Crime Prevention Unit

  Effective Interventions

Justice Sector Pacific Officials meet Justice Pacific Reference Group

In January 2007 in the first of a series of Pacific Effective Interventions (EI) meetings, Jeremy Wood Director of the Crime Prevention Unit (CPU) gave an outline of key crime prevention principles and practices to a newly formed Justice Pacific Reference Group, senior officials within the Justice Sector and Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. In the coming months, these meetings will look at ways of reducing the disproportionate numbers of Pacific peoples in prison and their over representation in the criminal justice system.

Jeremy Wood and Fuimaono Tuiasau of CPU lead the Pacific EI work, with an Effective Interventions Pacific Programme of Action to be presented to Cabinet by June.

The Justice Pacific Reference Group, made up of Pacific community leaders, will provide advice, leadership and support to the Pacific EI work programme.

Work is now underway to complete consultation throughout New Zealand with Pacific providers and communities, interviews with Pacific offenders and Pacific youth offenders, and to review the findings of the consultations and other research with officials. This will contribute to the preparation of the Pacific EI Programme of Action.

The recent presentation was well received by the Pacific community leaders and officials. Pacific Justice Sector Officials Group member Leatuavao Viko Aufaga, Senior Pacific Policy Adviser, Department of Corrections says "this Pacific EI work is the perfect opportunity for agency collaboration and will allow Pacific communities to work with government to find answers to some difficult issues".

Tofa Suafole Gush, the Pacific Service Development Manager, Child Youth and Family Services, Ministry of Social Development says the EI work "will lead to long term effective programmes and services for Pacific children and families."