Recognising the need for diversity in its recruitment, the Canterbury Police is organising a recruitment seminar on July 16 at the Chinese Education and Culture Centre at Matipo Street in Riccarton, Christchurch from 1 p.m.

“As New Zealand becomes increasingly diverse it is important that New Zealand Police recruits and maintain a service that reflects this diversity. And currently, only five out of more than 850 officers in the Canterbury Police are either Southeast Asians or East Asians. That's why, while everyone is invited to attend, we are especially focussed on these ethnicities this time around. Next, we will be targeting the migrants from the Indian subcontinent,” said Inspector HironeWaretini, who is in charge of Canterbury Police Maori, Pacific and Ethnic Services Group (MPES), and shifted to Christchurch in February.

According to a police media release, currently, 11.2% of police officers in the Canterbury district identify with an ethnicity that isn’t European. This is made up of 7.6% Maori, 1.8% Pacific, 1.2% Asian and 0.6% recorded as other.

Thus, the release noted that to ensure police remains responsive to the needs of all New Zealanders, the organisation seeks to recruit a broad base of young New Zealanders, in particular women, and Maori, Pasifika, Indian, African and Asian people who are motivated to help their communities.

Adding on the details of the seminar, Hirone informed that the event will be almost three hours long during which his team will be talking to families and discussing the various options their sons and daughters have in the police.

“Many people don't realise this but there are more than 60 different career pathways for you to choose when you join the force. So we are treating this first-of-its-kind seminar for Canterbury as a template, which we will use to organise similar such events across the region,” he added.