The idea behind this campaign was to pose the question “Do You Care Enough To Be A Cop?”.

This idea is all about seeing policing in a completely different light. It puts aside the drug busts, car chases and cop show aspects of policing and places all the value on qualities like empathy and compassion.

It’s all about helping people in need.

This campaign was spearheaded by a series of filmed social experiments, to find out how many people really care when they see somebody who needs help.

We covertly filmed actors, each playing the role of somebody out and about in public, in the type of situation and dire need that police officers encounter on a daily basis. A young boy, living rough, searching rubbish bins for food. A guy who is so drunk he can barely walk, attempting to start a motor scooter. A collapsed man, clutching his chest in pain.

In every case, a disturbingly small number of people bothered to do anything. This elevated the actions and attitudes of those who did do care enough to do something, and through its rarity, endowed the notion of caring with the premium it deserves.

41 percent of applicants were female. 45 percent were from ethnic minorities. (A welcome over delivery on the diversity metrics.)

Over 3.9 million views on the NZ Police recruitment page (New Zealand has a population of about 4 million).

The viral success of the videos resulted in an estimated global reach of over 60 million. This captured media attention all over the world, and that international media attention became a story in New Zealand – sparking further awareness in New Zealand, where it really mattered.