Media releases 2021

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers were justified in pursuing offenders who had stolen cars and burgled a liquor store in Christchurch on 11 November 2019. The use of a Police dog to assist in the arrest of one of the men was reasonable and proportionate.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority investigated a complaint that excessive force was used on a youth following his arrest in Wellington on 12 January 2020.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that Police were justified in shooting a man when he pointed a firearm at an officer.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that, although two Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) officers were acting in self-defence when they fired at Astin Hooper immediately after he shot at them, their prior actions were not justified in the circumstances overall. The AOS officers escalated the situation by driving past an existing cordon towards Mr Hooper, which resulted in him firing at them.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the use of a Police dog to bite a young person (14 years old) following a pursuit was not justified in the circumstances.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that two officers were justified in firing shots at a male passenger in a car fleeing Police to avoid arrest on the Northern Motorway in October 2018. The man had fired a shotgun at Police at various stages during the chase.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that on 15 September 2019, Police in Manukau did not take appropriate actions to care for a man held in their custody who drifted in and out of consciousness for almost three hours before he was taken to hospital.

Police arrested a man after receiving information that he had been in Auckland in possession of a military style semi-automatic firearm. The Independent Police Conduct Authority investigated the circumstances of the arrest after the man claimed Police arrested him because he had warned Police about the risk posed by the man responsible for the March 2019 terror attack in Christchurch and following the attack he made public statements criticising Police for failing to act on that information.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that although the initial stop at a checkpoint was lawful, at the point Police required a woman to pull over to the side of the road for intelligence gathering purposes she was arbitrarily, and unlawfully detained.