Competing Demands: Npm and Intelligence Led Policing: a New Zealand Case Study

The New Public Management (NPM) model implemented in New Zealand in the 1980s was one of the most comprehensive and radical set of public management reforms in any OECD country. This study investigates the tension for the New Zealand Police navigating between the demands of NPM and Intelligence Led Policing. The study found that NPM and managerialism impacts on knowledge management, collaboration and generally on operational decision making in policing. The study found the emphasis managerialism has on quantitative measurement of specific crime types impedes on intelligence management in policing. The over emphasis on crime statistics impacts on the ability of police to develop knowledge of organised crime, the illicit drug market and a range of other risk factors in the community and therefore result in community risk factors not being adequately addressed. The impact of managerialism on policing becomes visible in the sense that police would rather prioritise and make decisions with regards to deploying resources to achieve crime targets, than to deploy resources to address organised crime, the illicit drug market and other community risk factors.