Building trust and confidence with the community and ensuring a capable police force will be the foremost focus of the new Whangārei-Kaipara police area commander.

Inspector Maria Nordstrom has come full circle in her policing career since she first started as a 24-year-old constable at Dargaville Station in 1990.

“It’s an incredible privilege and responsibility to be appointed to this pivotal leadership role,” she said.

Nordstrom believes having strong relationships with iwi Māori, Government and community partners is key to supporting victims of crime.

“By working together, we can break this systemic cycle of harm and reduce victimisation. After all, it’s about the people and making New Zealand a better safe place to live in.”

In her police career, which spans over three decades, she spent the first 15 years in Kaipara working a variety of frontline roles.

The inspector said she didn’t think managing two different districts would be an uphill challenge as she has years of experience dealing with “rural policing” and partnering with the community to resolve crime.

“I recognise that there is a higher demand to respond to crimes and their types in Whangārei, but at the end of the day, it’s just police business.”

Although the mother of three tamariki had temporarily left the police to take care of her kids, she returned to her job in 2007. Five years later, she was appointed as the inaugural Northland District Victim and Family Violence Manager as a result of the introduction of the Prevention First Strategy in 2011.

The strategy was a significant shift in mindset since it put victims of crime at the centre of police work, worked together with repeat victims and helped to create victim intervention plans.

Nordstrom said it was at that point in her career when she came across the “biggest challenge”.

“Our current justice system is too complex and difficult to navigate. For instance, it tends to focus on someone who has caused harm or committed a crime, and not on the victim’s tamariki and whānau.

“We must introduce better ways to work together. I have strong empathy for people who go through significant events, trauma, and understand how it creates ripple effects and impacts the wider community.”

Her return also coincides with the launch of a pilot programme for victims in Whangārei, which is part of a Government-funded programme.

Considered her “brainchild”, the initiative aims to help victims and tamariki through the criminal justice system and stems from the invaluable experience she gained working in Wellington.

Nordstrom said the Government recently invested $46 million in the programme to develop a sector-wide victims operating model for the next three years, which was a sign that they were starting to recognise the crime situation.

With an extensive policing career, she had seen the districts develop, grow and transform for the better.

She said the introduction of new technology had been a game-changer for the police. As an example, she pointed out how the region’s CCTV programme played a big part in last week’s aggravated robbery.

“Besides tech, we have worked hard to keep our people safe and improved the training for officers, which is critically important.”

Nordstrom said growing up, she always wanted to be a police officer.

“It was purely my desire just to join and help many people.”

Her message to the community was to keep reporting incidents, even if they were of a minor nature.

“Even though we may respond to priority jobs first, we do review all the information and build a picture of crime and happenings. We’d rather know about a crime than not,” she said.

Avneesh Vincent is the crime and emergency services reporter at the Advocate. He was previously at the Gisborne Herald as the arts and environment reporter and is passionate about covering stories that can make a difference. He joined NZME in July 2023.