Exploring Frontline Police Responses To, and Interactions With, Māori Experiencing Mental Distress in South Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
type: CreativeWork
description: Emergency mental health demand in Aotearoa New Zealand currently stretches beyond the ‘ideal’ functions of frontline policing. Mental distress callouts range from welfare checks to mental health crises, with around-the-clock police responses occurring at the nexus of mental health, social, and criminal justice systems. This means that when frontline police work alongside mental health professionals, the practice boundaries that should ideally define their discrete functions become blurred. In recognition of the government’s accountabilities under the nation’s founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, New Zealand Police value being culturally and equitably responsive to Indigenous Māori. However, social justice discourses endure as Māori health disparities persist. This study therefore informs an under-researched topic and strategic priority for both Māori and New Zealand Police. It explores frontline police responses to, and interactions with, Māori experiencing mental distress in South Auckland, or Counties Manukau Police District. With a critical kaupapa Māori lens informed by intersectionality, my study is complementary and sympathetic to Indigenous and Western theoretical perspectives. It relies on data generated from qualitative research methods conducted over two distinct phases. The whānau experience phase involves kaupapa Māori narrative inquiry with five participants from three different whānau interviewed during marae-based hui. The narratives are interpreted using a whakapapa and intersectionality framework. The police experience phase involves six months of ethnographic fieldwork, with ride-alongs and informal conversations with 32 frontline police conducted over 120 hours, and five semi-structured interviews. Through reflexive thematic analysis a richly contextualised and interpretative narrative of the police experience dataset is produced. The biphasic findings are then analysed as a complete, integrated data set, and responses to the study questions e…
abstract: Emergency mental health demand in Aotearoa New Zealand currently stretches beyond the ‘ideal’ functions of frontline policing. Mental distress callouts range from welfare checks to mental health crises, with around-the-clock police responses occurring at the nexus of mental health, social, and criminal justice systems. This means that when frontline police work alongside mental health professionals, the practice boundaries that should ideally define their discrete functions become blurred. In recognition of the government’s accountabilities under the nation’s founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, New Zealand Police value being culturally and equitably responsive to Indigenous Māori. However, social justice discourses endure as Māori health disparities persist. This study therefore informs an under-researched topic and strategic priority for both Māori and New Zealand Police. It explores frontline police responses to, and interactions with, Māori experiencing mental distress in South Auckland, or Counties Manukau Police District. With a critical kaupapa Māori lens informed by intersectionality, my study is complementary and sympathetic to Indigenous and Western theoretical perspectives. It relies on data generated from qualitative research methods conducted over two distinct phases. The whānau experience phase involves kaupapa Māori narrative inquiry with five participants from three different whānau interviewed during marae-based hui. The narratives are interpreted using a whakapapa and intersectionality framework. The police experience phase involves six months of ethnographic fieldwork, with ride-alongs and informal conversations with 32 frontline police conducted over 120 hours, and five semi-structured interviews. Through reflexive thematic analysis a richly contextualised and interpretative narrative of the police experience dataset is produced. The biphasic findings are then analysed as a complete, integrated data set, and responses to the study questions e…
author: Hunter, Kiri
date published: 2024
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:45:57Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University