The Authority oversaw a Police criminal investigation into the actions of four off-duty Police staff and an associate, who were involved in physical altercations with a group of men during a night out in Paihia in December 2020.
The Authority repeatedly expressed concerns to Police about the undue delays and quality of the Police investigation into the actions of the Police staff and their associate, particularly given the disparity in the thoroughness of that investigation and Police’s separate criminal investigation into the actions of the group of civilians.
While we agreed with Police that the criminal investigation found insufficient evidence to warrant criminal proceedings against the Police staff and their associate, this was due to our concerns about the robustness of the investigation and not because we agreed with the facts as presented in the Police investigation report or the analysis of this information.
We agreed with Police’s proposed employment sanctions for the two staff who continue to work for New Zealand Police, because any other employment action against them was an exercise in futility given the undue delay in concluding the matter.
IPCA: 20-5921