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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
Pacific health leaders say bringing in the police to help with contact tracing is a bad aspect and there are better ways to reinforce the experience.
Police are advising the Auckland Regional Public Health Service on the location of contacts for the Mount Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group of churches.
But the executive director of the Pasifika Medical Association, Debbie Sorensen, said she was surprised that the police had the time and resources to participate, and that they should not be.
The perception that the police were involved could be intimidating to the community, he said.
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The Health Ministry initially said that the police would help with the community liaison, but now says there is a single senior officer doing a unique exercise behind the scenes.
The officer would not deal directly with the community, but would provide advice on how to approach case investigations and contact tracing, a spokesperson said.
Police are advising the Auckland Regional Public Health Service on the location of contacts for the Mount Roskill Evangelical Fellowship group of churches.
But Sorensen said that even behind the scenes, it was the wrong approach.
Contact tracing is about building trust, he said.
“I would have thought that, for example, Pacific health professionals could be the best at that.”
Auckland councilor and former police officer Alf Filipaina said authorities should be careful not to create the perception that people who needed to be contacted were in trouble.
You would not like to see the police knocking on doors or making calls.
He had no particular problem with an officer offering advice in the background, saying they might have good techniques for talking to people and getting information.
But they should be Pasifika, like many of those in the group, because they would know the best way to reach out to the community, he said.
RNZ did not receive a response to a question about whether the officer was from the Pacific community.
Sorensen said contact tracing teams were already filled with highly trained investigators with the knowledge to deal specifically with an outbreak and sensitive health issues.
University of Auckland Associate Dean Collin Tukuitonga said he would also have preferred to have doctors, nurses and public health experts brought in to provide additional expertise.
Health research involves a different set of dynamics than police work, he said.
And there was a risk that knowing the police were involved could drive people into hiding, he said.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
