Allegations of Abuse
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Allegations
of sexual offending by police officers are expected to be aired at public
hearings when a commission of inquiry starts investigating claims of a
cover-up. Prime
Minister Helen Clark has announced that High Court judge Bruce Robertson and
top public servant Dame Margaret Bazley will head the inquiry. Police
Association president Greg O'Connor said the Government could not have
appointed anyone better. The association was confident they would be
objective, fair and professional in handling the inquiry. Yesterday
Miss Clark urged people who believed they had information that might point to
a "systemic" problem within police to come forward as soon as
possible. "There
may well be more (cases) and they must be able to inquire into like instances
because we are endeavouring to see whether there is a systemic problem here.
People should come forward as quickly as possible so the commission can get
on with its work." Fresh
allegations about sexual offending by police officers have surfaced since The
Dominion Post and TV1 reported that Louise Nicholas was alleging she was
pack-raped in 1986 by two former police officers, Bob Schollum and Brad
Shipton, and Police
have reopened a criminal investigation into her allegations. A
second senior police officer, Kelvin Powell, was stood down from all duties
for the duration of the investigation on Saturday. Deputy Commissioner Steve
Long said Mr Powell was an "individual of interest" but would not
elaborate. Since
Ms Nicholas came forward, a second woman has alleged that the senior police
officer who investigated the claims, John Dewar, had earlier engaged in
consensual group sex with one of the policemen he investigated. Miss
Clark said several women had made complaints about sexual assaults by police
officers and the manner in which police handled those complaints. Another
woman, Judith Garrett, has complained of sexual abuse by police in Kaitaia in
1988. A former Rotorua teenager has claimed that a policeman lured her for
sex at the same house where Ms Nicholas alleges she was raped. Legislation
overhauling the body responsible for investigating complaints about police,
the Police Complaints Authority, has been delayed till the commission of
inquiry reports back to the governor-general on November 1.
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