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Moral Panic
- Child Sexual Abuse |
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Destroyed the careers
and previously unblemished reputations of four well-qualified, experienced
and dedicated child care workers |
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Howard Broad first hit
the headlines by copping criticism for proposing a private police force. Now
he says he will continue to think outside the square to strengthen the thin
blue line. Mr Broad, 49, takes
over as head of New Zealand Police at a time when they are under more
scrutiny than ever. He is under no illusions about his task -- which he calls
an "immense challenge". Rape allegations,
malfunctioning 111 communications centres, claims that traffic police are
revenue gathering, a probe into pornographic e-mails and claims of a shortage
of frontline staff are some of the controversies that plagued his
predecessor, Rob Robinson. Then there are newer
problems. The overhaul of the 1957 Police Act and a plan to add 1250 staff to
police in the next three years -- including 1000 frontline staff -- as part
of a Government agreement with NZ First -- are "real big
challenges", Mr Broad says. He has come a long way
from the Dunedin-born teenager who decided to join the police in 1975 because
he was drawn by the physical and mental challenges. That year was a vintage
one for police recruits. At the Trentham police college at the same time were
Mr Robinson, future deputy commissioner Steve Long and Rob Pope, who was
appointed yesterday to succeed Mr Long. Mr Pope and Mr Broad also did their
cadetship together. For 10 years Mr Broad
served on the beat and as a detective in his home town before being promoted
to sergeant and posted to Lower Hutt. It appears a slow rise
up the ranks, but Mr Broad says it was "very fortunate" that he
spent his 20s in operational roles. It was also about then that he decided
that he wanted to be part of the police force's development, and studied for
a law degree, thinking it would be useful. He was admitted to the
bar in the late 1980s. Stints in the commissioner's office and as a detective
inspector in Christchurch followed, before he was appointed to the police
strategy group in head office. It was there that he
hit the headlines. His role was to help prepare the way for new technology --
such as the ill-fated Incis project -- and to come up with some "new
thinking" as police pondered the future. Mr Broad prepared a
paper advocating allowing a private police force to issue traffic tickets,
attend emergencies when police were overworked, manage control rooms and
protect wealthy communities on a user-pays basis. He makes no apologies
for thinking "very liberally", which is what he was charged with
doing, and does not rule anything out in future, but says police must stay in
step with public thinking on such matters. In 1999 he was
appointed Auckland district commander. A secondment to Britain followed,
before he was appointed assistant commissioner in charge of planning, a role
he held for about 18 months before succeeding Mr Robinson. |
