On the National Radio news this morning there was a story about UK policemen who had moved to the Auckland area in 2002 as part of a 'work to residence' scheme.

50 were being granted PR, 8 were still pending and 8 had returned home.

So on this particular sample threequarters have decided that on balance, after two to three years, the NZ plc package was for them. Presumably this includes some sort of relative personal assessment of the stress/rewards of their job, promotion prospects, relative standards of living/quality of life etc, NZ vs UK.

One eighth have thrown in the towel and gone back - we don't know why from the story. Could be shock at the high level and nature of crime compared to what they were used to in the UK, dissatisfaction with pay and conditions, worries that they would get RSI from overuse of the trigger finger on the traffic speed gun, homesickness in whatever form etc etc.

A further one eighth are still here but are still being processed for PR (I don't know why, perhaps they arrived later?)

Can't really make too many assumptions on a single small sample such as this, but the story may be of interest to others contemplating coming over into crime-related fields (by which I don't mean applying for PR as Methamphetamine chemists or time-served cracksmiths).

It may also lead to further speculation in the level-of-crime-in-NZ debate. Presumably these policemen have a reasonable idea of the real difference between the levels and nature of crime in the UK and NZ. Do they choose to stay because they feel that NZ is a lot safer as an enviroment in which to bring up their families, or because crime-ridden NZ provides them with a much greater professional challenge than sleepy old UK? I think we should be told!