Policing changes under study

Press, 26 May 1984, Page 7

Policing changes under study

PA Wellington The police are looking at big changes in policing methods to tailor them to the communities they serve, the Police Commissioner. Mr Ken Thompson, said. Mr Thompson said if he was critical of any past police policies, it w'as the tendency to look at policing as a national problem. "The sort of policing we might need in Dunedin is not necessarily the sort which is needed in Wellington,” he said. Police headquarters staff were evaluating papers from the 16 district police commanders with each district’s problems and suggestions on how to overcome them. “What I am hopeful of and looking for is the identification of present problems in different locations, different strategies for overcoming these problems and more experimentation," Mr Thompson said. “We should be approaching the problem on the basis of the needs of particular communities. So within the over-all policing strategy we have, there will be quite some variation.” Mr Thompson said possible changes would be discussed at a meeting of police executives in Wellington next month.