1 DRAMATIC MUSIC DOG BARKS All right, get out! Get out! Protecting us from crime nationwide. You can go. <BLEEP>. RT CHATTER This way! For the more than 1700 female police officers,... We'll be here all day. ...every day brings them face-to-face with danger. MAN SHOUTS Can you just show some respect, please? These streets are tough,... Don't tell people you're gonna kill 'em then. ...so they need to be tougher. RT: People running for their lives. <BLEEP>. Police-dog handler. Come out now! They reckon there might be kids in there. SIRENS WAIL That's our car. That's our boy. There! There's, like, actual poo on the wall. Armed up with our M4. Just pray we don't have to use it. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 SIREN WAILS RT: Doing about 120, I suppose. 130. In South Auckland a driver is fleeing from police, and Constable Anne Napara is on the job. So with a fleeing driver, you gotta bear in mind of everyone's safety ` our safety, um, the public's safety. I reckon he's gonna come through here. RT: He's moving across to turn right at Church Rd. If he's turning right, quick right here. Some of these offenders, because they know the streets so well, they take different routes and shortcuts as well. I live and, uh, work in the area, so I know the` the area well. It's like playing cat and mouse. UPBEAT MUSIC I was born in the island of Manihiki in the Cook Islands. We moved to NZ in the year 2000. So I've lived in Mangere since we moved here. Kia orana. Kia orana. (SPEAKS RAROTONGAN) (LAUGHS) I joined the police because my grandfather was a police officer, so it was like a dream for me to be like him. And I love to help people. Long time no see. I think you got to have the drive and the passion to help people to be in this career. If you don't, then this is the wrong job for you. RT: Yeah, he's uh` He's up on the footpath. Back in South Auckland, the situation with the fleeing driver has escalated. He's playing a high-stakes game, with no regard for public safety in his home stomping ground. RT: He's along the footpath. All right if you pull back. Uh, it's way too dangerous. A lot of roadworks. And the road's closed here. Eagle, the police helicopter, is monitoring the stolen car and directing police to cordon positions. RT: He's gone through a fence, through a house, through another fence. We're coming round. Go there. Go there. Go left. Go right. What was going through my head was that I pray that no one's hurt. I pray that they don't hit into anyone, you know, especially innocent people. RT: Come out on to Vickers. He's gone through three of` two or three properties, smashing up fences. Gone through another property, through a fence, through a walkway heading towards Convair. He's just smashing through random houses. People running for their lives. Driving like an idiot. What are these guys doing? Come on, guys. Let's go. Here. Oh, it is their car. That's our boy. RT: There are passengers, right top. Left here. All the way to the end. All the way to the end. We're gonna get out and run this way. RT: He's, uh, right to Williamson. ACTION MUSIC HELICOPTER WHIRRS This way! Our last update from Eagle was that he jumped over a fence, and that was a fence, um, to the school grounds. Is he there somewhere? RT: They both went through between the classrooms, round to the left. And they both appeared to go into the classrooms. There. (PANTS) He's in here. We'll just cordon the school. RT: South side of the school, by this, uh` looks like a rugby, uh, club. CHILDREN CHATTER IN DISTANCE Our priority there was the kids' safety, and that's making sure that they're safe and they're in the classrooms before we can do anything with him. Hi. Hi. Do you guys know what's happening? Uh, no, I don't. I've just been asked to shut this door. OK, we're just looking` If you see someone that's running that shouldn't be on the property,... Yep. ...we're looking for him, so just yell out to us. What would you like me to do? Oh, just give you a yell. OK. Yeah. It was pretty scary actually walking through, adrenaline, blood pumping. And all I wanted to` to do is just to catch him. I don't really care how I was going to find him or catch him. Um, I didn't really care if` if he was a male that's bigger than me. Hello? TENSE MUSIC RT: Uh, units are up front... What's the locations, Comm? I was gutted, because I didn't catch him in the end. (CHUCKLES) So, um, at this stage, we've caught the offender ` um, the driver of the car ` and another passenger. So we'll just go back to our car. To be honest, I was frustrated, cos I wanted to catch him. (LAUGHS) All my effort in chasing him and, yeah, didn't get him. I'm pretty knackered, by the way. (QUIETLY) Don't air that. But yeah, uh, it was all good. Um, you know, the end of the day, the main thing is to` is to catch them and put them away and put them in custody. So this is the vehicle that the offenders are driving. Um, as you can see, um, they've dumped it here and crashed it into the fence, which is right next to a school, and as you can see here, there's a lot of kids out and also this is a walkway as well into another park. We've just had someone that was walking through this walkway, um, at that time the car came through and crashed. Luckily it didn't hit him. It was a good result that no one was hurt, cos right next to a school at this time of the day, um, young children and a walkway... I actually went to school just around the corner, so the alleyways where the vehicle crashed into, I used to walk through that alleyway after school and walking to our main town centre, and that was a shortcut. So it's` it's pretty scary. With the offenders safely under lock and key, Anne goes to suss out the damage and speak to witnesses for the investigation. He would've gone through at high speed. I mean, I'm no fanatic, but I'm sure you'd be going over 50 for this, um, type of damage. I saw this white vehicle just spinning around, and I thought, 'Um...' And I looked up again I went, 'OK, run.' And I ran inside, came to the lounge window, and then just saw the car come smashing through, missed the trees, which is weird, and actually missed couple of the neighbours had` that had just parked up on the driveway. Wow. Seeing the damage that he'd caused, for me, was heartbreaking. Not only damages the property, but people could've been killed. We were watching the helicopter first, then it got closer to us, and so we were looking at it. Yeah. (LAUGHS) And, uh, then it was that goes through ` a car. I'm walking through someone's backyard where, you know, the whole fence is` is damaged, because a car's just gone through it. You just` You can't believe it. What a moron. That's three properties already, and he's gone through, um, a couple more properties. Yeah, I've never seen anything like that, um, even in my police career. You know, you see it on the TV, you see it on movies where cars go through properties and... But, you know, I never thought it would actually, like, happen. It was a miracle actually that no one was hurt. ROCK MUSIC In Avondale, West Auckland, Constable Telisha Kumar is investigating a suspected break-in of an empty state house. I haven't been through very, like, many abandoned houses, but the only reason we heard of it is cos Housing NZ wanted us to go check up on the house, just to see if everything was OK. It's the second time Telisha's made this house call. Been tagging, I think. Fresh graffiti suggests the house is becoming a bit of a hot spot amongst the local tagging community. Oh, just watch your step, eh, cos, um,... there's poo. Oh, there is. Poo on the ground. Like, there's poo... But why? Look, there's poo in that thing ` in the deodorant lid. It's disg` Like, if you look in there, the bathroom, there's, like, actual poo on the wall, and they've like drawn on the` in the bathroom wall. Yeah, you go have a look. It's` And they've pooed in the bath. I haven't been to anything like that before, that was my first time. It was very disgusting. Young gun Telisha Kumar is a public safety team constable at Avondale Police Station. Graduated in June 2013. So it's a long time, but not really a long time. I still feel like I've just started. So when I was in school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but then, uh, we had a careers day, and the police came there. It just sounded so cool. Having to be fit for a job. I'm hard out into my sports, so it was like, 'I think this would work out,' and it has. While Telisha plays basketball for a police team, she also plays netball and soccer in her spare time. On top of this, she coaches an under-5s soccer team. Does everyone know each other? Uh... Kinda? I know him. You know him? So, we're gonna do a bit of a warm-up, and so then we'll play a game. How does that sound? Good! Good? How about we do shark attack? CHILDREN: Yeah! Does that sound good? Coaching the kids, they're very cute. Well, most of them are cute. (LAUGHS) I like doing it cos it's just something different. You know, in my job I deal with people older than me, people that are the same age as me, and they're always doing bad things or, you know, there's always something you're having to solve. Nice, Bevan, and again! It just takes me away from my work. I have a lot of fun coaching these little kids and playing my sport. Since I've been in the police, I feel like I've matured quite a bit. I was only 19 when I went to police college, and I'm 22 now, so I feel like it's helped me quite a lot into becoming who I've become. SIRENS WAIL Cousin's partner? All right. Tonight, Telisha is rushing to a family violence incident. So, the male at address threatened to stab informant. Informant is wanting him removed from the address, and he is informant's cousin's partner. When one of those jobs come in when it's high priority and something that you could be in straight away, sometimes depending on what it is, it is a bit stressful. SIREN WAILS That sort of job, you're kinda just like thinking, 'Oh my gosh,' like, you know, 'Who's at the address? What weapons might he have?' Or, you know, just how big he may be, you know? (LAUGHS) At the same time it's just, like, 'Well, I need to get there right now,' you know? Hi there, did you call us? Yes. Uh, what's happened is he's drunken a bit too much. I got a bit angry, and then I thought, 'No, hang on, best thing I can do is ring the police.' Well, if you just wait out here, and we'll go speak to him. Yep. KNOCKS ON DOOR Once inside, Telisha discovers there are two sides to this story, and decides to remove the man to defuse the situation. When you're confronted with a drunk person, it's quite hard to communicate with them half the time. Like, you know, I try and go in with a gentle, calm approach, just so they can see that I'm not, like` you're not gonna hurt them or, you know, you just wanna get the full picture of what's happening. So, normally I` Yeah, I go in calm and just, um, question them and see how they're doing. Your mum's phone number? The man agrees to leave without a fuss, but where he should go is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Bro, I wanna go to my mum's house. Oh well, but then if you get... Can I try and walk? Bro, she doesn't want you there then. SLURS: Well, uh, I don't know that. OK. How about we can` We'll take you there. Yes. If she doesn't want you there, then we'll have to take you to Central ` Auckland Central ` for detox. Yeah, OK. Is that OK with you? Yep, yep. Yeah? Cos we can't leave you in the street, and there's nowhere else for you to go. Yeah, yeah. Even though no charges were laid against him, he's got far too many beersies on board to be left to his own devices. Later, babe. Where are you going? LAUGHTER No, we're gonna take him to his mum's, and if she doesn't want him, then we'll take him to central detox. (SLURS INCOHERENTLY) (LAUGHS) Kinda changed. Like, once we got into the car, he kinda was kinda happy and joking around and just rambling about how he went to court last week, and how he wasn't happy about it. And, yeah, he was, um, yeah, quite a laugh. Pardon? You wanna be a police officer? Oh, it's too late now. (LAUGHS) Yeah, I enjoy having a good laugh, you know, especially with, um, the people that we deal with. What's your`? What's your mum's name? <BLEEP>. Maybe she is, bro. BOTH LAUGH Oh, are you sure you had two and a half beers? Yes, hey, I'm... Definitely all the time when I deal with people I always still, in the back of my mind, remember what they've just done. Yeah, you're, you know, having a good time in the car, having a joke about whatever, you know, talking about something off topic. But, yeah, I always do remember that... gotta be careful. It's not something that you can really laugh about. Yeah, definitely have to, um, be alert. It's... bad news. What happened last time you went there, bro? What happened last time you went there? She` She told me you tried` You stole her wallet last time you went there. Having exhausted all of his options, it's off to detox for our man tonight. (LAUGHS) He likes you. Do you`? Do you like him as well? (CHUCKLES) Oh, he's all-right-looking, eh? LAUGHTER Not knowing what I'm gonna be doing on my shift is really nice for me, cos it's just, you know, you don't get bored. All right, goodnight. It definitely keeps me going, cos there's just` I just like doing something different every day. Like, you know, I could not sit behind a desk all day, it's just` So that definitely does keep me going and definitely keeps me, um, motivated to keep going to work. (LAUGHS) 1 TENSE MUSIC In South Auckland, there's been a firearms call-out. A man has been seen holding a gun in a park. The police dog unit Delta, Eagle, and available front-line units have been called to the scene, including front-line rookie Constable Carley Eklund. Doesn't matter what kind of gun that somebody may have seen, we take every single firearms incident extremely seriously. Basically because of the ability that a gun does have to ruin somebody's life, you never take any risks with that kind of thing. Obviously we have to come prepared, so, um, yeah, we've armed up with our M4, and my partner's armed up with his Glock and, um,... just pray we don't have to use it. Carley has been in the police for three years, two as an unauthorised officer. In October 2014 I graduated, and I've been a sworn officer for about eight months now. SIRENS WAIL Going north. When I first started, I was pretty nervous, especially when we turned on the lights and sirens for the first time, and we're going through Manurewa at about 80km/h. I am new to the police, and there's always an aspect of the police that people aren't quite comfortable with. For me, I think that that is firearms. MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY OVER INTERCOM College was my first time holding a gun. We did two weeks of full-on intense training. The first day, I was too scared to even touch it. GUNSHOTS So training with firearms is actually a really good thing for me. TENSE MUSIC The guns that we train with and use on the street is a Glock 17 and an M4, so that's the big rifle. GUNSHOT They're obviously used for different situations, so we're given a lot more scenarios, cos we never know really what we're gonna get out on the street. GUNSHOTS Whoo. Now with the training I've been given in the police, I feel a lot more confident in using it, but, um, to put it into, obviously, real-life perspective is the` the scary side of things. Comms M and R3 10-7 SFP. Today Carley is responding to a firearms call-out, after a man was seen waving a gun around in a South Auckland park. It is a very intimidating experience. But it's important that you take a deep breath and clear your head about all the what ifs and, um, just take it as it comes. Keep your hands out to the side. Get down on your knees. And lay down on your side. We're not gonna hurt you. We were really lucky enough to find the male who was in possession of the gun outside the property, and we've asked the male to lay on the ground while we've searched the house for the gun. The man was found hunkering down at a relative's house, opposite the park. Yep, we found it. Um, he hid it in the laundry, so... Toy gun. Thank God for that. It's a toy one. It's a pretty good replica, but we can see how anyone would get this confused. If we're faced with somebody that has a gun, whether it be a toy one or not, we're going to treat that as if it's a loaded firearm and as if that person is out to do serious damage. Even though it's a false alarm, it's a necessary call-out. Everybody's uncomfortable in doing something in their time in the police. I know that with experience, um, I'll become more accustomed to it. The male is given a warning, and trespassed from the property of his relative, who's had a gutsful after previous altercations. Am I a superstar? Ah! <BLEEP>. Rewa's sexiest and I'm out to... Despite getting off with a warning and a ride home thrown in for free, he still thinks he's been given a rough deal. This is so silly, bro. <BLEEP> Are you, like, not processing, like, <BLEEP>? You actually can't go back to that address. I know that. I am trespassed. I know all my rights, got it? Yeah. The problem is if you go back there when you're not invited, you can get arrested. OK. What I love about my job is that it's so challenging and that you always have to think on your feet. And it just makes life a whole lot more interesting. It makes you, um, appreciate where you've come from and the things that you are given in life. Copyright Able 2017