Police school to join Massey students on the Auckland campus

Massey’s Albany students will see police recruits on campus as the university has entered a five-year contract to lease part of the Student Central building to the NZ Police.  

Up to 155 recruits will be on campus next month, joining the student halls, taking 30 carparks, and will start to wear uniforms on campus by November.  

This follows last year's decision to put several Massey buildings in Auckland up for lease, including Quad A and Quad B, which are home to a number of campus businesses. 

In a student newsletter released on Tuesday, Tere McGonagle-Daly, the deputy vice chancellor of Students and Global Engagement, outlined the new agreement.  

McGonagle-Daly said, “Both Massey and Police are keen to expand on this academic partnership, with professional development and research opportunities in psychology, policing, intelligence and security, and public safety-related fields”.

The lease agreement is set to take effect from June 30th, with the Watson Labs on Level 2 of the Student Central Building set to train police recruits.  

Renovations are expected to start now, as McGonagle-Daly said, “This space is currently not utilised by Massey and is being converted from former labs into teaching space.”  

Student Central currently houses student services, study spaces, student association offices, Campus Books, the Food for Thought Café, and the Fale Manaaki Pasifika support space. 

The lease also gives police use of a floor in a student hall — specifically the Weka building at Te Ōhanga Village to house trainees and staff.   

As part of the agreement, trainees will dine alongside Te Ōhanga Village students at the Food for Thought dining hall. 

The police will have access to thirty campus car parks, the gym, multiple classrooms, a locker room, storage space, and offices.  

But students are frustrated at the new recruits joining them.  

Massey student Becky Grace wrote on Facebook, “It’s bullshit — cutting courses, firing lecturers & now using the campus for cops acting more like a cutthroat corporate than a university that cares about education & community,” she wrote. 

Eloise Fleming, a student rep, wrote, “I just feel like they aren’t prioritising student safety and acknowledging of their decisions on the community.”  

“It feels like they’ve accepted the death of the Ōtehā campus and have looked for the easiest, quickest solution.” 

A press release by NZ Police on May 8th highlighted that the classroom space will accommodate 155 recruits. 

Deputy commissioner Jill Rogers stated in the press release, “Police has exclusive use of part of the campus, which includes multiple classrooms, a locker room, storage space, offices, and car parks.  

“We will also have access to gym and recreation areas, and we have a small number of dorm rooms allocated for Police staff.” 

The press release outlined that NZ Police are already onsite working to “get everything up and running for a range of Police courses”.  

Senior police personnel and visiting guests will wear police uniforms while on campus.  

Until Friday, Massey is seeking feedback via survey to help shape the planning and management of this new agreement.