Dispatcher helps catch criminal

Northern Communications Centre Dispatcher Yutaro Kanai at his desk. Photo: Darragh O’Riordan, Northern Communications Centre

An ordinary day at the office turned into something a little more dramatic for Northern Communications Centre Dispatcher Yutaro Kanai in mid-August.

On his way home from work he ended up giving chase to a stolen vehicle he’d earlier 10-1ed on the motorways channel.

Yutaro says he was taking his usual route home when he spotted the van. “I first recognised the sign on the side of the van. I wasn’t sure whether I should follow it but I knew that if I went into work the next day and it had turned out to be that stolen vehicle, I would beat myself up.

“As we turned right, I slowed down so the van could pass me and I could follow it. I phoned 111 straight away and gave the details to a North Comms communicator.”

Yutaro followed the van for another 10 minutes, and even spoke to the driver at an intersection, asking him to stop, but the man refused. While the van driver’s driving then deteriorated, Yutaro tried to keep the van in sight while continuing to drive safely.

Police were able to catch the driver. “It was a good feeling when they caught him,” he says.

Sergeant Jason Lewis, Team Leader North Comms, says Yutaro’s actions went way beyond the call of duty. “As a direct result of his efforts, we were able to apprehend the offender.”

Communicating with an Asian public

Yutaro Kanai, who has worked in North Comms for nearly two years, says his Japanese background has helped him to work more effectively with Asian callers.

“Coming from a Japanese background, I know how the Asian community think, and how they are feeling when they call police. So I’m better able to help them,” he says.

“In Japan police would attend many minor incidents, whereas these would be classed as civil matters in New Zealand, and usually dealt with by the informant themselves through the courts.

“I’ve had many calls from Asian members of the public who request police assistance for incidents that are not police related. I can understand where they are coming from when they have difficulty comprehending the difference between a criminal matter and a civil matter.

“I also understand the tendency to agree even when people don’t understand the question or statement – especially if they have poor English. It makes me doubly make sure that the caller understands what I am saying before I hang up the phone.”

Yutaro was born in Tokyo, and left Japan at the age of six. “While my Japanese is around the level of a six-year-old,” he says, “it has come in useful a couple of times for speaking to Japanese people who don’t speak English.”