Profile

Mark Evans

Honorary Senior Research Fellow

OBE, BA (Hons), MBA

Mark is leading a research project on 'Trust in the Police,' building on Koi Tū's previous work on institutional trust and its role in understanding social cohesion.

He has been a senior member of the New Zealand Police for 15 years, holding various portfolios and participating in high-profile operations. In 2020, he was seconded to the NZ COVID Operations Command Centre. He has also participated in international police events across Europe, the US, Canada, South Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific.

Mark has recently coordinated a major research project on fairness in New Zealand policing, attracting local and international attention for its innovative, 'voice of the community' approach. He is also interested in intelligence, evidence-based policing, and using data to improve leadership decisions and community outcomes.

Mark has been a Visiting Professor at University College London since 2008, teaching on an MSc programme in Security and Crime Science. He is a Senior Fellow with the UK Police Foundation, Vice President of the Australia New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing, a graduate of the Institute of Strategic Leadership (ISL) and a Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM) and the NZ Institute of Intelligence Professionals (NZIIP). In 2022, he was inducted into the Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame at George Mason University, USA. He was awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to policing in Northern Ireland.