"Just seeing a few other people comment about the cops. The team around us at Group 5 during the actual hīkoi were great. They were all Māori and their chief spoke to me early on and said that we (Kaiāwhina and the Māori wardens) had the authority here and that they would just give us back up if anything got out of hand but that they weren’t expecting that at all. They were really respectful and hands-off. Every now and then the chief would ask me if I’d got a second and give me an update from his comms about where things were getting blocked once people had moved out of our area etc. They were great to work alongside. It was really refreshing and exactly the kind of police you’d want at a hīkoi if you have to have them there at all.

"I saw a beautiful moment with the police chief and a tamariki Māori [Māori child] about 4 years old. His mum had come and asked if the kid could shake the cop’s hand. The cop took off his hat, got down on his knees, had a hongi with the tamariki, shook his hand and gave him a high-five. The little boy was all lit up and the cop was really moved and thanked the mum. More of this kind of policing please!"

"I saw one Maori wahine [Māori woman] police officer and a Maori warden helping a young Maori wahine over the bridge, the youngster was a bit distraught, not unwell, maybe a bit overcome with emotion. I asked the Maori Warden and Wahine Maori officer with her if I could assist the distraught young person, too. The police officer said, ' kao Papa, we okay, we going to walk our friend to Curran St, we will be okay, she will be okay.' I had a lot of respect for this officer and her words and her actions, protecting our young sister, something Kaiawhina do too."