Tania Kura appointed interim police commissioner

Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Police Minister Mark Mitchell has appointed police deputy commissioner Tania Kura to the top job until a replacement for outgoing commissioner Andrew Coster is found.

Mitchell announced the temporary appointment on Tuesday morning, saying Kura would be police commissioner from November 11, the day after Coster leaves the police, until a new permanent commissioner begins.

“I’ve been working with Ms Kura for 12 months and I am confident she will provide the continuity of leadership the police service needs during this transitional period,” Mitchell said.

Last month Coster announced his resignation from police to take up a job as the head of the Government’s Social Investment Agency, after four years as commissioner and an extensive career in police.

As secretary of the Social Investment Agency, Coster will be the lead adviser to the Government on social investment, a hallmark National Party policy.

The agency, first created by Prime Minister Bill English but diminished under Labour, has been recast by Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis as a central agency and given a renewed mandate to use government data to deliver more discrete, targeted welfare spending and social interventions, to achieve better and less costly results.

The Public Service Commission is running the recruitment of a new police commissioner, who will almost certainly come from within the police hierarchy, or with prior policing experience.

The commission posted a job listing for the role last month, and applications closed on October 9.

Kura, the interim commissioner, has been in police since 1987 and has risen to deputy commissioner responsible for “front line operations”, overseeing investigations and policing across the country.

According to the police website, she has previously worked an area commander in Hawke’s Bay, and was made Eastern District Commander in 2017.