Ground-breaking work on fairness and equity within New Zealand’s police force has quantified for the first time the gap between Māori and Pakeha when it comes to how they’re treated.
It comes from the world-leading project Understanding Policing Delivery, which granted a research team unrestricted access to police staff and data.
Controlling for all other relevant factors, including previous criminal history, youth and gang affiliation, Māori are still 11 percent more likely to be charged with an offence than a Pakeha person in the same situation.
It does seem better than expected, however, they did control for “previous criminal history”, which might make it seem better than it actually is?, as in, over the course of multiple police interactions the probability will go up, and that might be compounded by the issue that living in poorer areas means you’re more likely to encounter police.
