Police Commissioner Andrew Coster will not seek a second term. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster will be leaving police at the end of his contract in 2025.
Coster's term will expire on 2 April 2025, and he expects to finish his time with police on that date, a police spokesperson confirmed.
Police Association President Chris Cahill said he "acknowledged the long and valued career" of the police commissioner.
"His appointment could not have come at a more challenging time with the outbreak of Covid-19. This not only presented unique challenges but limited the program of work he likely intended to introduce.
"The tight fiscal environment has continued to present difficulties in making changes to the policing environment. The disconnect between frontline staff and senior executive is often a hard one to bridge and the environment he has faced has not assisted with this."
Cahill said frontline staff would acknowledge the tactical response model, championed by Coster, was a significant improvement in the quality of training and the safe deployment of officers.
The model was set up following the death of Constable Matthew Hunt in 2020 and had three components, including doubling tactical training of frontline staff from 3.5 to 7.5 days per year.
Coster was appointed commissioner by the Governor-General in April 2020 for a five-year term, taking over from Mike Bush.
Coster was appointed by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo: Pool / NZME
In the past, Coster had been the former area commander in Auckland City Central and former district commander for the Southern Police District.
Coster has been part of the police force since his police graduation in 1997.
He moved to Police National Headquarters in 2015 to take up the role of assistant commissioner, strategy and transformation. Before taking up his current role, he was acting deputy commissioner, resource management.
Other roles included acting as a solicitor in the office of the Crown Solicitor in Auckland, as well as being seconded as deputy chief executive at the Ministry of Justice.
