Coster appointed to hotly contested role
High-ranking police officer Andrew Coster has been named New Zealand’s new commissioner of police.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the appointment of Coster at her weekly post-Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Ardern said she personally knew of Coster’s passion for a police force that knows ‘‘its strength lies in what it can achieve with the community it serves’’.
He replaces the current police commissioner, Mike Bush, who will leave the job in April.
‘‘I know he’ll lead a team of 13,000 people across the country with positivity, inclusion and integrity,’’ Ardern said of Coster.
Police Minister Stuart Nash said Coster had a ‘‘strong history of accomplishments’’, including working as a Crown solicitor in Auckland.
Coster, in a statement, said it was a huge honour to be selected for the position.
‘‘It’s my intent to carry on a legacy of transformation focused on high performance that has been put in place under the leadership of commissioner Bush,’’ he said.
Bush welcomed Ardern’s announcement. ‘‘I am happy to be handing over the leadership to someone of Andrew’s calibre.’’ .
According to his police profile, Coster joined the force in 1996 and has held numerous frontline, investigative and management roles during this career – including Auckland Central area commander and Southern district commander.
He has also worked as a deputy chief executive of the Ministry of Justice.
Deputy commissioner Mike Clement had been touted as a frontrunner for the hotly contested role, as he appeared to have won Nash’s confidence.
In the past year, Clement has managed both the White Island recovery and Government’s gun buyback scheme.
In the past week there have been reports that Clement was the subject of a police watchdog complaint.
Independent Police Conduct Authority general manager Warren Young told Stuff that an investigation into the complaint had concluded and the result would not be released.
Ardern said this complaint did not factor into her decision on who should become commissioner and that Clement was an outstanding police officer.
Data from the State Services Commission shows the commissioner of police is paid a salary of about $700,000.