Trust and confidence in Southern police is the highest in the country at 83%, according to a recent survey.
That comes as police across Otago and Southland experienced a year of ''significant change'', Southern District Commander Andrew Coster says.
He was appointed to the role of the South's top policeman a year ago and that period has been a time of embedding new police strategies.
Those changes include Policing Excellence - freeing up resources or technology so officers could spend more time on the front line - and Prevention First - targeted policing to reduce offending and victimisation with the aim of reducing reported crime.
Previously, if an officer made an arrest it was a paper-based process.
The offender was taken back to the station and staff remained there doing ''two-finger typing'' for a couple of hours.
''They had to do the whole lot ... a lot of paperwork.''
Now staff would attend a scene with mobility devices, such as iPhones and iPads, and if an arrest was made the file could be dictated using the device.
A typist then typed the file, which was sent to a file management centre for data entry, and those files were distributed to relevant areas such as prosecutions.
''We have taken a lot of the bureaucracy away and put in people whose full-time job is to do that work,'' Supt Coster said.
The Crime Reporting Line meant lower-level crimes could be reported over the phone and, in the example of a historic burglary, officers would attend to do a scene examination.
''It means our uniformed staff aren't having to do the paperwork, but they are doing the bits that they are good at.''
Often in the past, police did not have any details of an offence until they fronted up and completed the paperwork.
Those details were not entered in the system for several days.
''We are in the business of information and if we can get information, accurately and quickly we can make a more effective response.''
The move to the Crime Reporting Line meant the information was presented quickly to the District Command Centre - another initiative introduced before Christmas - and ''if you have a pattern on offending, then that information can then be made available to shift staff''.
''They will disseminate information to our staff, partner agencies and the media, so it allows us to deal with crime on a real-time basis.''
Supt Coster said information could be passed to frontline officers via smart devices, highlighting one case where an office distributed a screen-shot taken from CCTV footage which resulted in the quick arrest of an offender.
The Southern District leadership team had also undergone change, as ''the style needed to take this model forward called for people who are dynamic and able to set a clear vision and direction while supporting people through a change process''.
''A lot of capable young leaders coming through, great to have that injection of energy.''
Police were also increasingly working alongside other agencies, and noted there were ''opportunities around dysfunctional families''.
''Where does our family violence come from? Where do our future street offenders, volume crime offenders come from?... At the the heart of that are dysfunctional families.''
''We have to find ways to shift families into a better place, but that is not a police-alone activity.''
