Introducing this weeks guest speaker was Patrick Bell. Patrick grew up with Stu Allsop-smith and 60 years ago he and others who holidayed at Manley were known as the "Manly Boys", roaming wild on the Whangaporoa Penninsular!!
Stu was employed by New Zealand Police until he retired in 2020. His last role was as Manager National Security Investigations. Over his years in the force he had many stories that he could tell, but needless to say he is restricted in what he could share. He did talk on the subject of National Security and the approaches taken whilst he was the Manager of Investigations. He also discussed international trends and issues, and what he considered are the strengths of New Zealand's approach and how community trust and confidence is central to managing and reducing the risk.His career has seen him serving in all areas of the Criminal Investigation Branch including major crime investigation, Witness Protection, specialist areas including forensics, drug investigations, and the undercover programme. He has worked on, and led, numerous homicide and other serious and high profile criminal investigations.
In 2003 Stuart was promoted to the rank of Detective Inspector in Auckland Metro Crime and Operations Support. This position involved the management of all Upper North specialist Policing groups.
In 2016 he was appointed to the position of Manager National Security Investigations which encompassed management of all National Security Investigations across the country. In this role he liaised closely with National and International Partner agencies and frequently attended and presented to international symposia focused on Counter Terrorism and National Security issues. He remained in this role until retiring from the New Zealand Police in October 2020 after completing 44 year’s service. Thank you Stu for your time last week, congratulations on your career and enjoy retirement.