I am keenly interested in securing a leadership role in an offshore theatre of operations. I have a long and illustrious career in policing and public safety, marked by significant contributions to the New Zealand Police force in both the areas of strategy and operations.
I have established credibility as a self-starter with a ‘can-do’ attitude. Trusted to get on with the job and deliver the res |
 Contact John Rivers
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Area of Expertise: |
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Disaster, Aid, Emergencies, Relief
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Professional Experience: |
Leadership
I have extensive experience leading and managing large numbers of staff and functions in operational service delivery. This has provided me with practical knowledge and experience in operational community police programmes and prevention services including responsiveness to family violence and mental health situations, proactive intervention in gang criminal activities and working with community leaders to develop problem-solving approaches to conflict and dispute resolution. I have also led the development and operationalisation of frameworks, policies and procedures that entailed securing the confidence of executives and Ministers prior to implementation.
Strategic thinking and planning
My strategic thinking is informed by an understanding of the operational needs required for success. This is amply demonstrated by the key role I had in the introduction of Taser to Police service in New Zealand (NZ) – from initial concept to trial and implementation. I also developed a strategy to respond to social crisis incidents that resulted in public and multiple agency discussions on how to collaborate around persons with mental illness. These examples, and many others, illustrate my ability to think at the strategic level and transform outcomes sought into a programme of practical and tangible actions.
Operational expertise
Understanding the pressures that front-line staff encounter when providing services, has contributed to my success when I have been responsible for command leadership in complex and high-risk environments regionally, nationally and internationally. I have proven ability to get things done across varied and different contexts including where cultural perspectives need to be taken into account when seeking to progress initiatives. Examples of this are my engagements with Maori iwi to ensure community input to initiatives and during my deployments to the Solomon Islands, Thailand and more recently, Timor Leste. When delivering operations, my approach is preferably to find ‘local solutions by local people to meet local needs.’
National security, crisis and emergency management
At a strategic level, I have represented Police in inter-agency watch groups convened by government including membership of Border Security, National Security and Critical Infrastructure working groups. My work included development of joint-Cabinet papers and the identification of interagency capability gaps and thresholds. My extensive training in crisis and emergency management together with front-line experience of traumatic situations (for example disaster recovery and victim identification post-tsunami in Phuket, Thailand and emergency responsiveness post-earthquake in the Solomon Islands as well as ensuring victim support networks for NZ casualties following the Bali bombings) has contributed to my expertise in this area. In these roles, I gained significant experience working collaboratively with other agencies (nati
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Education: |
Post Graduate Diploma in Executive Leadership, Charles Sturt University, Australia (2001)
Police Executive Leadership Programme, Charles Sturt University, Australia (1998)
Bachelor of Business Studies, Massey University, New Zealand (1998)
Diploma in Police Studies (1994)
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Available for: |
- Being headhunted – make me an offer
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