120th Anniversary of Policing in Canterbury
Thursday 16 November 2006
Good morning. Today’s official birthday takes us up to a total of three major celebrations for Christchurch this year. We have had the celebration of 150 years of official European settlement of Christchurch, and the 125th birthday for Christchurch Cathedral.
Today on the 120th birthday of the New Zealand Police we celebrate another major milestone in our history. Officially it was the Police Act of 1886 that divided the old New Zealand Constabulary into both the New Police Force and the Permanent Artillery, the ancestor of today’s army. It would be inspiring to be able to say that prior to that, Christchurch and its environs had had little need for legal enforcement. It would also be a huge distortion of our often wild west past as a city in the early days.
The recent story of how the police had to literally wade into a fight in the Avon to stop two fools drowning each other was a reminder of how wild nights have been with us since the earliest days. In the early days, drowning in the Avon whilst drunk was one of our leading causes of death.
My point here is that there has been a very real need for active policing since our earliest days. My understanding is that the first police were appointed in Akaroa in 1840 as part of the process of cementing the British claim to the South.
When the first four ships came in 1850, Fitzgerald arrived with the title of Sub Inspector of Police. But getting a major police presence for Christchurch took time. In fact, it was not until 1859 that we were seen as important enough for the police headquarters to move from Lyttelton to Christchurch.
The changes that brought about the present police force came out of the merging of the provincial police services into a national unit. It is this force that we are recognising today.
Let me make it very clear as part of today’s celebrations, the ties between the police and Council have never been stronger, or more effective. We have pioneered many of the changes in bringing councils and police concerns together that are starting to be copied everywhere.
We have an enormously fruitful and productive relationship that I would like noted as part of our celebrations today. In particular, I want to thank Sandra Manderson for bringing policing into the community in a way that I think is still unrecognised and under-appreciated.
I would like to talk about some of these success stories. With Safer Christchurch we work together on practical environmental design ideas that make life easier and safer for people. Lots of it is very far from rocket science, in fact it is applied common sense, working out where trouble is and how to reduce it taking place.
We do this through more lighting, cameras, moving plants back from walkways, closing off lanes at night. We do it with the police and we do it very closely. Sometimes a simple change in timing is all it takes. We have cut down trouble in one area simply by changing the time the lawn sprinklers come on.
A very recent example of our close ties is the recent Alcohol Accord aimed at cutting down the damage done by drunks, by working together to develop a solution. This is very much a work in progress but it does seem to be cutting down on much of the excesses of our inner city weekends.
The police and local government connections also work well down at community board level. The Council bylaw that now restricts traffic on some Hornby streets at night is the result of the council, a local community board and police working together to solve a problem. I could go on but I won’t. I think the point has been made.
Christchurch has a lot to thank the police for, now and in the past. My own experience of modern policing has been of an essential service that is committed, professional, adaptive and innovative.
For a 120 year old I think that’s a great achievement.
Happy birthday from the city of Christchurch.
ENDS
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