One of Aotearoa’s leading iwi liaison officers is celebrating a fifty-year milestone in the New Zealand Police, before his pending retirement at the beginning of next year.
Sergeant Wayne Panapa QSM said there has been a massive change in the way policing is done in this country over his long career.
He said when he began his career as an officer in the early 70s he knew he had to be strong in his Māoritanga to make it so far.
“You had to be strong within your own Māoriness, otherwise you’d get swallowed up by [the] police.”
Panapa said Māori police officers have a unique viewpoint which allows them to build trust in their communities.
The conversations with Māori police officers are different than with other officers, he said.
“Maori officers can think police but they can also think another way, our police officers can’t think that way, they don’t know how to look beyond that.
“If they had gone to a marae where there’s a tūpāpaku (body) to uplift it they’d be totally lost, because they wouldn’t know the tikanga and all that stuff. So we are there to keep our Pākehā police officers culturally safe.”
Panapa was one of the first iwi liaison officers, at that time all iwi liaison officers had to be sworn members of the police.
He has been an advocate for Iwi Community Panels, and in Hamilton Panapa works alongside Te Kōhao health to help ensure that low level offenders are put on the right path.
Te Pae Oranga Iwi Community Panels are a way for Police and iwi/Māori partners to deal with crime and prevent reoffending. With Police working in partnership with iwi in an alternative pathway to rehabilitation through a te ao Māori lens.
As part of Te Pae Oranga offenders don’t enter the judicial system, but they have to complete a plan or be referred back to the arresting officer.
New police recruits are also invited to come be a part of the programme and listen to the kōrero with the goal being that they will see another way of policing, Panapa said.
“It is important for them to come here to get some understanding [that] there is another way. The wisdom of our panel at Te Kōhao Health to be able to give these people a better start in their life, they won’t get that in court.
“They don’t get five minutes in court the judge will start reaching for the gavel, hit it and they are out the door then next week, it’s like a big conveyor belt.”