Media releases 2020

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that an officer was unjustified in using pepper spray on a man who he believed had failed to stop driving when signalled to do so.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that there is insufficient evidence to support an allegation that a Police officer punched a woman in the face after her arrest on 14 April 2019. However, facial injuries the woman sustained were likely caused when the officer restrained her in the back of a Police car after she assaulted him by kicking him in the face.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that a Police officer used appropriate force when arresting a man at Wairoa Police Station on 21 January 2019 and taking him into custody, until the point that the officer used his leg to flip the man onto the concrete floor in a cell.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found three Police officers crewing a Police boat during a search did not do all they should have to rescue a man when he was found in the Waikato River.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the Police's decision making regarding a sexual assault investigation in Palmerston North was sound. However, Police should have provided a written explanation to the woman who made the sexual assault complaint why Police decided not to prosecute the alleged offender, as required by Police policy.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that four Police officers used appropriate force when removing an arrested man from Tauranga Hospital on 1 March 2018.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that a 13-year-old was kicked to the head area during an arrest in Napier on 4 January 2019, and that this was an excessive use of force.