Guest Speaker last week was Police Inspector Lincoln Sycamore, Hawke’s Bay Area Commander.Experienced Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the law enforcement industry. Skilled in Private Investigations, Firearms Handling, Criminal Investigations, Emergency Management, and Criminal Justice. Strong professional with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) focused in Biology, General from The University of Lethbridge.
Lincoln is a highly respected member of Police with considerable experience in strategic, operational and tactical areas of Policing.
. He has led the Tairāwhiti Armed Offenders Squad for the past 15 years. Other roles have included overseeing Whāngaia Nga Pa Harakeke in Tairāwhiti, an officer in charge of the Tokoroa sub-area, Police prosecutions sergeant and Public Safety Team sergeant.
Lincoln was involved in setting up the Combined Adolescent Challenge Training Unit (CACTUS) programme in Gisborne around 10 years ago and has been involved ever since. CACTUS is a youth initiative that allows Police to build positive relationships with Rangatahi, their whānau and partners in the community.
He was also instrumental in the development of YES – Youth Exchange Support, which saw 10 boys aged 13-16 from the Eastern District travel to Hawaii for an educational trip. The trip was aimed at helping develop leadership and communication skills, foster personal and cultural ties and look at challenges and issues facing young people.
Lincoln is passionate about empowering people to be their best with a focus on caring for them and prioritising their development. He has built strong internal and external partnerships in Tairāwhiti and is excited to do the same in Hawke’s Bay.
“We need to support the aspirations of our communities and work alongside them to find collaborative solutions so we can deliver the Police service our communities expect and deserve,” says Lincoln.
His area extends from Dannevirke to Puterino and he works with 500 staff, an increase of over 200 from the low 300’s in 2016. More than 80 further staff have been more recently allocated to the area, some positions still to be filled.
He was not talking for very long as he wanted to hear from our members present what they were concerned with, and a wide range of questions followed from traffic control to dealing with family disputes and youth. A better understanding of families is needed and he will be policing by understanding and consent. He relies heavily on community efforts and organisations such as Rotary and Community Patrol.
The impression from our members was that he would be very active and effective in our area with its problems of drugs, gangs and family problems.
A very welcome and capable speaker, he stayed for the length of our meeting before heading out on further Police business. No doubt we shall have him back in the future.