New Zealand Executive Government News Release Archive

The Minister of Police, the Hon John Luxton today announced the appointment of Deputy Commissioner, Peter Doone as the new Commissioner of Police.

"I welcome the appointment of an experienced Police Officer who has had to compete against some very experienced contenders for the Commissioner of Police position," said Mr Luxton.

"Peter Doone will take up his duties as Commissioner on 1 July 1996 and brings to the position considerable experience in resource management including budget management, information systems, internal audit , human resources, and strategic and corporate planning.

"A qualified lawyer and financial manager with Masters degrees in law from Victoria University and Public Administration from Harvard University, Peter Doone has been with Police for 27 years," the Minister
stated.

"Despite the concerns raised when I announced that the top Police job would be open to applicants outside the Police organisation, today's announcement supports my contention then, that we have very experienced Police executives with excellent skills, experience and knowledge to compete against private sector executives.

"We have a large Police organisation with a budget of $800 million and over 8,000 employees nationwide. The organisation, like any major one, is undergoing changes to continue meeting the needs of local communities, and ensuring greater effectiveness and efficiency in meeting those needs," said Mr Luxton.

"In particular, with the investment of $100 million taxpayers funds for the implementation of state-of-the-art information technology, we will see our Police organisation enhance its role further to make our communities safer with this new system. It will, as part of our Policing 2000 strategy, take policing in New Zealand into the 21st Century.

"I know that Peter Doone will contribute to this policing role and will meet the future challenges in this area successfully. I look forward to working with Peter Doone in his new role," concluded Mr Luxton.

Attached: Biographical details for Deputy Commissioner Peter Doone

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

PETER DOONE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

Peter is presently one of two Deputy Commissioners of Police and is responsible for managing the resources of the Police. These are significant with assets of $450 million and a cash flow of $780 million per annum.

Peter is both a qualified lawyer and financial manager with Masters degrees in Law from Victoria University here in Wellington and Public Administration from Harvard University.

Peter's career in the Police began 27 years ago while he was studying law. His Masters Law papers specialised in company law and commercial fraud. Using this expertise, Peter began a career as a detective in Wellington specialising in commercial fraud investigations during the 1970's and 80's.

In 1984, he was promoted to Detective Inspector and took command of the Otahuhu CIB in South Auckland which was at that time, the busiest station in New Zealand for serious crime.

In 1985, Peter was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to the United States where he and his family travelled for two years. Peter spent a year at Harvard University from where he graduated with his Masters degree in Public Administration, specialising in financial management, managing information systems and criminal justice.

On his return to New Zealand in 1987 he was transferred to Police Headquarters in Wellington. Following a brief period as a senior legal adviser, Peter commenced his career in senior management with promotion to Superintendent in Charge of Planning in 1990 and appointment as General Manager Finance in 1991. Promotion to Assistant Commissioner in charge of both the planning and finance portfolios followed in 1992.

Peter was appointed Deputy Commissioner in 1993 with responsibility for all resource management issues including budgets, strategic and corporate planning, information systems, internal audit and human resources.

Peter is also heading a major business transformation program in Police under the title"Policing 2000" which aims to achieve a minimum of 11% productivity improvement over the next three years utilising a combination of business process re-engineering and change management methodologies and several major I.T enabling projects. Total costs of these strategies are estimated at more than $200 million and benefits at in excess of $500 million.

Home || Ministers || Policies || Speeches || Departments