December 02, 2015
Police look for bias alternatives
A senior south Auckland police officer says the department’s Turning the Tide strategy is helping districts tackle the unconscious bias against Maori admitted to by Commissioner Mike Bush.
Inspector Nga-Wati Chaplow says the commissioner is running true to form in confronting problems within the organisation head on.
He says while districts interpret the policy in different ways, it is taken extremely seriously in Counties Manukau where 80 percent of police work involved people of Maori, Pacific or ethnic origin.
"We are looking at a tactical approach – what are we doing in the watchhouse so when Maori come in, is there an unconscious bias? We are putting in place steps and measures and processes, a safety net so that a Maori person who should be getting alternative resolution does get alternative resolution," Inspector Chaplow says.
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