The Police have joined both the Charities Commission and the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in picking off low hanging fruit to justify their existence. There’s no mongrel in the public service any more and all they want is the easy life. It’s why the Police love traffic enforcement, particularly speed and drink driving – so instant, so easy and oh so profitable. –Anonymous
![police-generic-1200-A [3news.co.nz]](https://dunedinstadium.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/police-generic-1200-a-3news-co-nz.jpg)
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Southern police officers were investigated for a range of complaints, including failure to investigate, attitude/language, and inadequate service.
### ODT Online 9:20 AM Sunday Jan 11, 2015
Dozens of police faced disciplinary procedures
By Hamish McNeilly
Complaints about bad language and bullying are just some of the reasons for disciplinary actions against some Southern district police officers. Figures released to the Otago Daily Times show dozens of southern officers have been involved in disciplinary action over the past five years, with 12 officers resigning.
Read more
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IPCA: “It’s our job to keep watch over Police” !!!!
Independent Police Conduct Authority of New Zealand
Sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Independent Police Complaints Authority. The Independent Police Conduct Authority is an independent body that considers complaints against New Zealand Police and oversees their conduct. http://ipca.govt.nz/
IPCA Role and powers
The Authority has the following functions and powers under the Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988.
Functions: Under section 12 of the Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988, the Authority’s functions are to:
● receive complaints (i) alleging misconduct or neglect of duty by any member of Police or (ii) concerning any Police practice, policy or procedure affecting a complainant; or
● investigate incidents in which a member of Police (acting in the execution of his or her duty) causes or appears to have caused death or serious bodily harm.
Action on complaints: Under the Act, when the Authority receives a complaint, it may carry out its own investigation, or refer the matter to the Police for investigation under the Authority’s oversight. If a complaint is referred to the Police for investigation, the Authority will take steps to ensure that it is properly resolved. This may include directing or actively overseeing the Police investigation, or reviewing or auditing the Police investigation once it is completed. The Authority may also decline to take action on a complaint – for example, if the complaint is very minor or outside the Authority’s jurisdiction. The Authority’s powers in relation to complaints are set out in section 17 and section 19 of the Act. Read more
IPCA Vision and values
The Authority’s mission is to promote public trust and confidence in New Zealand Police. […] The Authority’s values include independence, trustworthiness, accountability, vigilance, and integrity. The Authority exists to support public expectations – as expressed by Parliament – for the justice system to be trusted and effective.
Outcomes: The Authority is funded through Vote: Justice and contributes to the overall justice sector outcome ‘A safe and just society’ and to the following three justice sector goals: accessible justice services, effective constitutional arrangements, and trusted justice system. The work done by the Authority also contributes to Police outcomes of ‘Confident, safe and secure communities’ and ‘Organisational development’, and Police values of integrity and professionalism as outlined in the Police Statement of Intent 2008/09. Read more
IPCA Accountability
The Authority is an independent Crown entity, which means it is accountable to Parliament for its use of taxpayer funding. The Authority is independent in its day-to-day operations. It cannot be told how to handle an investigation, or what the outcome of any investigation should be. However, the Authority is taxpayer-funded and it must account to the responsible Minister and to Parliament for its use of those funds. Read more
IPCA Independence
The Independent Police Conduct Authority is fully independent – it is not part of the Police. ‘Independence’ means that the Authority makes its findings based on the facts and the law. It does not answer to the Police or anyone else over those findings. In this way, its independence is similar to that of a Court. There are three aspects to the Authority’s independence: Legislative independence, Operational independence, and The perception of independence. Read more
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) was established in November 2007, replacing the Police Complaints Authority.
The Police Complaints Authority had been established in 1989, following several years of debate about Police accountability, sparked in part by the role of Police during the 1981 Springbok Tour. Prior to 1989, complaints against the Police were investigated internally. Through most of its life, the Police Complaints Authority comprised a single person with a small number of support staff conducting reviews of Police investigations. Because of its reliance on Police investigations, the Authority was perceived as lacking independence. Recent changes, including the appointment of independent investigators, are addressing that perception.
Key milestones in the history of the Police Complaints Authority include:
● the October 2000 Review of the Police Complaints Authority by Sir Rodney Gallen, who recommended the appointment of independent investigators;
● the appointment in late 2003 of the first independent investigators;
● the March 2007 report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, which recommended a number of changes to the Authority, including enhanced powers and improved communication with complainants;
● the Independent Police Conduct Authority Amendment Act 2007, which changed the Authority’s name and made changes to the Authority’s powers.
The period since the establishment of the Independent Police Conduct Authority in November 2007 has been one of transformation, as the Authority shifts its focus towards independent and transparent investigation of the most serious incidents and complaints. This period of change has included the appointment of additional investigators, and changes to the Authority’s legislation, structure and operations.
[IPCA History] Read more
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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 10:00 10/01/2015
‘Zero tolerance’ policy should be scrapped
By Duncan Garner
OPINION Police like to roll out statistics when it suits them so here’s one that hurts – 17 people killed on the roads during the holiday period. That’s more than double the death toll compared with last year. And it’s despite the police’s misguided efforts to target speeding drivers with the hopelessly designed zero tolerance for speeding campaign. It’s a campaign that has utterly failed. It’s a stupid policy that needs to be scrapped. Hundreds of thousands of us will have broken the zero tolerance policy over the holidays. Good on you. I did. It was safer to do so.
Read more
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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00, January 11 2015
Uber taxi battle sees police vs cabbies
By Shabnam Dastgheib and Marika Hill
Police are cracking down on Uber, the cheap and trendy new-kid-on-the-taxi rank, leaving paying customers on the pavement. After complaints from the old-school taxi firms, police have begun fining the Uber drivers whose lower fares have been hurting the big cab companies. The private car hire service has hit back, lodging a complaint of police harassment with the Independent Police Complaints (sic) Authority. Uber operates as a private hire service which means the fare has to be set at the time of booking, rather than using a meter. This means Uber does not have to abide by taxi regulations, thus saving on operating costs.
Read more
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Citifleet —Related Posts and Comments:
3.1.15 DCC: Street talk NEVER HAPPENED
25.12.14 Daaave stole Christmas from #DUD
● 24.12.14 Dunedin: Watching the detectives
23.12.14 Our Leaders: if commonalities
● 19.12.14 DCC: Limited Citifleet investigation about insurance
19.12.14 Vandervis: Deloitte and Police Citifleet investigations
19.12.14 DCC Citifleet by email . . . . woops! (another timeline proof)
18.12.14 DCC: Deloitte report released on Citifleet #whitewash
24.10.14 DCC Citifleet, more revelations….
21.10.14 DCC Citifleet, undetectable….
Otago Rugby —For more information, enter the terms *orfu*, *rugby*, *racing*, *pokies*, *auditor-general*, *audit nz*, *dia*, *oag*, *sfo*, *operation chestnut* and *whistleblower* in the search box at right.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
*Image: 3news.co.nz – police generic
What if? Dunedin... 
The complaint about ‘bad language’ may well attract the adjunct ‘diddums’. Or ‘help, help, I’m bein’ sworn at by a Sworn Officer!’. Not much sympathy on that score, if female officers are being assaulted in the Octagon.
### ODT Online Mon, 12 Jan 2015
Woodhouse calls for zero tolerance review
The Police Minister has called on New Zealand Police to undertake a review of their Summer Road Safety campaign. Michael Woodhouse said he had received considerable public feedback the police’s speed tolerance message was confusing. Mr Woodhouse said a review of the messages that underpinned the 2014 /2015 campaign needed to be carried out. APNZ
Read more
At ODT Online:
A timely editorial
Submitted by russandbev on Tue, 13/01/2015 – 10:36am.
This editorial and the article in the same issue justly highlights some gaping holes in justice, the law and unenforceable court orders. […] What is astonishing, and must be of great concern to Police hierarchy, are the number of these sites giving full details of the actions of many NZ Police personnel.
Read full comment here.
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Related Post and Comments:
19.7.14 God bless the ditch
Top cop with an already blemished record.
### ODT Online Wed, 14 Jan 2015
Top cop: ‘We should have been clearer’
Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted there was some confusion surrounding police’s summer road safety campaign and has acknowledged that police should have been clearer about what speed levels would be enforced. This comes after the campaign was widely criticised by the public and other agencies, with many calling it unambiguous and confusing. Today, Mr Bush said he had listened to public feedback on the summer road safety campaign and hoped police would learn from the experience.
Read more
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Arthur Allan Thomas case, flashbacks….
Commissioner Mike Bush, who spoke of Mr [Bruce] Hutton’s “great character” at his funeral last year, should have been sacked.
Herewith from 2014 news:
The police officer [Bruce Hutton] accused of planting a cartridge case in the Crewe double-murder inquiry went to his grave denying he fitted up Arthur Allan Thomas, who was twice convicted then pardoned over the homicides. Commissioner Mike Bush would not be interviewed about exhibit 350. He had earlier removed himself from the review process after delivering a eulogy at Mr Hutton’s funeral in which he described it as a “tragedy and irony that a man of such character” should be accused of dishonesty. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/319467/cartridge-case-fit-denied-end
The finding that inquiry head Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton likely planted evidence was the closest police had come to confirming the royal commission of inquiry findings in 1980. “We’ve been expecting it for 40 years,” said Mr Thomas, who believed police should have prosecuted Mr Hutton before he died. He said he couldn’t accept an apology from Commissioner Mike Bush, who spoke of Mr Hutton’s “great character” at his funeral last year. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/311196/crewe-murders-thomases-feel-cheated
Police also acknowledged failures from dealing with evidence at the investigation’s outset to Commissioner Mike Bush’s comments at Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton’s funeral last year. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/311110/crew-case-evidence-may-have-been-fabricated-report
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/311095/crewe-killings-report-be-released-today
So about the limited police investigation for Citifleet….
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### ODT Online Thu, 19 Mar 2015
Apology after police ‘fail’ victims
Police have publicly apologised to the young women at the centre of the investigation into the Roast Busters scandal, after a report slammed their handling of the case. The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found several deficiencies in the original police investigations into alleged offending involving the Roast Busters. IPCA chair Judge David Carruthers said police failed the group’s alleged victims due to multiple “deficiencies” and failed to adhere to “basic tenets” of criminal investigation.
Read more
When police fail, whether corrupt or inept, they achieve bangin’ humungous clusters of clusterf#cks reminiscent of the Killer Space Haemorrhoids That Annexed Atlantis.
It is reassuring,in this case, that the IPCA, gave a strong unambigious report without the usual bureacratese language which we associate with the likes of the Auditor General who just the other day said Ag Research had ‘to update their business plan’ instead of saying what they had come up with was hopeless.
So sick of bureacrats who use cotton wool language.
Peter, while the IPCA may have issued a report that is widely being described as damning, it will come to nothing at all unless the Police change their basic cultural position and I don’t see anything that indicates that this is the case. In the Roastbuster’s case, the evidence was clearly either there or easily obtainable, but the Police did nothing to put that together. It was not just inept, one has to wonder whether it was a lot worse than that. The fact that one of their own is the father of one of the alleged perpetrators cannot be lightly discounted by the Police when many examples of Police protecting their own can easily be shown.
How many times have we witnessed lately the Police say that there isn’t enough evidence to proceed to prosecution? Every one of these cases means that their statistics are improved. I would say that despite the huge number of cases where it has been shown by the IPCA or others – the case of the woman in Christchurch that murdered her husband is a recent example – that the Police have failed in the most basic way. The Police have an internal culture that is self-protective and they have a climate which encourages problems (complaints) to go away.
Because the problem is so widespread and so deep-seated, the solution will not be easy, but one thing is for sure, when the Police are headed by a man who held up Detective Hutton in the way that he did at his funeral as a man of integrity when it has been shown that this man planted evidence in the Crewe murder case, then I don’t see a huge change coming soon.
Given this report, it seems to me that the case should be reactivated. The people concerned were not acquitted, they were never charged – so double jeopardy does not apply. The statute of limitations is a long way short of being reached.
Despite there being considerable consistent evidence by the standards of such cases, with much supplied by the perpetrators, remarks made by the blue on National Radio this morning indicate that there is still zero police will to pursue these people. The spokesman seemed very keen to refer to this whole incident as being closed, in the past and a basically ‘dead and buried’ historical artifact.
I agree with Russell that ‘mistakes and miscommunication’ may well be a highly charitable description of what seems to have gone on and what apparently still seems to be still going on.
I believe that the only way that the victims (or their parents) of these unpleasant and unpleasantly well-connected young scions will get anything appropriate done within the law is to take a private criminal prosecution against them – it was the only way that Banks was brought to account. Turned out there was enough evidence to convict in that case – not merely to prosecute.
I have yet to be called for jury service and pray never to have to try the type of rape case where it is one person’s word against another with little other evidence. However, in this case it seems to be several peoples’ consistent and officially submitted word and considerable supporting perpetrator supplied confirmatory ‘documentation’. In that situation I would be a good deal more comfortable to ‘front up’ to the Beak as a jury foreman.
Some years ago, I was hit hard by an overtaking 4 x 4 on the way over the Northern Motorway into Dunedin. Luckily I was driving a Triumph 2.5 PI which was both heavy enough to stay on the road when hit on the forequarter by a bulky 4×4 at 100kmph and fast and agile enough to catch the perpetrator, which I eventually did some 14 kilometres later at the entrance to the one-way system.
An altercation then ensued, in which it became very clear that the 60-something driver considered that his position in the community (whatever that was) entitled him to overtake on blind hilltops and barge any ‘little person’ that he was overtaking out of the way if things went wrong.
He refused to give his name and address, but I took his registration (from around 6 feet away) while standing with a pen and pad, plus a description of the vehicle. I then drove into town and reported the matter in person to Dunedin Central Police Station immediately – and was informed on a subsequent follow up visit some weeks later to inquire why nothing had happened that ‘no such registration existed’.
The demeanour of the back-room officer that was summoned to the desk in order to explain matters to me further strongly suggested to me that the case was definitely ‘closed’, and they seemed uninterested in the fact that this strongly indicated that someone was running around with false plates – I guess that all record of the incident has now also been ‘lost’. I considered taking the matter further. Wisely maybe that idea was shelved – I might have been lucky not to have ended up being charged with dangerous driving (several counts), attempted kidnapping of a (respected) motorist and threatening behaviour.
Such mistakes and systemic miscommunications (because of course that is what they absolutely must have been) do nothing to sweeten one’s attitude to the boys in blue – Especially when they are handing you a ticket for being 1 k over the limit at the bottom of a hill.
It will be a good test to see if the Police do reactivate this Wastebusters issue and I understand that there are some pretty strong social media messages to the Police to do just that. The Police will do one of two things – ignore it and wait for the fuss to go away, or be forced to lay charges. If they do so reluctantly then unless a completely different lot of Police are involved then they will rapidly find after all that insufficient evidence exists, the main players will have forgotten what happened, no witnesses or victims will be willing to come forward, or that there is no public interest. Nothing new there in those tactics as they have worked well in the past. It does make you wonder if the IPCA and the Police hierarchy along with the Minister perhaps have reached some form of understanding so that the Police are publicly rebuked, a lot of weasel words are mouthed off in parliament and in press releases about making sure that it never happens again (until the next time) and that the whole mess is buried asap. It also makes you wonder just whether these victims and their families have already received some strong advice not to pursue things so that the trauma is bought to an end. Who would be likely to issue such advice?
Russell, you don’t have to look far to see examples of Police malfunctioning. Right here in Dunedin there was the case of one of their own being frustrated in opening up a disgusting range of activities in the former Carisbrook Hotel conducted by the father of another police member involving an erstwhile cabinet minister no less, now an incumbent councillor. This was foiled by senior members, one going on to top commissioner. Even former prime minister Helen Clark couldn’t stomach the cabinet minister being in her team and ‘outski’ he went. The investigator was blackened to the point of resigning and putting the whole sordid episode into a book, published but not widely available due to police action. Chances of change in culture? Not likely while these people still float to the top.
Yeah, I read that book – in the NZ Room of the DCC library, would you believe? (Oops, maybe not that much longer…) Made me wonder what the hell I had got into coming to Dunedin.
{Abridged. Actionable. -Eds.}
The limited Citifleet investigation (‘for DCC’, ‘for Police’, and or ‘local businessmen’ and ‘gangs’ —THE LOT) comes to mind.
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### NZ Herald Online 5:00 AM Sunday Apr 5, 2015
NZ police are failing the public
By Bryce Edwards
OPINION The $5 million retrial of Mark Lundy should shake our faith in the justice system. Regardless of the guilt or innocence of Lundy, David Bain and Teina Pora, the fact their original convictions were unsafe means the police are failing the public. A lengthy catalogue of failure, embarrassment and injustice has been building on the police scorecard in recent years. […] Historically, New Zealanders have held the police in high regard, and to a large extent that’s still true. But that trust does appear to be eroding. When TV3 ran a special on police in 2013, 56 per cent of viewers said the police were losing the public’s trust. […] Obsequiousness to the powerful makes the police an intrinsically conservative force. It means that justice and equality are not the priority of the police, compared to self-preservation and protection of officers.
Read more
● Dr Bryce Edwards is a political commentator and Otago University lecturer who specialises in research into who holds the power in society.
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### NZ Herald Online 5:00 AM Sunday Apr 5, 2015
Source: Herald on Sunday
Editorial: Police must earn public’s trust
It is probably not too great an exaggeration to say that the justice system let out a collective sigh of relief when Mark Lundy was convicted for a second time of the murder of his wife and daughter. A verdict of not guilty, coming so soon after the miscarriages involving Teina Pora and David Bain, and with David Dougherty and Arthur Allan Thomas still in the memory, was not one it would have been keen to contemplate. For none would this have been truer than the police. Yet even the Lundy verdict could not paper over the questions raised about the investigation that led to the original conviction 13 years ago. The catalogue of injustice has led Otago University lecturer Bryce Edwards today to suggest our judicial system has serious problems. One of his key concerns is the role played by the Independent Police Conduct Authority. Set up as an independent body after the shooting of Steven Wallace in Waitara 15 years ago, it has several glaring shortcomings. These include the inability to start its own investigations and to enforce its recommendations.
Read more
Where’s the priority on catching villains, compared with locking someone up?
Teina Pora’s “victim” is still dead, she was murdered, did not die of natural causes.
Teina Pora has AT LAST been accurately identified as a person who didn’t kill her, she was someone else’s victim.
Yet she’s still dead.
Someone killed her.
The police are not interested in reopening the investigation, it’s apparently a closed case because … because … could it be because they got someone locked up and, right or wrongly, that counts as a successful investigation no further action necessary?
Not the only instance of this “hey let it go now” and “there’s no point in relitigating the past” (Cull’s favourite way avoiding learning from experience) attitude.
I’m not hugely keen on leaving successful killers in peace in the community, even if it does save money.
### ODT Online Fri, 10 Apr 2015
Police apologise for slow response
By David Loughrey
A complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) resulted in a police apology for a slow Oamaru police response to the crimes of repeat paedophile Leonard James Mulholland. The apology came when Mulholland was dealt with in the High Court at Dunedin recently. Southern district police have accepted there was ”an unacceptable delay” in bringing the prosecution to court.
Read more
Comment:
“The Dunedin Police took over 3 years to ‘investigate’ the Green Island Landfill frauds” …. “only a new officer’s arrival finally resulted in a prosecution of only one person involved – John McLauchlan.”
### ODT Online Thu, 9 Apr 2015
Police introduce new code of conduct
Source: NZME
A new police code of conduct sets out the high expectations for all police staff, the commissioner says. Police introduced the new code of conduct this morning, Newstalk ZB reported. It was the first update to the code in seven years and new items in the code included matters such as sexual conduct, theft, dishonesty and corruption. Speaking to Newstalk ZB this morning, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said the matters were previously in the code of conduct, but were not specified.
Read more
### ODT Online Fri, 8 May 2015
‘Justice done’ after police complaints
By Timothy Brown
One of the hunters who laid a complaint about his treatment at the hands of two Otago police officers feels ”justice has been done”. Glen Finch and Jacob Jenkins were accused of poaching on a forestry block near Berwick in August 2013. The charges were subsequently quashed in the Dunedin District Court and the conduct of the two officers who laid the charges was investigated by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
Read more
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IPCA findings (via ODT)
● Police did not have sufficient evidence to justify issuing a blanket trespass notice.
● No evidence police acted in a corrupt manner.
● Both police officers illegally used radio dog-tracking equipment, albeit unknowingly.
● Hunting on forestry land while also policing that land put then-Constable Dave Bullot in a strong position of conflict and created the potential for abuse of authority.
● The officers should not have installed CCTV cameras on behalf of a forestry company as it created a perception the officers were working for the company and at risk of abusing their authority.
● It is unclear whether police searched the hunters by patting down their clothed bodies or just the outside of their pockets, however, it was not legally justified either way.
● It is unclear whether then-Constable Dave Bullot took Glen Finch’s phone from him forcefully, but the officer’s subsequent search of the phone was unlawful.
● It is unclear whether the officers were rude, dismissive and threatening to Glen Finch and Jacob Jenkins before and during the search of the utility vehicle.
● Then-Constable Dave Bullot used inappropriate language towards Glen Finch and Jacob Jenkins, which they reasonably interpreted as threatening.
Not for the first time does a victim’s IPCA complaint fail to deliver justice.
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Mon, 15 Aug 2016
ODT : Bashing victim says police let case go cold
Whoever brutally assaulted a Dunedin pensioner is still at large, while the great-grandmother has a skull full of titanium screws and questions about why police let the case go cold so quickly. “I just want police to find these mongrels and do something about it,” June Spooner [72] said.
Granddaughter Shaquille Spooner-Nixon (22) said the police investigation had “come to a halt” and police officers had stopped responding to requests for updates on the case.
At Facebook:
Good to see the belt doing a 40 hour week.