In 2005 the New Zealand Police commissioned this research project to explore the perceptions of police held by members of various ethnic communities and to provide information on the current crime and safety issues that ethnic communities face.
This research project involved exploring the perceptions of eight ethnic communities including Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Somali and Middle Eastern. Data for this qualitative project was collected through face to face interviews and focus group discussions conducted in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
Ethnic community perceptions of New Zealand Police have been analysed through various themes that emerged during data collection, including: contact with police, attitudes towards police staff, perception of police services, language barriers, home country experiences, cultural ideas and knowledge, and the impact of the media.
Key Results
In this exploratory study ethnic community perceptions of New Zealand Police have been analysed through various themes that emerged during data collection, including: contact with police, attitudes towards police staff, perception of police services, language barriers, home country experiences, cultural ideas and knowledge, and the impact of the media.
- Contact with police was one of the main participant selection criteria. This contact could be for either “crime” or “non-crime” related issues. The participants in this research had experienced contact with police over the last twelve months predominantly as victims of crime. Only a very small number of participants had made contact with police for non-crime related matters such as making a general enquiry or attending information seminars.
- Members of ethnic communities do not approach police for assistance for non-crime related incidents for a number of reasons. These include a lack of English proficiency, insufficient knowledge of policing systems and services.
- Language barriers act to reduce contact between ethnic communities and police and impacted on how people reported crime and accessed police services.
- When the participants spoke about their contact with police they spoke in terms of their attitude towards police staff and their perceptions of police services. Their attitudes and perceptions were both positive and negative. The majority of participants had a very limited knowledge about police services offered to ethnic communities such as: Asian and Ethnic Liaison Officers, the ethnic information page in multiple languages on the police website, and Police utilisation of Language Line.
- Home country experiences of policing were explored in this project. These experiences impact on perceptions of New Zealand Police because people compare police attitudes and services of home country police to the police in New Zealand.
- The knowledge that migrants and refugees hold about policing and judicial systems are based on their home country ideas and cultural underpinnings. Education about New Zealand policing systems and procedures are required. Participants pointed to differences which included: selfdefence and the rights of the victim in regards to defending their property, family and self; ideas about justice and where, when and by whom justice is carried out; the severity of punishment for criminals; the procedures and possible outcomes surrounding domestic violence complaints; and migrant youth issues including parental rights and rights of the child.
- Media reports impact negatively on ethnic communities perceptions of police because they indicate to members of ethnic communities how police respond to crimes involving their community. Also, members of ethnic communities are concerned that police should resolve high profile cases quickly to negate any negative perceptions about their community that may arise in the wider community.
Crime and safety issues of major concern to the ethnic communities in this study were: burglary, racial harassment, juvenile issues (street kid violence/drinking/drugs) including car theft and vandalism, small business related crimes (shoplifting/not paying), and gambling. In general, most people felt safe in their city and neighbourhood streets during the day. However, at night they were worried about their safety because of concerns about burglary, strangers in the area, and dimly lit areas. In their homes people felt safe, especially if they had taken extra security precautions. Similarly, people thought their children were safe at school, apart from some participants who feared bullying.
The participants involved in this study say that an improvement in the relationship between ethnic communities and New Zealand Police is required. They acknowledge that the development of a fruitful and valuable relationship needs to be a two-way process where both parties work towards this goal. The feedback from ethnic communities about improving communication and information flows between police and themselves was that face-to-face contact was necessary as was information in their first language. Overall, most people thought a police career would be challenging, rewarding and most notably, it would enable people to help their ethnic communities.