Mr. Drew Harris:

Culture change comes from behavioural change. My behaviour and that of my senior leadership team has a dramatic impact on the organisation, of that there is no doubt. The first place one looks to is the standards I set and the standards I expect from the senior leadership team and how they spread that throughout the organisation. There is no point in me saying one thing and doing another. I cannot talk to sergeants or inspectors about their behaviour if they are able to say that it is hypocrisy on my part to do so because I did X, Y or Z. It is very clear that the code of ethics is the bedrock of our behaviours. I take every opportunity to emphasise that and to stress that people need to live those behaviours.

We intend to follow through and completely overhaul our discipline code. The current code creates an atmosphere in which people fear being disciplined. Instead of proper management intervention, guidance and an organisation that promotes learning, they see an organisation that is punitive towards its staff. There are structural, systemic changes that we need to make in terms of how the organisation is run. I have also emphasised the fact that if any individual in the organisation wishes to come forward and whistle blow or make a disclosure, that will be treated with the utmost seriousness. Indeed, my door is open to individuals should they wish to speak to me in terms of being whistleblowers.

People talk about cultural change and the place to start is with the behaviours one expects in an organisation. We have been very clear, through the introduction of the code of ethics, about what those behaviours should be. It is now up to me and the rest of the senior leadership in the organisation to start to live those and to see those behaviours through in order to have a positive impact on the rest of the organisation.