Insights into Policing

By Frank Neill

Police Pathways, a programme giving senior secondary school students the opportunity to see what working in the Police or associated disciplines is like, began for the year in Wainuiomata last week.

Wainuiomata High School students went to the Wainuiomata Police Station for the first day of the programme on Tuesday 28 February.

Every week they will spend two 95-minutes spells on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the programme, which runs for the rest of the year.

While most of the Police Pathways programme will run at the Police Station, there will also be a series of trips.

These will include visits to the Police dogs, the Police launch, the Police College, Wellington Airport and Police stations in Wellington and the Hutt Valley.

“The Police Pathways programme is a great way to promote the Police in a positive light,” says Sheree Holmes, the Careers Adviser at Wainuiomata High School.

This year a class of 14 year 13 students have opted into the course, Ms Holmes says.

The Wainuiomata Police, and particularly the officer in charge, Sergeant Pat Tangipo, have been instrumental in ensuring the programme is a success.

“Pat [Tangipo] has been awesome,” Ms Holmes says.

As well as introducing the stu- dents to possible careers as Police officers, it also introduces them to other roles both within the Police and in crime-related disciplines outside the Police. they don’t have the money to grow their own produce and/or don’t have land that can be used for gardening.

That ranges from Police office staff to forensics, from criminology to lawyering and to related roles in the public service.

“The Police are trying to encourage M ori, Pasifika and females in particular to join the Police in a variety of roles,” Ms Holmes says.

A nationwide initiative, Police Pathways has been running for five years.

Students on the programme can receive up to 26 NCEA Level 3 credits which have been contextualised towardpolicing withinNew Zealand.

Readers of my columns are good gardeners, in the main, and even if on a budget they are able to grow a reasonable amount of their own food which is not only a big saving but also much more healthy for us gardeners.

There are problems that are currently happening and one of these is as I found; a shortage of seeds and seedlings in many gardening outlets.

Cabbage and cauliflower seedlings I have purchased recently have caterpillar eggs on the leaves and if you don’t rub them off they will be eaten alive not too long after planting.

So check leaves for the little lightly yellow eggs and rub them off before you plant.

I use Wally Neem Granules when I plant cabbages etc a little in the bottom of the planting hole and more on the soil surface by the seedlings.

This has a very good control of the caterpillars and even though I have caterpillar eggs on my plants and holes on the leaves there is not any caterpillars on the foliage.

The holes are made by hungry birds not caterpillars.

It is even worse on my silverbeet which young seedlings I planted have either disappeared or they have damaged foliage.

More mature silverbeet will likely have a lot of leaf damage from birds feeding.

The best way to keep birds off silverbeet and brassicas is to use what I call Crop Cover or what shops call,

Bug Mesh.

Either laid loose over crops or supported over crops with hoops made from ridged plastic irrigation pipe or number 8 wire.

The crop cover is good for many seasons and will keep birds and just about all pests off your crops include neighborhood cats.

Old curtain netting could be used instead of the more durable crop cover.

When you buy vegetable seedlings look for the smaller, fresher ones not the over grown ones which have likely been stressed and will go to seed prematurely.

Even if you take them home to grow on a bit to make handling easier, then do so.

First thing I do when I get punnets home is plunge them into a bucket of water than I have thrown some sheep manure pellets into some time ago. I hold them down into the liquid manure and watch them bubble away.

This not only gives them a good soaking of the mix but some nature liquid food as well.

Let them drain and place in full sun till you are ready to plant them. Water as need be in the meantime and prior to planting plunge them into the bucket again.

Seedlings will pull apart better when the mix is wet and they have ample wet mix on the roots when you plant. After planting give them a watering with the hose to bed them in.

Then you can put your crop cover over them if you are going to use this method.