Superintendent Andrew Coster has led the Southern police district through numerous changes and difficulties during the past 18 months. The district has a set of challenges unique to its geography, but Supt Coster has a plan. He tells reporter Timothy Brown about the legacy he hopes to leave behind.
Policing is not just a vocation to Southern district's top police officer, Superintendent Andrew Coster, it is the fulfillment of a calling.
Supt Coster, Southern police district's commander, understands the comfortable and balanced upbringing he experienced as a child in Central Auckland is not everyone's reality, and his drive for social justice and ambition to protect the vulnerable propel his aspirations for New Zealand's largest and most sparsely populated policing district.
''There's two visions we have talked about since I arrived in the district,'' he says.
''One is to be the safest place to live and visit in the world, which sounds pretty `out there', but, when you think about it, New Zealand is already one of the safest countries in the world and we are almost certainly in the safest part of it.
''You need something that is going to give you a stretch and motivate you, so that was one thing.
''And the other was Southern would be the place where people come to see what good looks like.''
Supt Coster was not born into a policing family and it ''certainly wasn't high on the agenda'' growing up.
But among the ranks of the thin blue line he found ''where I'm meant to be''.
His father, Gregor, comes from a medical background and at one point it seemed he would end up in the field too.
''It was something I thought about, but I would have been doing it for the wrong reasons,'' he says.
''I looked at the air force at one stage ... but nothing particularly sat with me for a sustained time until I joined the police.''
Born in Dunedin but raised in Auckland, Supt Coster completed high school and became a telephone system salesman.
''I did that full-time for a few years and ... came to a view that it wasn't overly satisfying working in a really commercially focused environment,'' he said.
Shortly after he left the job, he joined the police and entered Police College.
The excitement for policing that was missing as a child is certainly evident now.
When speaking about the achievements of the district and its constabulary, Supt Coster's piercing eyes lighten and flicker; his movements became animated and his voice builds in a crescendo of praise.
''Police are on a different journey from the one they've historically been on and that's a really positive thing,'' he says.
''That requires good leadership and it needs leaders who can engage our people in a new way so we are not just doing something because we are told to do it (the old command and control view of the world) but because we believe it is the right thing to do and it makes a difference.
''We have got in the district now, and increasingly coming through, a group of leaders who have that dynamic and who are very committed to continuing to improve the performance of police and continuing to improve the way we do things.''
He beams with pride when discussing that Southern district boasts the highest level of trust and confidence among the public in New Zealand, according to the latest New Zealand Police Citizens' Satisfaction Survey.
And that the latest statistics show the crime rate and victim numbers are dropping in the district.
During Supt Coster's time as of the head of Southern district, he has been confronted with the findings of an Independent Police Conduct Association inquiry into the failings of a Central Otago police investigation in 2005 which led to the wrongful conviction of a teenager relating to a motor vehicle accident with then-constable Neil Ford, the tragic death of Bradley (9) and Ellen (6) Livingstone at the hands of their father and further incidents in Central Otago, including police bullying and the conviction of an active officer for producing an intimate visual recording with his police-issued iPhone.
He describes these moments as ''sentinel events'' which deeply contrast with the majority of Southern police.
''I think it's really important to be prepared to say when you have got it wrong,'' he says.
''We have six values within police, but the one that for me underpins it all is integrity.
''People would rather hear you say, `We got it wrong' and do that in an honest way than hear you say, `We didn't get it wrong, it was all fine'.
''On the flip side it's important to me that people understand the context in which we are operating.
''We deal [with] thousands of calls for service; response jobs; investigations; every year, many of them carrying high levels of risk, and so whilst it can be quite easy to narrow down on an individual situation and say police ought to have done this, police ought to have done that, there is a wider context and we do employ human beings - so from time to time you get mistakes.
''So I think there needs to be a balance there where we say we could have done, whatever it was, better but also understand the environment we operate in.''
As unrestrained as he is in praise for his colleagues, he is more measured in his assessment of himself.
Supt Coster is highly regarded in policing circles; one for the future, if you will.
But when asked about aspirations to become commissioner, New Zealand's youngest district commander says he is ''happy to play whatever role I can''.
His academic pursuits - which included an A bursary from the prestigious King's College - are reduced to ''I did OK at school''.
His voice softens as he details his school history: ''I was house and school prefect and that kind of stuff - but that's a long time ago now.''
When asked about his leadership qualities, he says, ''I think I have got something to offer in that space.''
But his passion for policing resulted in him becoming an inspector at 30 and ''for a time'' New Zealand's youngest area commander, when he commanded Auckland Central.
''It's chalk and cheese really between there and here,'' he said.
''Auckland Central is geographically the smallest area in the country but the most densely occupied, as you'd appreciate a lot of people coming and going during the day and during the night for different things, as opposed to here which is the biggest district, nearly twice as big as the next biggest geographically, but it's very sparsely populated.''
His policing career has included leadership roles in the front line and the armed offenders squad and time in CIB, despite spending less than two decades with the force.
He still recalls his days of frontline policing with fondness.
''Most, if not all, of the subject of policing was removed from what I was used to when I grew up,'' he says.
''I had just turned 21 when I was posted to Mangere.
''Having come from a comfortable family background and in the first couple of weeks being deployed out to Counties Manukau and going into homes where you saw some pretty amazing living conditions, it was quite depressing actually.
''You see how some people live, particularly kids, going to addresses where there's no carpet on the floor, holes in the wall, the barest of furniture, if there's food in the fridge it's not healthy food, there's family violence in the home - quite a culture shock for me.''
Supt Coster says his strong Christian faith provides him strength when confronted by jarring situations.
''There was a sense of calling for me, from a faith perspective and that's what sat with me and still drives me in terms of my role,'' he said.
''I have always felt confident it would be OK, whatever the situation. I have always enjoyed uncertain situations and I have always enjoyed an element of risk in things.
''I'm a very even person ... being able to project a sense of calm helps everybody out I think.''
The other aspect which provided him strength was the support of his family; wife Jo and their three boys.
