Andrew David Coster (born ) is the current New Zealand Police Commissioner and former Deputy Police Commissioner. He has served as the New Zealand Commissioner of Police since 3 April 2020.

Early life

Coster was born in 1975 or 1976 in Dunedin, and grew up in Auckland. His father is Professor Gregor Coster, the former Dean of the Wellington Faculty of Health. Coster holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and a Master of Public Management from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

Career

Coster joined the New Zealand Police in 1997 and has worked in both frontline and investigative roles. As his career progressed he was appointed to a number of senior roles, including Auckland City Area Commander, South District Commander. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Coster was the acting Deputy Commissioner: Strategy & Partnerships. While in this role he oversaw the development of firearms reforms introduced by the Government following the March 2019

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

. In 2004 Coster graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

with Honours from the

, and worked as a Crown prosecutor for Meredith Connell for less than a year. Coster has also spent time at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

, having been seconded on a two-year term from 2016 to 2018 as the Deputy Chief Executive for the Ministry.

Police Commissioner

Coster was appointed as the Commissioner of the New Zealand Police on 9 March 2020. Another candidate as Commissioner was Mike Clement, the then-Deputy Commissioner. He started his term on 3 April 2020 at age 44, becoming the youngest person to assume the role. In mid-February 2021, Coster's efforts to combat gang and gun violence was criticised by the National Party's Justice spokesperson Simon Bridges, who described Coster as a "wokester commissioner" in a Twitter post. On 25 February, Coster defended the Police's "

policing by consent The Peelian principles summarise the ideas that Sir Robert Peel developed to define an ethical police force. The approach expressed in these principles is commonly known as policing by consent in the United Kingdom and other countries such as Ire ...

" policies in response to criticism by Bridges during a Justice select committee hearing at the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by hi ...

. During the

2022 Wellington protests The 2022 Wellington protest was an anti-vaccine, anti-mandate occupation of the grounds of Parliament House and Molesworth Street in Central Wellington during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It began in February 2022 and lasted just over ...

, Coster unsuccessfully attempted to convince anti-vaccine mandate protesters to voluntarily remove their illegally parked vehicles from the area around the

in mid February 2022. After protesters refused to vacate the Parliament grounds, he ruled out pursuing enforcement action against protesters due to concerns about violence. Coster instead announced that Police would pursue a policy of "negotiation and de-escalation." Coster's decision to rule out "enforcement action" was criticised by the National Party's police spokesman Mark Mitchell, who claimed that Coster had lost credibility as Police Commissioner. On 2 March, Police evicted the remaining anti-mandate protesters following a violent riot.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coster, Andrew 1970s births Living people 20th-century New Zealand public servants 21st-century New Zealand public servants People from Dunedin New Zealand Commissioners of Police