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Allegations of Abuse
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Prime Minister has announced the terms of
reference for the commission of inquiry into the police handling of rape
complaints against its officers. The
inquiry has been sparked by a complaint from a Rotorua woman, Louise Nicholas,
who alleges three police officers raped her in the 1980s. Other women have
since come forward with further allegations. The
Commissioners, Justice Bruce Robertson and Dame Margaret Bazley, will inquire
into police conduct, standards and procedures when receiving and
investigating allegations of sexual assault and abuse made against the
police. They
will also investigate police standards and codes relating to the personal
behaviour of the police including sexual conduct. The
Commission will not determine the guilt or innocence of police officers
involved in the alleged sexual assault or other alleged offences. And it will
not review the Police Complaints Authority's investigations because of
secrecy provisions in the authority's governing statute. But
the commission will be able to review investigations carried out by the
police that formed the basis of the reports made by the authority. One
of the women whose complaint against the police will be considered in the
Government's Commission of Inquiry, says she's glad the police's personal
behaviour will also be investigated. Judith
Garrett says she's glad her complaint over her 1988 alleged rape by a police
officer will be included. She says an investigation into police conduct is
long overdue. Garrett
says she plans to appear before the Commission and is urging other
complainants to do the same. |
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