Putting people at the centre of law reform: a case-study of the Police Act Review

1. Putting people at the centre of law reform: a case-study of the Police Act Review Mike Webb New Zealand Police

2. Quick context • Small team based at Police NationalHQ reviewing/rewriting the Police Act 1958 • Representing the interests of Minister of Police and Commissioner of Police • Aim: “start a conversation about different communities’ expectations of policing” • Outcome: “this will allow New Zealanders to articulate what kind of police service they want, and to give them a direct voice in shaping the kind of legislative arrangements that can help deliver that style of policing”

3. The wider challenge Some might say that a project to review and rewrite policing legislation is: • Dry • Boring • Complex • Distant from the lives of ordinary Kiwis just how wrong can some people be?

4. Specific challenges • To generate interest in the review • Raise awareness in ‘hard to reach’ and ‘hard to hear’ populations (e.g., youth, Māori and Pacific peoples) with • A modest budget for communications • An expectation orthodox comms and consultation paths would be followed, because it is a government project

5. Our strategy • Develop principles of consultation (and then, just as importantly, stick to them) • No surprises approach, where possible • “Become a bit like Switzerland” • Pursue traditional and non-traditional consultation channels • Exploit free/low cost media channels • Front foot every media opportunity • Generate momentum through the steady release of interesting papers ?

6. Establishing principles of consultation • A two-way process Those leading the consultation must engage and listen • Respect Achieving successful stakeholder involvement is based on respect for those communicated with • Opportunity Reasonable time and sufficient opportunity must be given to express views • Openness Demonstrating an open mind and a willingness to change where appropriate is essential to building trust

7. Standalone website • Copies of all significant documents relating to the review were uploaded to a dedicated Internet website • Arms-length from NZ Policewebsite • Extra functionality allowed for online responses to consultation documents • A single portal for key project-related information helped with reducing misunderstandings about the review, and reduced need for OIA requests

8. Reflect & Propose Test & Consult Consult & Propose

9. Issues Papers to ground the discussion • Eight papers • Posed 120+ consultation questions • Publicly released over six months • Also channel marketed to identified key stakeholders: • Justice sector agencies and other partner organisations • Local government • Police staff • Communities of interest • NGOs

10. Connecting with ‘the frontline’ • To further keep the review grounded, a group of 16 frontline officers was gathered from around New Zealand • Largely operated as a virtual group, but also brought together in Wellington • The frontliners regularly tested ideas, assumptions and language … which was particularly important re: making sure key messages were understood

11. Expert forums to elicit deep thought • Review team partnered with Victoria University’s Schools of Government, Law and Institute of Criminology; plus AUT’s School of Social Sciences • Aim: a neutral third party to host explorative discussions on complex topics • Really useful for ‘testing the waters’ • Three topic meetings were held, with anonymised notes posted on the dedicated Police Act Review website

12. Symposium on policing futures • Success of university-based events prompted a larger, open format, event to bring the wider discussion together • Police and VUW co-hosted international symposium on policing for the future • Helped hook in new comms champions

13. Public research • Started mid 2006 by UMR Research Ltd • Capturing views of Kiwis on what sort of police service they want and expect • Primarily qualitative research (e.g., focus groups), but with quantitative aspects (e.g., household surveys) • Sample included mix of gender, ethnicity, age, urban/rural, victim/non-victim, etc. • Very useful for calibrating messages and refining some of the public policy choices

14. Policing Directions • Major public consultation document released in May 2007 • More than 80 public meetings held nationwide to raise awareness; some ‘piggybacking’ off partner meetings • 1200 people attended the meetings • In the end, 234 submissions received • Results of consultation exercise were written up in Public views on policing document (August 2007)

15. Awareness raising • Radio advertisements run on 180 different stations around the country • Print advertisements in 16 daily papers • Quarter page ad in Sunday Star Times during middle of consultation period • Non-traditional channels also exploited: e.g., 30” item screened on Health TV in 85 GPs’ waiting rooms (reaching 100K+) • Aided by mainstream media pick-up (e.g., op ed commentary by review team members was printed in 90 daily papers)

16. Spreading the net • Summary booklet translated into Māori • Pamphlet highlighting key proposals also translated into 10 other languages • Youth efforts • Debating competitions for secondary school and university students • National student essay competition • MYD involvement (e.g., making use of the Aotearoa Youth Voices website) • Wiki Policing Bill

17. Why a wiki? • In March 2006, we held a thought storming session to generate ideas • Challenge: how do we connect with 4 million New Zealanders for $5? • Examples of ideas we came up with: green graffiti, free bus advertising, milk-cartons, ATM machine receipts, a mascot … and the use of Web 2.0

18. Which 2.0 Channel? • YouTube and MySpace accounts failed to generate real engagement • Turned to the idea of a wiki as a low cost, easy-to-set-up, medium • Complementary to other, more traditional, consultation efforts • Ability to reach difficult to engage members of the community • Cutting edge of e-democracy…?

19. So: did it work? • Attracted a lot of interest to the review • Brought in some fresh ideas and further helped to refine existing ideas but • Required extensive moderation effort and it brought in some pretty silly ideas • Drew in irrelevant international and expat thinking into the review process • Seen by cynics as just a gimmick

20. Other successes and lessons learned • What worked well? What didn’t? And what may we do differently next time? Some of our ‘best buys’ were: • The one-stop-shop standalone website (www.policeact.govt.nz) • Calibrating messages regularly with key audiences, and doing everything possible to avoid any nasty surprises • Not letting a comms vacuum develop

21. No surprises policy 1: Multi-party briefings • At key stages throughout the review the Minister offered one-on-one briefings to other political parties • Emphasised need for Police to serve the government of the day, whatever its political complexion • All Police Act Review papers were distributed to all parliamentary political parties, and research units

22. No surprises policy 2: Talking to the unions • Early engagement was key to building a high-trust relationship • A full-time Police Association representative embedded with the review team, with full access to all meetings and project materials • Regular briefings provided to other service organisations, as required

23. No surprises policy 3: Public sector briefings • Five briefings held at points during the project for wider public sector • Open invitation to all public sector CEOs to send a representative • Usually attended by 35-50 people • Allowed agencies with an interest in discrete issues (e.g., IRD) to keep in contact with the review, and ask questions in a secure environment

24. Recapping our strategy • Develop principles of consultation (and then, just as importantly, stick to them) • No surprises approach, where possible • “Become a bit like Switzerland” • Pursue traditional and non-traditional consultation channels • Exploit free/low cost media channels • Front foot every media opportunity • Generate momentum through the steady release of interesting papers ?

25. Have the results lined up with the strategy? From our point of view – yes • Profile raised, ideas generated, consultation increased, at low cost • Consultation ethics maintained • A firmer and fuller base of ideas generated, plus greater consensus built for new policing legislation • And, fingers crossed, the Policing Bill is set for enactment very soon

26. Political recognition

27. Final thoughts … • Putting people at the centre of law reform projects is a good thing to do • It’s also more fun and stimulating for those working on the project, rather than living in a risk-averse bubble • Treating people with respect and being open will get you a long way • Relentless enthusiasm is the best antidote to seeming indifference