February 02, 2024
Iwi connection with police Haumaha legacy
Outgoing Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha says he did what he could to heed the call from the likes of the late Api Mahuika and Kara Puketapu to make sure the voice of Māori is heard loud and clear throughout the organisation.
Mr Haumaka is retiring after 40 years of service in blue.
Highlights include getting Maori included in each district leadership team, and also the way he was able to bring a cultural perspective to events such as the Christchurch earthquakes, the Christchurch mosque attacks, the Whakaari White Island explosion, the Ihumatao occupation and the aftermath of the 2007 Tuhoe raids.
“All of those major events, what I said to the police was that across the country there are major iwi in each of those regions and it would be remiss of us to work outside that so in every event I went to, I made sure iwi were front and centre and connected and it was important that whole cultural dimension became part of that operational interface,” he says.
Wally Haumaha says he has 13 mokopuna to look after and a hapu to run, but he will also look for ways to be of service to Maori.