[pleccy2000]

Hi,
I live in Welly and I’m considering a career change. Currently I’m in IT sales and the money is great but it's very mundane. I'd like like to join the NZ police force as I've thought about it for a long time but not done anything about it. Are there any cops out there (or partners)? Do you enjoy working for the NZ police? What’s it like?

I'm guessing it's not easy to get in, but I want to give it my best shot!

[pinkpiggy]

You should PM Leachio as her husband was a cop in NZ just over 12 months ago. She also goes on a police forum that has a lot of people who are/or are about to/thinking about the move to NZ.

[welshman213]

I would be very interested in peoples thoughts on this to, as this is something I am currently mulling over.

Many thanks

John

[victoria24]

dont know if this helps at all
http://www.newcops.co.nz/AboutTheForce/BetterWorkStories

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

No advice yet, but my partner is looking to join the cops as well. He's ex-British military and was really keen to get in when we were originally in New Zealand, but we were turned away and told we'd have to get residency first. So, here we are waiting for our EOI. :roll

I worked for them myself as a non-commissioned assistant in their Wellington headquarters, and it was a pretty decent place to work - obviously they're a bit overstretched as far as personnel goes (which is why they've got all those flashy recruitment commercials, although you'd think they'd be a BIT more flexible about letting people like my hubby in!...oh well) and the wages are probably a bit lower than what you might expect in a country like the UK, but you also have more quality of life - I think, anyway - and there are good bennies and a pension scheme, so it looked good to us. There's an aptitude test and then a physical test, neither of which I think are particularly hard. They definitely do need more recruits, so as long as you're fit and have a brain in your head you should be fine. ;)

[marybelle]

Hi Pleccy

Try contacting clairelouise, her hubby is an NZ policeman formerly UK police.
She is very nice and always helpful. :yes

Marybelle

[clairelouise]

Hi Pleccy

Try contacting clairelouise, her hubby is an NZ policeman formerly UK police.
She is very nice and always helpful. :yes

Marybelle

Awwww shucks! *blush* :D

My OH has been working for the NZ police since October last year up here in the far north, but he was recruited from the UK as part of a scheme they had to get more experienced officers over to here so his experience of joining would be slightly different from yours. He had to do a conversion course for 8 weeks in Welly including driving, firearms, physicals, and the ovbious exams too. If you join as a new recruit from NZ you have to do (I think) 18 weeks in training college in Welly.

It's not for everyone. There is more paperwork than he ever expected, but it's a million times better than working for the UK police, especially the Met!:nice1 As with all jobs it can be just as monotomous as any other at times too, but OH is still in awe at people on the streets waving and stopping just to chat to him! A definite far cry from London! The pay is notmajorally fantastic, although we get by as he came over on a higher wage due to years served in the force.

He suggested that the police will (by prior arrangement) give you a "ride along" with them, hopefully to give you a better insight to what they actually do, and maybe to give you a better feel for whether it's something you would actually like. Apparantly mpost stations will do this for you as long as you drop in and arrange it with them.

[pleccy2000]

Awwww shucks! *blush* :D

My OH has been working for the NZ police since October last year up here in the far north, but he was recruited from the UK as part of a scheme they had to get more experienced officers over to here so his experience of joining would be slightly different from yours. He had to do a conversion course for 8 weeks in Welly including driving, firearms, physicals, and the ovbious exams too. If you join as a new recruit from NZ you have to do (I think) 18 weeks in training college in Welly.

It's not for everyone. There is more paperwork than he ever expected, but it's a million times better than working for the UK police, especially the Met!:nice1 As with all jobs it can be just as monotomous as any other at times too, but OH is still in awe at people on the streets waving and stopping just to chat to him! A definite far cry from London! The pay is notmajorally fantastic, although we get by as he came over on a higher wage due to years served in the force.

He suggested that the police will (by prior arrangement) give you a "ride along" with them, hopefully to give you a better insight to what they actually do, and maybe to give you a better feel for whether it's something you would actually like. Apparantly mpost stations will do this for you as long as you drop in and arrange it with them.

Thank you clairelouise (and everyone else) for the info. I think the 'ride along' thing is a great idea. I've arranged to go to a seminar in Wellington at the end of Feb, that should give me some insight. IIRC yes its 19 weeks training near Welly and they pay you $36K pro rata for that. Then you become a probationary constable for 2 years ($50K). After that you can branch out in to different areas. So the Salary is less than half what I'm earning now, but TBH I need to get out of a corperate office environment.

[clairelouise]

Good luck pleccy!! Go for it I say!

And although the money might be lower than you get now.... you can get Subway or McD's for half price :D so you'll never starve :laugh :exit

[pleccy2000]

Good luck pleccy!! Go for it I say!

And although the money might be lower than you get now.... you can get Subway or McD's for half price :D so you'll never starve :laugh :exit

Thanks!

I just hope that my asthma doesn't affect my application :( I guess I should tell them, but it doesn't affect me these days. Do you think they'd pick that up on a medical?

Half price subway!! awesome!!

[clairelouise]

Tricky one.

You're a resident here though right? So you've already had a medical and been approved to be here and all that? Surely all of that would be taken into consideration along side the police medical?
I know that they WANT you to declare any asthmatic problems, I think at the worst they make you get specialist reports stating that you are fit for the job. And if you pass the PAT and PCT tests then that would surely prove your asthma not to be a problem. They keep an eye on your fitness levels throughout your police career anyway by insisting you ontinue to pass the PCT tests periodically.

If it is something you really want to do, I would declare it up front. But I'm terrible at lying and have a permanently guilty look as it is!

[pleccy2000]

Tricky one.

You're a resident here though right? So you've already had a medical and been approved to be here and all that? Surely all of that would be taken into consideration along side the police medical?
I know that they WANT you to declare any asthmatic problems, I think at the worst they make you get specialist reports stating that you are fit for the job. And if you pass the PAT and PCT tests then that would surely prove your asthma not to be a problem. They keep an eye on your fitness levels throughout your police career anyway by insisting you ontinue to pass the PCT tests periodically.

If it is something you really want to do, I would declare it up front. But I'm terrible at lying and have a permanently guilty look as it is!

Yeah I passed all medicals for my PR, but that was back in 2004. Would you do me a favour if you dont mind? Could you ask your OH if in his opinion I should....

a) declare my asthma
b) say I had asthma as a kid, but it doesn't affect me now
c) totally deny having asthma (not sure if that's a good idea?)
d) other?

Another thing is that I have a hole in my heart, as a result when you listen to my chest it makes a 'wooshing' sound, rather than a traditional heartbeat sound. Again no problems for my PR medical. I'm just worried that a health factor would stop me from joining the cops :(

I'm a fit 29 year old, and confident I can pass the physical tests. I'll just have to cross my fingers.

Popped in to the Lower Hutt station at lunch today, but the miserable lady on reception wasn't having any of the ride along idea :(

[clairelouise]

No problem Pleccy.
I'll grill OH when he gets home and get back to you later. :)

[the bebers]

Hi there, my husband has been going through the process to join the police. It has taken ages as the first step was to go to an open evening and in Christchurch he had to wait 3 months for the next one to be held. Then there were physical and aptitude tests, a first aid course, a defensive driving course (all funded by him), referees, a home visit by a police officer and the "scope" which is spending 40 hours with the police. This process took 8 months and then he just found out the wait list in Christchurch is now at 3-4 years so he either waits (and he's 38 now so is not keen to wait) or we need to move to an area they need police sooner (most north island locations and some south island locations). He really enjoyed the scope and the process is designed to help you assess if it is a career for you or not. When he is called up there will be more physical tests, a medical and an interview. Then it's the police academy if he passes all that. Anyway, first step is defintely the open evening as you cannot do anything before attending that and depending on the location you want to work will depend on how quickly the process will progress. Good luck.

[pleccy2000]

Oh my! 3-4 years. That sucks big time. I don't understand, they advertise all the time for new cops! It makes no sense!

[veronica]

anyone know if the chch wait applies just to new recruits or also to trained UK police coming out there

[pleccy2000]

anyone know if the chch wait applies just to new recruits or also to trained UK police coming out there

You thinking of signing up v?

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

I heard about that awful ChCh wait...surprised that such a large city has no need for new recruits...

We're hoping to settle in the Auckland area as I will be attending the university there, so hopefully we should be able to get OH a place somewhere in that region fairly easily?

[marybelle]

And although the money might be lower than you get now.... you can get Subway or McD's for half price :D so you'll never starve :laugh

Hey Claire

Dylan wants to know if this is true for Probation as well :laugh.....if not he will need to meet your OH for lunch :D

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

Oh, I've just thought of another question that perhaps one of you wouldn't mind answering (or grilling your OH's) for me...

Since my partner has military experience, do you think he would be allowed to join the "conversion" programme, as he's already done firearms, defensive/advanced driving, etc. Or would he basically have to start from scratch?

[clairelouise]

Hey Claire

Dylan wants to know if this is true for Probation as well :laugh.....if not he will need to meet your OH for lunch :D

:laugh I don't know Marybelle, maybe we'll all syncronise our watches anyway so as we don't miss out! And it's not on if it's just the men getting the goods either - we'll have to "accidently" turn up! :D

[clairelouise]

Oh, I've just thought of another question that perhaps one of you wouldn't mind answering (or grilling your OH's) for me...

Since my partner has military experience, do you think he would be allowed to join the "conversion" programme, as he's already done firearms, defensive/advanced driving, etc. Or would he basically have to start from scratch?

AFAIK the conversion course was a UK planned thing and is not forever ongoing. There was a HUGE amount of applicants from various UK forces wanting to get on the NZ conversion course, and there was one in October last year, and one that has just started last week. When we applied, we had to specify which we would be going for.
The conversion courses are much shorter than the new recruit ones as apparently the laws are quite similar in the UK -> NZ, but I think that unless you are on one of these specific courses you have to do the full 19weeks. We were told that the course we were on, and the one in Feb were to be the last ones, but this was also said in 2006 I think.

So I doubt that your OH would be able to do a shorter course, although it may be worth giving NZ Police a ring as his experience IMO can only be an asset. At least there should be no worries about him failing the firearms or driving! :laugh

I don't know about the waiting times to get into the various areas, sorry:( We had to pick rural or city, and then were given choices relating to this, and basically knew where we'd be going even before the training had begun. I know that the majority of people opted for Wellington, Auckland and that even early 2008 when we were interviewed for the whole thing that ChCh was deemed hard to get in.

Clairelouise

[clairelouise]

Pleccy, PM'd you....

[the bebers]

Just to answer re Christchurch waiting list I think it applies to anyone not just new recruits. My husband asked the question if he could be posted somewhere else and then move back to Chch after 1-2 years, but the response was that no-one is getting in. to Chch I also heard of someone else coming from the UK as an experienced officer and unable to get in to Chch. Apparently staying within the district can help with moving (e.g. taking a posting in Timaru and then moving to Chch as they are both in Canterbury), but even then there isn't any movement at the moment. It may change though. My husband has chosen to put down a different location so we may need to move (again) when he gets called up.

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

Thanks for the info, clairelouise! Yeah, it looks like he'll have to go for the full 19 weeks. Is that time considered paid training? Or is it unpaid?

I think ChCh must just be a particularly desirable place to settle down and be a cop, so lots of people want to transfer there. It's a big city but probably less crime than Auckland or Wellington. (I personally found ChCh kinda boring but oh well! hehe.)

As long as they're still recruiting for the Auckland area we should be fine. Now we just need to get these blue stickers... :laugh

[veronica]

thanks for answering the chch question (bebers) and no I not thinking of joining up. one of daughters friends looking to move over there.

[clairelouise]

Thanks for the info, clairelouise! Yeah, it looks like he'll have to go for the full 19 weeks. Is that time considered paid training? Or is it unpaid?

I think ChCh must just be a particularly desirable place to settle down and be a cop, so lots of people want to transfer there. It's a big city but probably less crime than Auckland or Wellington. (I personally found ChCh kinda boring but oh well! hehe.)

As long as they're still recruiting for the Auckland area we should be fine. Now we just need to get these blue stickers... :laugh

The 19 weeks training are paid as a salary of $32600 ish and then once you've passed there is a stating salary of $47600 (total annual package $53300 ish).

These figures are for anyone starting from scratch as it were, as a brand new recruit.

There's 9 (AFAIK) intakes of new police recruits throughout the year.

HTH, Good luck! :D

[the bebers]

From what my husband was told there isn't a waiting list for Auckland and many of the North Island locations. The problem of waiting lists seems to be more in the South Island and I think Chch may be the longest in the country (typical luck this is where we happen to have settled near to). But it does change a lot. When my husband first applied many months ago the Chch waiting list was 18 months and now it's 3-4 years.

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

The 19 weeks training are paid as a salary of $32600 ish and then once you've passed there is a stating salary of $47600 (total annual package $53300 ish).

These figures are for anyone starting from scratch as it were, as a brand new recruit.

There's 9 (AFAIK) intakes of new police recruits throughout the year.

HTH, Good luck! :D
Sounds good, thank you!

It seems as though they don't offer "family"-type housing at the College, so I suppose we'll have to rent a flat out in Porirua. Of course, I am getting way ahead of myself, lol...but it's nice to think about actually moving forward with things. :D

[millie]

I heard from a friend in Auckland Police (a transferee from UK) that they are looking to recruit a lot of cops there however they've stopped the UK recruitment for a while due to the global economic situation. Western Australia Police have also put theirs on hold for the same reason.