Positioning police and the police workforce to meet future challenges will benefit all our communities say Australian and New Zealand Police leaders who are meeting today in Melbourne.

Police Commissioners, including Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine, are meeting with other senior police leaders and executives at an inaugural Police Conference hosted by police, for the policing community in Australia and New Zealand.

“Many policing organisations around the world are under constant pressure to react to ‘today’s crisis’. We need to be exploring the issues that will affect, influence and impact policing now and into the future to position our organisations to continue to ensure the safety and security of our communities,” said Commissioner Hine

The conference will investigate the opportunity and capability innovations that will shape the future policing environment and police workforce. Police leaders will explore trust, youth, capability and emerging technology.

More than ever, tomorrow’s police workforce will need to be representative of the demographics of our communities, say Police Commissioners. Australian and New Zealand communities are transforming, becoming older and more ethnically diverse. A representative police workforce connects and engages with our communities and is also key to attracting the best talent to policing, say Police Commissioners.

“For Tasmania Police to continue to be effective in tackling crime and maintaining safe communities we must have the trust of our community,” said Commissioner Hine.

“Community trust is a product of our interactions, our attitudes and our actions, both as individuals and as an organisation.

“While we have earned high levels of trust from Tasmanians our population is becoming more diverse and we have to ensure we are adapting to changing needs.

“A police service that is representative of our communities and truly engages is vital.

“We need to make sure we are constantly working towards becoming a more diverse, inclusive and trusted organisation that will allow us to deliver the best policing service into the future,” he said.