Steven Knox, A Promise Kept

Keeping promises is very much part of Lindisfarne’s core value of integrity but we all know that it is not always easy to keep promises and many people rationalise this by saying it would be impossible to follow through on a particular pledge. Steven Knox (Old Boy 85-89) is not one of those people. When he stood at the graveside of a friend killed by a drunk driver, he made a promise to join the Police and make a difference and he has kept that promise in a remarkable way.

Steven had a varied and successful career before joining the Police as a frontline constable in 2014. After spending time as a Highway Patrol Officer, he joined the Serious Crash Unit which specialises in analysing evidence from crash scenes and in 2022 he was promoted to Sergeant, leading a team of seven constables. In 2020 he created a campaign on State Highway 5 in response to a dramatic increase in the death toll on this busy road. From 10 deaths in the previous four years, figures had escalated to nine deaths in a period of 8 months and Steven knew that he had to do something.

As he relates, “I saw this as my opportunity to make good the promise I made and got multiple government agencies, councils and the community together and started ‘Stay Alive on 5’. Briefly, this involved safety improvements, billboards, electronic signage, dedicated Police patrols with a different approach to enforcing this road and media coverage. Ultimately, this resulted in 623 days with ZERO fatalities, and in the four years since starting the campaign, there have been only two fatalities, and we’ve saved the country approx. $84m in Social Costs.” 

There was widespread media coverage of the campaign and even motor sport legend Greg Murphy gave his endorsement. Steven’s work in getting multiple diverse agencies from Waka Kotahi to the Taupō District Council to work together was an unrivalled success and to recognise this achievement, he was awarded a National Award for Road Safety from the National Road Trauma Centre.

Steven’s job in the Police is unfortunately not always about preventing car accidents and he has had to deal with some very difficult and distressing situations. He recalls one incident in which a car had collided with a power pole and two young girls were trapped inside the car with a fire developing outside. Negotiating live powerlines and the fire, Steven was able to extract the girls safely and received the Area Commander’s award for his actions.

The road that took Steven into the Police Force was a more circuitous one than most. After leaving school, he had several interesting jobs with international companies and was also Regional Sales Manager for the Radio Network which managed stations like The Hit, Radio Hauraki, ZM, Mai FM and others. When reflecting on his current job in the Police, Steven said, “Policing is a job where you can help people on a daily basis, and you also have the freedom to focus on other initiatives if they ‘fit’ within the organisation’s goals. I love the job and what I do within it and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in joining.”
Steven has very fond memories of his time at Lindisfarne which he attended until his 6th Form year in 1989, before going on to Hastings Boys for 7th Form. As he recalls, “I really enjoyed my schooling at Lindisfarne. Everyone was included, regardless of ability, there was respect for each other and encouragement to try and learn new things, and to step outside your comfort zone. I liked the structure and organisation from the school and the lunches were good too!” Like many current Lindisfarne students, Steven was a keen sportsman who was particularly good at hockey. He went on to play and umpire hockey for several years after leaving school and qualified as an umpire for national games.

When asked whether he had any advice for Lindisfarne students, Steven said “Stay focused on what you want to achieve and don’t get side tracked with ‘fun things’ that take you away from that focus. We all have different dreams, and need to take different paths to fulfill those dreams, but we can all support each other along our different paths. Enjoy your time there, the lesson and qualities they will teach you will set you up for your working career and family life.”