Policing in New Zealand

Purpose - This paper seeks to critique the Winfree and Taylor report on rural, small town, and metropolitan police in New Zealand.Design methodology approach - Compares and contrasts the conclusions to some earlier findings of Jaeger in her research on increasing the diversity of the New Zealand police. The question asked is: "Can universal research methodology on classical policing and community policing be applied carte blanche to organizational studies in New Zealand without 'local' input?".Findings - Jaeger's research, through in-depth interviews of twenty ethnic police officers, suggested possible alternative conclusions that were not apparent when Winfree and Taylor, reporting from a distance, applied detailed statistical analysis to a 1996 dataset. The paper suggests that a combination of the two approaches might lead to a more complete and truthful representation of the reality.Originality value - Critiques an earlier report on the police in New Zealand published in Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.