Mental Health and Preventative Policing

Mental health and prevention

In our Westminster system of governance and law, police are bound to prevent crime (and if that fails), investigate and prosecute offences.  The prevention of crime is a fundamental part of policing which goes all the way back to Sir Robert Peel in 1829.

Sir Robert Peel's   Principles of Law Enforcement 1829

1.The basic mission for which police exist is to prevent crime and disorder as an alternative to the repression of crime and disorder by military force and severity of legal punishment.

Policing is the only 24/7 social agency prepared to deal with anything it encounters. How does a modern-day police officer cope with persons who are mentally unwell but not committing any offences (yet). The following are actual events which took place a few years ago in South Auckland and highlights issues faced by police then and now, particularly with prevention in mind.

Night shift, winter and called to deal with a domestic incident in a residential address.  A 20 something heavily built man was living with his grandmother as his parents could not cope with him.  The reason his parents couldn’t cope were many, but included schizophrenia brought on by drug and alcohol abuse.  By all accounts he was a gentle person when sober.  This particular night he wasn’t either.  His grandmother was afraid of him.  He was exhibiting unusual behaviour which bordered on being aggressive. 

I had called mental health services, who refused to attend as he was under the influence of drugs. Other agencies weren't interested.  No one including parents and friends would take him in for the night.  They knew his history for assaulting people when in this state.  His behaviour hadn’t stepped over the mark into anything criminal.  He starred at his grandmother and used aggressive language towards her.  Grandma was scared and didn’t want him in the house overnight.  He was refusing to leave as it was his home.  What would you do? 

Front line policing is all about managing risks. Whilst in his dwelling, his language was insufficient to enact Summary Offences Act 1981 (SOA) as we were not in or within hearing of a public place. I got him to turn his attentions to me and made a couple of remarks which wound him up a little.  He became fixated on me and followed me out onto the road.  He was now in a public place and subject to the SOA language provisions which I promptly arrested him for.  He needed care and attention that night, as did his grandmother.

The following day, mental health services were called and did attend as he was no longer under the influence of drugs.  This young man then got the treatment he needed.  I knew full well that there were risks in using this strategy, but when societies mental health services refuse to deal with this, there is little choice for frontline officers.  

Until society takes a more open, pragmatic, preventative approach to mental health issues, situations like this will continue to occur around NZ.  It is a health issue that no-one wants to deal with so police have to by default, as they must do everything in their powers to prevent offending. 

Thanks to Tim Marshall and Unsplash for the photo

Americas Cup '95 & Dave Pizzini (Part ll)

Reflections on San Diego 1994/95 – Part Two

Last week I reflected on my time with TNZ as a security specialist in San Diego. In this item I will comment on some of the security aspects. In any challenge for the America’s Cup security is an important component. It is well documented that some syndicates have engaged in espionage tactics to gain an advantage by finding out rival’s technology innovations. We all remember images of boats being lifted from the water with skirts to prevent prying eyes seeing the underwater appendages. During 1991 challenge TNZ shore crew caught red handed an ex-navy seal diver hired by a rival syndicate photographing the keel. He was hauled from the water, relieved of his camera and some summary justice ensued. What resulted was protracted and expensive civil litigation in the California Courts.

Sir Peter Blake hired a security consultant to complete a risk analysis and recruit two off duty New Zealand Police Officers. We were part of the first tranche of TNZ members to arrive to set up base for the arrival of NZL32 and 38. TNZ leased a boat builder’s yard and workshop in Point Loma. We spent our first week undertaking a reconnaissance, purchasing and installing equipment and materials to ensure the compound was fit for purpose and secure. Sir Peter provided us security parameters and bottom lines and he approved our plans prior to installation. We maintained a presence at the base six nights each week and members of the sailing team were rostered to cover our night off. We worked a week about roster of six hour late shifts and 7 hour night shifts.

Before the challenger series started and between round robins the team were busy with two boat testing trials. I was often asked to make up the numbers on deck; usually in a grinding position. Having no previous sailing experience this was a real learning curve for me. The power and speed of NZL 32 and 38 in the light San Diego breezes was hugely impressive. What also impressed me was the teamwork and skill of the sailors and the on board leadership of Russell Coutts, Ed Baird, Brad Butterworth and Murray Jones.

We had no serious security breaches to deal with. Only the occasional minor one like nosy Kiwi fans peering over the perimeter fence.

Off duty we enjoyed the region and the mild winter climate. On the rare occasion the sailing team had a day off one of their favourite activities was golf. I sometimes made up a four with Russell, Brad and Ed; all mad keen golfers and very competitive! We were spoilt for choice with golf courses in the area. The nearby flood lit 9 hole course came in handy for the occasional hit after a hard day on the water.

While on duty we interacted closely with most of the team. Without exception I was struck by the commitment, determination and single-minded focus to win. The team worked incredibly long hours with few days off. For example, the sailing team started every day with aerobic fitness circuit training before we finished our nightshifts. They never left the compound until all the sailing equipment was checked and cleaned; minimum 12 hour work days. Another thing they were good at was celebrating success. We consumed the sponsor’s product during end of round robin parties, then everyone was back to hard work the next day.

This campaign was an experience I will always treasure. I learnt much from our fellow team members about leadership, teamwork, dedication and commitment, and having a winning focus. These are the qualities seen in many other NZ teams including Emirate’s TNZ in Bermuda and these are the qualities that set New Zealand teams apart on the world sporting stage.

Dave Pizzini, Director: VI     

Americas Cup '95 & Dave Pizzini

Reflections on San Diego ‘94/95

As New Zealanders celebrated the home coming of the America’s Cup these last two weeks I reminisced on Team New Zealand’s (TNZ) victory in the 1994/95 campaign. I was one of two New Zealand police officers recruited by Sir Peter Blake to look after security at the team compound in Point Loma. This week I will discuss the points of difference that I think contributed to that famous win against the odds. In my next blog I will discuss some aspects of the security operation at Point Loma.

Every winning team in any endeavour needs a good leader to steer the course. That leader in San Diego was Sir Peter Blake. Like Grant Dalton, Sir Peter secured sponsorship to fund the campaign. “The Family of Five” contributed the $35M budget, a fraction of the budgets of our competitors. Sir Peter oversaw expenditure by personally authorising every invoice over $100US. His criteria was: ‘will this make the boat go faster?’ If the answer was yes, it was approved; if no, the money wasn’t spent. Sir Peter commanded so much respect that every team member was prepared to go the extra mile for him. We avoided hiring local contractors because all works for setting up our compound was completed by skilled Team NZ members; builders, electricians, engineers etc. Every team member mucked in which only contributed to the team spirit.

Team loyalty was another important factor. The vast majority of the team were New Zealanders and the few foreign nationals were personally known by senior team members. There was heightened sensitivity over design innovation intellectual property and the collective loyalty and trust within the team safe guarded that.  

Sir Peter established a flat organisational structure. The syndicate was made up of seven teams. Each team leader reported directly to Sir Peter. This meant he heard of any issues as they arose and was able to nip them in the bud.  He was also one of the 17 crew members on race days which also helped with the two way communication within the structure. One issue that arose during the two boat testing phase was friction between the design team and boat builders. An optimal winged keel configuration remained constant on one boat, while the keel configuration of the other was changed every night and performance data collected on the water was analysed for performance and speed gains. Some configuration changes took most of the night to complete and the boat builders worked long arduous hours and things got a bit testy. Sir Peter learnt of this early on and he quickly resolved it by meeting with both team leaders. His mantra being: ‘We’ve come here to win the cup – let’s keep our focus on that together’.

Like Bermuda we were the last syndicate to arrive in San Diego. When we arrived there was a deliberate strategy to spread a rumour that our boats were “dogs” in terms of speed. Funny thing was most other syndicates heard this rumour and believed it. This kept us under the radar, including that of the media.

One major point of difference for TNZ was the support we received from home. It was often said that we were a team of four million. The Red Socks campaign was another clever idea from our leader. As the campaign progressed our mail bag bulged to the extend we ran out of wall space to display the messages of support. This really buoyed the team along and focused our minds on being the cup home.

PJ Montgomery’s call “The America’s Cup is now New Zealand’s Cup” on the 10th of May 1995 will forever remained engraved in the memories of Kiwi sports fans. Like Bermuda, this was another chapter in our rich history of punching above our weight in world sports. Long may that continue!

Ethics and the last shower

Ethics and the last shower

A few weeks ago Veritas Investigations Ltd received a website based enquiry regarding a background check on a celebrity.  This was followed up with an email to the sender, requesting contact details so that we could know our customer and understand their requirements. The details of the email exchanges are below for those interested.

There is an ethical duty as an investigator to know your customer to ensure their requirements are sound and with the right motivations.  After requesting contact details including a phone number the enquirer replied that they didn’t have a phone number and wanted to do business via emails only.

At this point it was clear that we could not establish the who the client was nor their motives for this request.  Ultimately this made our decision very easy to not take the matter further. 

Of course being investigators we were curious as to who would make contact in this manner using a blatantly false ruse that they did not possess a phone with which to make contact.  Using investigative skills assisted by some IT knowledge I have tracked the initiator of this enquiry to an Auckland inner city address which has a business listed there.  The business name is not far away from being an anagram of the email address.    

In our estimation the enquiry came from a bored teen or business rival testing our ethics.  Either way Dave and I did not come down in the last shower.  It would be interesting to know if any of the readers of this blog know who this person is and their motives.  If so please respond to the email address: Info@veritas.nz in complete confidence of course

Name: West ***

Email Address: west***04@########

Subject: Background check

Discretion: In the interest of your security please tell us the best time and contact details to receive a phone call: I need a background check done on a celebrity can you help?

__________________________________________________________________________________

"richard" <richard@veritas.nz> wrote:

Hi Max.  

If you give me your phone number and the best time to contact tomorrow I'll give you a call to discuss this. 

Richard

Director Veritas Investigations

0223967869

https://Veritas.nz/

From: West
Sent: Wednesday, 10:20 PM
To: richard
Subject: Re: Query- back ground check

Don't have a phone sorry and don't got a landline email is fine though if that's fine with you?