Editing South Island (section)

====Police====

[[File:Dunedin Central Police station.jpg|thumb|Dunedin Central Police station]]
[[File:NZ Police Mitsubishi Diamante in Dunedin.jpg|thumb|NZ Police [[Mitsubishi Diamante]] in Dunedin]]

The [[New Zealand Police]] is the primary [[law enforcement agency]] of New Zealand, including the South Island. Three [[decentralised]] Police Districts cover the entire South Island, with each being commanded by a [[Superintendent (police)|Superintendent]] and having a central station from which subsidiary and suburban stations are managed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.police.govt.nz/district/index.html |title=New Zealand Police Districts |publisher=Police.govt.nz |access-date=12 November 2010 }}</ref> The Christchurch Police Communications Centre handles all emergency and general calls within the South Island.

The Tasman Police District covers 70,000&nbsp;kilometres{{clarify|date=August 2021 |reason=Why is this units of length? Should it be units of area?}} of territory, encompassing the northern and most of the western portion of the South Island. The West Coast alone spans the distance between [[Wellington]] and [[Auckland]]. There are 22 police stations in the Tasman District, with 6 being sole-charge – or one-person – stations. The Tasman Police District has a total of 302 sworn police officers and 57 civilian or nonsworn staff. Organisationally, the district has its headquarters in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] and has three distinct Areas, each headed by an [[Inspector]] as its commander. The areas are [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson Bays]], [[West Coast, New Zealand|West Coast]] and [[Marlborough Region|Marlborough]].

The Canterbury Police District is based in [[Christchurch]] the largest city in the South Island and covers an area extending from the [[Conway River, New Zealand|Conway River]], (just south of [[Kaikōura]]), to the [[Waitaki River]], south of [[Timaru]].

The Southern Police District with its headquarters in [[Dunedin]] spans from [[Oamaru]] in the North through to [[Stewart Island]] in the far South covers the largest geographical area of any of the 12 police districts in New Zealand. The Southern District has three distinct Areas headed by Inspectors; Otago Rural, Southland and Dunedin.