Finding the balance in policing

Saturday, 13 January 2024

Superintendent Corrie Parnell looks refreshed.

When The Post spoke to him recently he had been absent from his role of Wellington District Commander for almost a year, having worked in Christchurch as relieving District Manager – a role that was meant to give him the opportunity to connect with his Canterbury whanau for four weeks, but ended up lasting until June.

Following that, he relieved the assistant commissioner at Police National Headquarters, which saw him work for another 15 weeks in the role; an opportunity of huge growth for him and a fascinating experience, he said.

Now, finally, Parnell is back in his Wellington office ‒ which has a great view of the harbour, although it is unfortunately obscured by scaffolding.

The week after our interview he headed off to the United Nations in Geneva to represent the New Zealand Police service on the issue of human rights and the right to protest.

The experience was incredible, he said, and Geneva had been an amazing place to visit around Christmas.

Parnell said he definitely didn’t think a policing job would involve so much international travelling when he started in 1993.

With a 19-year stint in Canterbury’s Criminal Investigation Branch under his belt, including having worked in large-scale investigations such as the Christchurch earthquakes and the March 15 terror attack, the superintendent acknowledged his policing career had always been “out of the ordinary,” but believed his current leadership was all the stronger for it.

Parnell said “Operation Convoy” ‒ Police’s response to the 2022 Parliamentary occupation – was probably his biggest leadership challenge.

When he arrived i in 2019 to take up the district commander role, he quickly learned the capital had “additional nuance” to its leadership.

With Parliament and Police National Headquarters being in the capital alongside all the different embassies, Wellington had a lot going for it.

Navigating the complexity of the parliamentary cccupation on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic was something completely new, Parnell said.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority review into the 23-day occupation had claimed initial intelligence about the size and nature of the convoy as it approached Wellington was vastly underestimated by police leadership.

However, Parnell said that was not the case. The capital was well-accustomed to protests, with gatherings of 3000 to 5000 people not unusual.

The reality was that on the Tuesday the convoy arrived and started pitching tents, he had a little over 40 staff on the ground - a normal number for a Tuesday shift.

The task of moving them that night with 40 staff was insurmountable, he said. “How would you even go about it?”

What made Operation Convoy difficult was many different factions with different agendas all converging on a small area.

The experience wasn’t something he would want to repeat. But, like any other event, he had learnt how to be better equipped, better prepared, and how to respond better. “Hindsight is always a wonderful thing.”

He said the IPCA found that, overall, the public had been served well by the police, given the complexity of the situation.

Regarding the IPCA finding officers involved in removing protesters from parliament’s grounds had feared for their lives, Parnell said his main role ‒ his key function ‒ was to make sure people were safe, and got to go home to their loved ones.

“Your people are extremely vulnerable.”

He said it was difficult to strike a balance between community policing and a fundamental right, under the New Zealand Bill of Rights, to peaceful assembly.

The police’s role was to maintain neutrality, and to respond accordingly to whatever unlawful actions took place.

He said the police maintained a high level of trust among the public, even though it could be a “fickle” thing at times.

“We are well connected with our communities and in walking alongside our communities, which really gives us the mandate to do what we do.”

Regarding a change in the perceived safety of Pōneke’s nightlife, the superintendent was asked if he believed Wellington had got more dangerous.

Since the onset of the pandemic, which saw a massive drop in crime, Parnell said there had been a degradation of social cohesion, to which Wellington was not immune. Ultimately police aspired to make the country the safest in the world, and to keep people safe.

“That’s always my vision. It's the focus of what our people do and very much centred. We're a people industry, and service is at the heart of that.”

Farming first love

Growing up in Canterbury near the old Lincoln University, Parnell’s “first love” was farming ‒ but the reality was that his parents were not from the farming side of the motu, so other career avenues had to be considered.

After getting an engineering apprenticeship, he worked as an engineer for several years before deciding he wanted to be a police officer.

Why this change of career? He was playing a lot of rugby back then and heaps of his mates were already in the police, which got him interested, he said.

“It really was wanting to contribute to the community and society and be part of it.”

It took him three years to get accepted into police training, and that was only when someone dropped out of a 1993 intake.

Placed in Canterbury he didn’t spend too long as a probationary constable, quickly becoming interested in the investigation side of things.

He moved to the Christchurch Criminal Investigation Branch where he worked for 19 years. During that time he investigated about 100 homicides.

Parnell said he worked in serious child abuse, adult sexual assault, investigation, homicide, serious violence, general squads and burglary squads, moving up the ladder until he was appointed head of the CIB.

He saw the very best and worst of society during that phase of his career, he said. At its best the work was mixed, varied and fascinating; at its worst, horrifying.

Of the investigations that stayed with him, the Christchurch earthquakes and the March 15 terror attack were among them.

With the earthquakes, it was just the magnitude of the disaster and the different agencies involved. Parnell lost one of his staff in the CTV Building collapse, and that had never really left him.

Parnell said he was sitting in the Christchurch Station canteen on March 15 eating a late lunch and “contemplating the weekend,” when an officer came and told him of the mosque attack.

He stepped up as District Commander for the initial response, having just completed the Senior Investigating Officer counter-terrorism programme in Australasia.

Parnell said he went down to the scene multiple times in the days and months following.

As someone who grew up in Canterbury, the terror attack was something he had thought would never happen.

“You always live in hope that those sorts of events won't play out in your community.”

With the attack going through the coronial process, a lot of memories had come forward, he said, and the impact of the attack was still continuing today, especially on the country’s Muslim community.

Sea views from HQ

Parnell has now spent four years in the capital, and loves the sea views from the police headquarters.

He misses Christchurch and one day hopes to retire back “home.”

But the beautiful scenery makes living in the capital worth it.

Five weeks into his tenure in Wellington he was invited to train with the National Academy of the FBI. It was a huge honour, he said, and like something you saw on television.

He was there for three months as part of the leadership programme, studying academic papers on terrorism and serious violence while leading at-risk staff.

There was also a large physical component, culminating in running a yellow brick road, a 22.5km course through winter.

“I probably came back from that the fastest I’ve ever been … it's everything you see on telly. So I still pinch myself. ”

The FBI wanted international police officers to attend the programme, to gain different perspectives on policing. The American style of policing had a strong focus on amendment rights.

“Law enforcement, particularly in America, they'll refer to the police force, as opposed to New Zealand where we're very much a police service.”