The right decision

Finally a plan around mental health response. My whole career I have watched people who need help getting locked in cells or being humiliated by being guarded in hospital emergency department rooms. For far too long, Health has failed in its responsibilities so I applaud the fact we are finally pushing back. I saw that it was a motion at the Police Association annual conference last year to get Police to explore the Humberside “Right Care, Right Person” model so it is great to see management is on the same page. I am sure there will be a fair bit of pushback and I wouldn’t want to see officers and nurses falling out over this, but Health hasn’t shown any intention of volunteering to step up here, so good on Police for drawing a line.

MP marches to own beat

Foot patrols (3Fs). Yep, I mentioned this last month and our troops are getting out there and clocking them up. I watched the Opposition police spokesperson being interviewed on 1News after she stated our patrol numbers were down. The back and forth between the two major parties was some serious comedy (watch the clip here). The reporter should get an award, I laughed myself off my chair. We are doing more and it’s a fact. That “cringe” moment for our previous police minister leads to the adage, “Know what you are talking about before you open your mouth”.

NOC'ed it out of the park

Big congrats to Christchurch police and the National Organised Crime Group for locking up an entire chapter of the Comancheros. I can only imagine the amount of work that went into that operation, especially all the months of toil and long days. Getting that meth filth off our streets is a win for all of us. On behalf of New Zealand, thank you.

Reality bites

So the proposed job losses under the Financial Sustainability Programme have landed. While the wait for the proposal was stressful enough, the reality being revealed will be causing a lot of anxiety for those whose roles have been identified for disestablishment. Please make sure you are looking after yourselves and reach out for support. I read the proposal and a fair bit went over my head. I didn’t know about a lot of the roles in it but two areas do worry me. I am surprised that the property group is losing positions when there is so much urgent property work needed right across the country. The second is the centralisation of finance roles. Finance people in the districts are often the ones who keep things ticking over and I am never a fan of seeing PNHQ look after district functions. In my experience, this never delivers.

Stay safe out there.