Commissioner of Police (New Zealand)

The Commissioner of Police is the head of the New Zealand Police. The Commissioner is appointed for a three-year term by the Governor-General, and reports to the Minister of Police.^[1] The position combines two functions, that of chief constable in charge of policing and cases, and chief executive responsible for assets and budgeting.^[2] In military terms, the rank is equivalent to Lieutenant General.^[3]

The Police Force Act 1886 split the police from the standing army and militia on 1 September 1886. Sir George Whitmore was appointed as the first commissioner, reporting to the Minister of Defence.^[4] Early commissioners came from the United Kingdom with military or law enforcement experience, such as Walter Dinnie, who had served as Inspector at Scotland Yard.

In 2006, the commissioner was the highest paid person on the public payroll in New Zealand, earning $440,000.^[5]

List of Commissioners

#	Name	Term of Office		Notes
		Start	End
1	Sir George Stoddart Whitmore	1 September 1886	31 December 1886	[4][6]
2	Major Walter E. Gudgeon	5 January 1887	June 1890	[6][7][8][9][10]
3	Lt. Col. Arthur Hume	1 July 1890	1897	[9][10][11][12]
4	John Bennett Tunbridge	21 October 1897	1903	[10][13]
5	Walter Dinnie	June 1903	22 December 1909	[14][15][16]
6	Frank Waldegrave (acting, undersecretary of Justice)	December 1909	1912	[14]
7	John Cullen	19 April 1912	23 November 1916	[14][17]
8	John O'Donovan	December 1916	1921	[14]
9	Arthur Wright	1 January 1922	31 January 1926	[18]
10	William Bernard McIlveney (first New Zealand born)	1 February 1926	30 June 1930	[19][20]
11	Ward George Wohlmann	1 August 1930	30 June 1936	[20]
12	Denis Joseph Cummings	1 July 1936	31 October 1944	[21]
13	James Cummings	1 November 1944	15 April 1950	[21]
14	John Bruce Young (died in office)	4 April 1950	28 December 1952	[22][23]
15	Eric Henry Compton	11 March 1953	18 April 1955	[23]
16	Samuel Barnett (Controller General)	16 May 1955	1958	[24]
17	Willis Spencer Brown	1 December 1958	1961	[25]
18	Leslie Spencer	1961	May 1967	[26]
19	Colin Urquhart	May 1967	>= 1969	[26]
20	Sir Angus Sharp	<= 1970	1974
21	Ken B. Burnside	October 1974	mid 1978	[27]
22	Robert Walton	mid 1978	1983	[28][29][30]
23	Ken Thompson	<= 1984	>= 1986
24	Malcolm Churches	1987	1989	[31]
25	John Jamieson	1989	? 1993	[32]
26	Richard Macdonald	1994	1996
27	Peter Doone	1 July 1996	25 January 2000	[33][34]
28	Rob Robinson	2000	18 December 2005	[35]
29	Steve Long (acting)	December 2005	4 April 2006	[35]
30	Howard Broad	4 April 2006	3 April 2011	[35][36]
31	Peter Marshall	4 April 2011	2 April 2014	[37]
32	Mike Bush	3 April 2014	incumbent	[38]

Notes

1. "About us - Structure". New Zealand Police. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
2. "Govt appoints new Police Commissioner". The New Zealand Herald. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
3. "Insignia of rank". New Zealand Police. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
4. (Hill 1995, p. 7)
5. Thomson, Ainsley (5 April 2006). "Policeman on mission to restore confidence". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
6. (Hill 1995, p. 8)
7. "Volume XXI, Issue 6113". Wanganui Herald. 6 January 1887. pp. Page 3. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
8. "Volume XXXIII, Issue 6849". North Otago Times. 21 September 1889. pp. Page 2. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
9. "Volume XXXIV, Issue 703". North Otago Times. 24 June 1890. pp. Page 2. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
10. McLintock, A. H. (ed.) (1966). "Police - Development of the Service". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
11. Crawford, J. A. B. "Hume, Arthur 1838-1841? - 1918". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
12. (Hill 1995, p. 14)
13. "Volume 21, Issue 2277". Otago Witness. 21 October 1897. pp. Page 30. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
14. Derby, Mark (2007). "Czar Cullen: Police Commissioner John Cullen and Coercive State Action in Early 20th Century NZ". Victoria University of Wellington. hdl:10063/351.
15. "Volume XXXVII, Issue 10887". Wanganui Herald. 2 March 1903. pp. Page 6. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
16. (Hill 1995, p. 256)
17. "New Commissioner of Police". Grey River Argus. 20 April 1912. pp. Page 5. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
18. Young, Sherwood. "Wright, Arthur Hobbins 1861 - 1938". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
19. Dunstall, Graeme. "McIlveney, William Bernard 1867 - 1956". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
20. Dunstall, Graeme. "Wohlmann, Ward George 1872 - 1956". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
21. Dunstall, Graeme. "Cummings, Denis Joseph 1878 - 1956; Cummings, James 1885 - 1976". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
22. Dunstall, Graeme. "Young, John Bruce 1888 - 1952". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
23. Dunstall, Graeme. "Compton, Eric Henry 1902 - 1982". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
24. (McGill 1992, p. 100)
25. (McGill 1992, p. 109)
26. (McGill 1992, p. 121)
27. (McGill 1992, p. 136)
28. "Death of former Police Commissioner Bob Walton". New Zealand Police. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
29. "Former police commissioner passes away". 3 News. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
30. "Former police commissioner dies". Otago Daily Times. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
31. "Police Remembrance Day". New Zealand Police. 26 September 2003. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
32. (McGill 1992, p. 183)
33. "New Commissioner of Police announced". New Zealand Executive Government. 28 May 1996. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
34. "Ex-police commissioner may sue PM". The New Zealand Herald. 27 April 2005. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
35. "Police commissioner named". TVNZ. 4 April 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
36. "New Police Commissioner appointed". New Zealand Government. 4 April 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
37. "New Police Commissioner starts work". Stuff.co.nz. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
38. "Statement from Deputy Commissioner Operations, Mike Bush". New Zealand Police. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.

References

• Hill, Richard Synyer (1995). The Iron Hand in the Velvet Glove. Dunmore Press. ISBN 0-86469-244-7.
• McGill, David (1992). No Right to Strike. Wellington, NZ: Silver Owl Press. ISBN 0-9597979-2-0.