Cop’s career highlight

BY NICOLA WILLIAMS

A police officer who turned around attitudes towards police and recruited applicants from the ethnic community has been recognised with a District Commander’s Award.

South East Asian liaison officer constable Gurpreet Arora started in the role after Navtej Singh was killed during the robbery of his Manurewa liquor store last year.

After the death there was negativity within the ethnic community and a feeling that police were unable to stop robberies happening in Counties Manukau.

Mr Arora was nominated for the award by community services manager senior sergeant Mike Fulcher, who said Mr Arora showed an outstanding ability to work with the community and helped to alleviate feelings of dissatisfaction with police.

He consulted with various ethnic groups who were able to provide police with good information from their communities.

Mr Arora’s professionalism, initiative and commitment to providing reassurance to vulnerable residents that "enhanced the reputation of the police" was acknowledged by the award presented by superintendent Mike Bush.

"It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve done your organisation, family and community proud," says Mr Arora.

He says his initial objective was to reassure the ethnic community police were there to help and started talking about issues needing to be resolved.

"It was a two-way street with equal input from each side."

Mr Arora came up with a number of initiatives.

A flyer was produced with safety guidelines and rules and regulations which the New Zealand High Commission in Delhi got behind, putting a copy into every passport.

He distributed posters and visited 265 small retailers in Counties Manukau to talk about what they could do to avoid becoming victims of crime.

Getting people to take the advice is "a work in progress".

"Some retailers are taking it on board but not to the extent that we would like."

He was also able to get more than 50 people from ethnic minorities to apply to join the police by organising and holding seminars and cultural festivals where he generated interest and showed different cultures were an asset to the job.

Mr Arora has been in the police for four years and says the contribution he has made in his current role will be a career highlight.

"When I look back on this year it has a special meaning for me because things were different last year. This has made my decision to continue even stronger," he says.

"It’s good that I can liaise with these communities on behalf of the organisation and overcome challenges.

"One thing that will keep motivating me is my team. I have great colleagues and management."

District Commander’s Awards are given out twice a year with 30 Counties Manukau police officers receiving them this year.

- © Fairfax NZ News