Custody Officer

New Zealand Government; Porirua; On-site; NZD 75,000 - 79,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Career development

Job summary

New Zealand Police in Wellington is seeking a Custody Officer to join our Custody Unit. You will manage and maintain the welfare of detainees in custody and during transit, treating everyone with dignity and compassion.

This permanent full-time role requires strong communication, resilience and keen attention to detail, with shift patterns including weekends and public holidays. Training and career development are supported.

Qualifications

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Resilience and ability to de-escalate situations.
• Attention to detail and ability to record court statements.
• Duty of care for detainees and their welfare.
• Flexible to work shifts, weekends, and public holidays.
• Ability to learn and input data accurately in Police systems.

Responsibilities

• Uncover information using active listening and communication.
• Remain resilient and de-escalate potential risk in adverse situations.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders to ensure detainee care.
• Maintain welfare of people in custody across custody suites and courts.
• Demonstrate commitment to ongoing training.
• Adapt to a fluid operational environment and maintain professionalism.

Skills

Active listening

Communication skills

De-escalation

Attention to detail

Teamwork

Detainee welfare

Tools

Police systems

Job description

New Zealand Police is working with the community to make New Zealanders be safe and feel safe. With over 15,000 staff, we provide policing services 24 hours a day, every day. We operate by land, sea and air, manage over 860,000 emergency calls a year and are always actively preventing crime and crashes. We’re working towards specific goals and targets that highlight our intent to work collaboratively with iwi and communities, other government sectors and business partners to deliver our business and achieve long‑term change.

Custody Officer – Wellington

• Wellington City
• Multiple Vacancies
• Starting Salary of $75,495.00
• Permanent – Full Time
• JR6019627

E tῡ ki te kei o te waka, kia pakia koe e ngā ngaru o te wā. Stand at the stern of the canoe and feel the spray of the future biting at your face Mō te tūnga

About the role

As a New Zealand Police Custody Officer you will be joining our highly skilled and professional team to manage the health and safety of detainee’s whilst they are in our custody and during transit. This is an exciting opportunity to join our Custody Unit based in Wellington central. As a Custody Officer, you will manage and maintain the welfare of people detained in our care across our Custody Suite and local Courts. Through an empathetic approach, you treat everyone in a dignified manner regardless of their circumstances.

Key Accountabilities

• You will be able to uncover and collect information using your active listening and communication skills.
• You will be resilient when faced with adverse situations, maintaining composure, and working alongside team members to mitigate and de-escalate potential risk.
• You will work collaboratively with external stakeholders to ensure appropriate care and support for vulnerable detainees is available.
• In a fluid operational environment, you must be adaptable to change, remain vigilant to detainee needs and maintain high standards of professionalism that align with our values.
• Demonstrate commitment to ongoing training.

What you’ll bring

Whilst we are looking for skills, knowledge and experience relevant to the role, we also place high importance on your state of mind, the alignment of your values with ours, your ability to contribute to and build high performing teams, and the way that you lead yourself or others.

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Resilience and perseverance, with the ability to de-escalate situations in a calm and professional manner.
• Strong attention to detail, accurate and precise, with the ability to record and prepare information such as statements for court.
• Duty of care, understanding the welfare, health, safety, and level of care required for detainees.
• Strong team player, reliable, trustworthy, flexible to work shifts, weekends, public holidays.
• Decisive, cool, calm, and collected, can think on your feet, using your initiative and work well under pressure.
• Good computer skills and are comfortable learning new systems, as you will be required to input and update data accurately in Police systems, accurate typing abilities are essential.

Eligibility

• Hold a full New Zealand Driver Licence
• Be a New Zealand citizen or hold permanent residence.
• Be physically fit and able to compete a fitness assessment as part of your recruitment process (https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=cRgqAjTO_yw)
• Be willing to complete a pre-employment Medical Assessment (including a drug test)
• Be able to work full time.
• Court Custody roles operate Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 4:00pm, based from Wellington Central Police Station.
• District Custody roles operate 24x7x365 following a rotating 2-2-2 roster, including two early shifts, two late shifts and two overnight shifts, followed by 4 days off
• All roles require flexibility to work across different shift patterns, including weekends and public holidays, as required.

This role is Individual Contributor/Emerging Leader level. You can refer to Indicators for Success for further information on the requirements To view the position description for this role please copy and paste this link into a new browser: https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/pd/08-2025/custody_officer.pdf

Mo tātou

About us

New Zealand Police is the lead agency responsible for preventing crime and enhancing community safety. It works in partnership with individuals, communities, businesses, and other public sector agencies towards the vision of making New Zealand the safest country. Police is the government’s largest front-line response agency with around 15,000 staff in large and small communities all over New Zealand and in liaison and policing development roles overseas. Your development is highly valued at NZ Police. Our employees enjoy significant investment in their development not only at an individual level, but also at the team and community practice level. We work hard to match you with work that will both play to your strengths and challenge you in new ways. The work you’ll be engaged in is real, tangible work that directly benefits our frontline and communities. Taken all together, this means we can offer you career path opportunities to progress in your chosen profession and become a more well-rounded, experienced leader, with opportunities across the range of work we support.

Salary

This position is covered by a collective agreement and salary will commence between $75,495.00 and $78,910.00 dependent on skills and experience relevant to the role. If you have any questions about this vacancy, please contact [e-mail] Applications close at 5pm, Sunday 27th September 2026.