across the area, and I believe we will continue to... how long can we manage filling the gaps and shortfalls?”

Staff shortages were highlighted by many committee chairs: Northland is believed to be 38 staff below resource allocation target (RAT). Brian Swann said an ongoing concern was that 50% of all Whangārei PST night shifts were below minimum, and 30% of all shifts were below minimum.

Counties Manukau has 82 vacancies with 74 more staff on leave without pay or seconded out of district, Anthony Fielding said. “Members are really felling the overwhelming pressure to stay on top of BAU.”

Brent Griffiths reported similar deficits – with Wairoa and Gisborne investigations both about 50% below RAT. The area was 31.6 sworn staff below RAT in May. CIB numbers were also suffering in Palmerston North and Tauranga/Western Bay of Plenty.

In Kāpiti Mana, five staff have taken up Australian roles and in Wairarapa, six staff were applying to move to Queensland.

In Waitematā/North Shore, Lorraine McMurtrie believed “there are many more with their finger poised on the exit button”.

“The cost crunch is being felt far and wide and you can hardly claim there is no effect on the frontline or the response on the street,” Otago Lakes’ Philip Vink said.

Dangers and demand

Zak Thornton said a recent homicide in Whanganui put the spotlight on the many issues that members were facing: “The incident [showed] the deployment model is broken and we aren’t resourced for policing in today’s climate. PST was deployed short, [there was] an assault on a probationary staff member in the police cells, a high risk offender that needed a large amount of personnel resource… and an incident that accrued a lot of TOIL [that Police won’t cash out]… the only positive was that it [wasn’t] on a Friday evening/weekend when resourcing is at its most minimal.”

Nearby Horowhenua was also in the headlines recently. Bernie O’Brien said the weekend boy racers took over central Levin “confirmed that we are just as at risk as the major centres and cities”.

“We were outnumbered and vulnerable… The fact that up to eight staff were sent home early to avoid any TOIL or breaches of the nine-hour rule clearly shows Police is more concerned about a few bucks than the safety of staff. This was not an unplanned event. Police had a significant amount of time to ensure there were sufficient staff to manage this unruly and rowdy behaviour.

“The job continues to be dangerous, and members are putting their lives in the firing line on a daily basis.”

Nowhere was that more evident than in Counties Manukau, said Anthony, where the reporting year started with an active shooter killing two people and injuring 10 others, including two police officers. “It is this type of incident that highlights the real risks our members are now facing more and more.”

Meanwhile, Taupō’s Wayne Dickson looked semi-positively to the future.

“We have the increasing workloads, deciding what incidents to stop attending, focusing more on organised crime, working with the gang patch-ban law, losing more staff to Australia and a large segment of our most experienced staff are due to retire…

“But, regardless of the tough times we are in, I find a workforce where most people I come across are bloody good staff who come to work to do their best… I hope that we can retain you and that you will only leave after a long career where you have achieved all you can.”