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Are You Ready? The Essential Survival Guide For Every New Zealander by John Lockyer

As the people of Christchurch, Japan and other places around the world know from recent events, disasters happen quickly and without compassion, disrupting thousands of lives every year. During a disaster emergency services may not be able to respond to every call immediately or even be reached. This means that we must be prepared to provide our own shelter, food, first aid, water and sanitation until help arrives or things return to normal.

These are things that must be looked at before a disaster strikes, but too often we think we are safe until the disaster strikes. If one lesson for all New Zealanders can be taken away from the Christchurch earthquakes, it should be that a disaster can strike anywhere, at any time and without any warning, so everyone should be prepared.

Are You Ready is a small and handy step-by-step handbook focusing on how to make, practice and sustain emergency plans. This guide provides sound information on what to do before, during and after the complete range of disasters that we in New Zealand could face in a handy pocket sized concise book. It makes it easy for everyone to be prepared to get through any disaster.

RRP $12.99
Published by Penguin Group

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Line Of Fire: True stories from the New Zealand Armed Offenders Squads by John Lockyer

Line Of Fire tells the story of the Armed Offenders Squads from the officers themselves. The book has been developed in conjunction with TV One’s documentary series of the same name. It gives the general public the chance to find out about the people that are called out to the worst case scenario situations in New Zealand and often appear in the headlines.

This book contains the stories and accounts of events from those officers who were either in or had dealings with the AOS, giving the book a real personal feel, and showing that this group is just made up of normal police officers doing an extra-ordinary and difficult job. It shows the pressures faced by the individuals in the squad and how the job has changed over the years, while still keeping true to the ideals of cordon, contain and appeal.

It might surprise many readers to know that there was no such thing as an armed offenders squad until 1964. In the previous year, four serving police officers lost their lives to armed offenders in the space of four weeks showing the need for a squad of armed officers trained to deal with armed offenders. If you are interested in the history of the New Zealand Police or criminal investigation will love this book. It will also be an enjoyable read for those who are interested in what happened during some of the most high profile cases during recent years.

RRP $40.00
Published and distributed by Penguin Group

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NZ Detectives: True stories from the New Zealand Police Criminal Investigation Branch by John Lockyer

The detectives of the CIB are intensively trained police officers tasked to investigate serious crimes such as homicides, aggregated violent offending, drug offences and fraud. Today they can call on various organisations like Environmental Science and Research (ESR) and Electronic Crime Laboratories (ESL) to help them with a case, but back in the 1960s where some of the stories in the book begin, both crime and the methods used were simpler. Detectives relied on good memories, intuition and outstanding personal skills to solve cases. Over time things have changed but the work ethic of the detective and some of the core skills required have not.

Their targets are often hardened, recidivist organised criminals. Outsmarting them means employing a sophisticated suite of techniques but above all it demands an unflinching commitment to each case. Without the relentless tenacity and gut instinct of the detectives, many serious offences would go cold and unanswered for decades.

The CIB has been part of the NZ Police right from the beginning in 1886. Because crime is constantly evolving, the CIB has an intelligence-driven approach which dismantles crimes. When a murder is discovered, a GBH reported or an armed-robbery called in, it is the men and women of the CIB who work to solve the crime. They are tasked with the sometimes seemingly impossible task of soliciting the truth.

Many consider this to be the intellectual pinnacle of policing. It is intensely rewarding, but also frustrating. For many it is the reason why they joined the police.

The CIB have ready access to firearms, most carry their own, and though they operate in squads depending on where the specific crimes fall, the work often demands that they covertly work in pairs. Three detectives have been killed on the job since 1963 and many have suffered injuries they consider to be part of the job.

This book puts you as close as possible to the action in investigating a variety of cases. It is a collection of candid and frank true stories from our own detectives. They are hard-hitting accounts that uncover almost every conceivable human folly and depravity. The stories reveal the frustration, anticipation, horror, disbelief, sadness, humour, relief an pleasure felt by the officers on the cases and give an insight into the difficult tasks these men and women have like no other book can. It shows the endless attention to detail that every investigation demands and the obstacles faced as they search for the truth.

This is the inside story of the men and women whose grit and determination has cracked some of this country’s biggest cases. The stories retold in this book are the next best thing to being part of the investigations.

RRP $42.00
Published and distributed by Penguin Group
 

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