New Cops recruitment campaign on its way

NZ Police has today announced the start of a recruitment campaign to attract quality young New Zealanders to a police career.

The campaign highlights the better work stories of New Zealand’s police officers and reinforces that ‘you too can do something extraordinary’. The approach continues the 2011 initiative in which Police retold extraordinary stories through street art installations in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland.

Deputy Commissioner Viv Rickard says, "To ensure Police remains responsive to the needs of all New Zealanders we're looking to attract a broad range of young applicants to the job. We're particularly looking for young women, Maori, Pasifika, Indian, Asian and African people who want to do something extraordinary to help our communities."

"A series of previously untold extraordinary stories will be revealed over the coming months to help the Police attract young leaders with communication skills, empathy and problem solving abilities. These skills are crucial to frontline policing in an era where prevention of crime and victimisation is at the heart of our work," he says.

Mr Rickard says, "Many professions are competing fiercely to attract the best young women and men in the country. That's why we need to take an innovative approach to recruitment marketing."

“We want potential leaders to understand that when you become a cop, you don't lose who you are, you use who you are, to help people.  We encourage people to bring their culture, their background and their values to the job, to make a real difference in our communities.”

The recruitment campaign commenced with a series of radio advertising last week and on 26 July the first new street art installation will be unveiled in Otara.  The street art in Otara has the full consent of Auckland Council, who are supportive of the approach, Mr Rickard says.

Police recruitment numbers vary depending on operational requirements and attrition. The NZ Police are looking to recruit between 160 to 240 frontline staff from July 2012 to June 2013.

Information from NZ Police "Extraordinary" campaign is available at:

http://www.newcops.co.nz/extraordinary/#!/kylie
http://www.newcops.co.nz/extraordinary/#!/madie-julia
http://www.newcops.co.nz/extraordinary/#!/yoshi

Deputy Commissioner Rickard will be available to talk to media on Friday afternoon between 1330 and 1430.

For media queries, please contact Victoria Evans, Senior Media Advisor, Public Affairs on (04) 474 9482 or 0274 373 020.