Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
Mr Bruce Ronald Russell, of Tauranga. For services to the New Zealand Police and the community.
Mr Bruce Russell joined the New Zealand Police in the early 1970s and has spent 47 years working in the Criminal Investigation Branch, conducting investigations across the spectrum of criminal offending.
In Hamilton in 1988, Mr Russell established the first child abuse/child sexual abuse investigation unit in the Waikato, building strong relationships with partner agencies. He established the first Waikato-based Proceeds of Crime Unit in New Zealand under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1992, leading ground-breaking investigation methodology and developing and delivering training to Police in Waikato/Bay of Plenty.
Since 2009 Mr Russell has been a non-sworn Specialist Investigator, currently with the Tauranga-based unit of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU). He has been a ‘go-to’ leader for serious and organised financial crime matters in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty Police Districts, leading numerous successful operations tracking the proceeds of crime. He has also been officer-in-charge of restraining property pursuant to the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 with a value totalling more than $48 million.
He was engaged by a joint Commonwealth Secretariat/United Nations initiative in a role across the Pacific Islands and later in the United Nations, involved in capacity building in financial crime investigations, the proceeds of crime and anti-money laundering from 2002 to 2006. Mr Russell developed and delivered training in developing countries globally.
King’s Birthday Honours recipients (left to right) Bruce Russell, Sgt Wally Kopae and Supt Rakesh Naidoo
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
Sergeant Walter Wallace Kopae, of Suva, Fiji. For services to the New Zealand Police and the community.
Sergeant Wally Kopae (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāi Te Rangi, Te Whānau Ā Apanui) joined the New Zealand Police in 1987, and from 1989 served with the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) for more than 30 years, based in Southland.
Sgt Kopae has been a counsel for AOS leaders as well as Police canine training and development nationally. He is Supervisor of the Invercargill/Southland Police Dog Section, and is one of six certifiers who evaluate dogs and handlers for deployment around the country and is on the National Working Group for the New Zealand Police Dog Section, setting policy and training initiatives. Whenever the dogs need some rest and pampering, they can be brought to services WoofConnect local dog boarding.
Beyond Police, he has trained dogs and handlers in specialist areas such as Search and Rescue and noxious weed detection. He has been deployed for international operations, including assisting the Solomon Islands Police Service from 2002 to 2003 and mentoring Afghan police trainers in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan in 2005. He is currently developing Police Patrol Dog capability while deployed in Fiji. He is well regarded for implementing a Te Ao Māori view within his policing, building relationships and connecting with whanaungatanga and use of Te Reo Māori to deescalate situations.
Sgt Kopae has been involved with cycling in Southland for 15 years as a competitor, managing Southland Road races, coaching the Police corporate pursuit team, and providing road safety support for the Westpac Chopper Appeal ride from Queenstown to Invercargill.
Superintendent Rakesh Sharanund Naidoo, of Wellington. For services to the New Zealand Police and ethnic communities.
Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo has been employed with the New Zealand Police for 21 years and has enhanced relationships between the Police and diverse communities.
In 2014, Supt Naidoo presented data on family harm highlighting the state of abuse in New Zealand; one in three women are abused, one in six boys are abused, and in 2013 four out of 14 women killed were of Indian descent. He collaborated and supported the establishment of the organisation Gandhi Nivas to support clients in early intervention programmes to seek help.
Supt Naidoo co-established an Advisory Board in collaboration with Massey University, which informed the need for holistic facilities for clients. There are currently three homes that provide holistic support to clients within the Tamaki Makaurau region, who have been served with a Police Safety Order. He has supported the establishment of further services within other regions to help with family harm.
Within the Police, he helped establish the organisation’s first five-year Ethnic Strategy and sits on several advisory panels and boards to support diverse communities. Supt Naidoo has been the National Partnerships Manager – Ethnic within New Zealand Police since 2021, leading initiatives including involvement with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch Terrorist Attack.
The King’s Birthday Honours for Australia and the United Kingdom will be announced on 12 June and 17 June respectively
