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Police moved swiftly
yesterday to set up a sweeping inquiry into what a judge described as a
"sick" culture within the force.
Announcing the
investigation, Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said he wanted
to maintain public confidence in the police.
"I want to
assure the public that police will do everything to identify any other
culprits and put an end to this abhorrent kind of behaviour as quickly as
possible.
"We will go
where the investigation takes us."
The inquiry follows a
court case in which a senior sergeant was this week found guilty of
assault.
Evidence emerged
during the hearing of police practices including joke photographs (right)
of machete-wielding men making death threats and the photographing of
suspects who had been made to wear demeaning signs.
Senior Sergeant
Anthony Solomona, who was then section chief of the Wiri-based emergency
response unit, was found guilty of assault.
He was acquitted on
three further charges of assault and one of assault with a weapon.
But Judge Bruce
Davidson in the Papakura District Court strongly condemned "some
disturbing police practices" that came to light during the judge-alone
trial.
Manukau-Counties
District Commander Steve Shortland has enlisted the help of the Police
Commissioner's office in the inquiry, which will look at officers
"aligned" to Solomona during his tenure. The Police Complaints
Authority is also being consulted.
Solomona, the husband
of a Youth Court judge, has been on suspension since last April.
The inquiry will
focus on the activities of Solomona's Section 4, which was disbanded as
part of a police restructuring last March.
Mr Marshall told
National Radio last night that the actions of the officers involved were
"bizarre, appalling and should never have been allowed to
happen".
Though he would not
be drawn on Solomona's fate, Mr Marshall said such police officers
constituted a tiny portion of the force's 9000 members.
Mr Shortland said
everyone who served on Section 4 was potentially a target, and
investigators would follow up claims from "anyone who approaches with
a story to tell".
The investigation is
expected to be completed in a few weeks.
Police staff in the
Counties-Manukau district were put under the spotlight after Solomona was
found guilty of assaulting 17-year-old Angelo Turner at a South Auckland
service station last March.
Judge Davidson
strongly condemned what he said were disturbing police practices including
photographing a 15-year-old boy wearing a sign that read: "I belong to
Senior Sergeant Solomona."
The court was also
shown a photograph of a man in police uniform and balaclava swinging a
machete and axe and wearing a sign saying: "RIP to Section 4".
Judge Davidson said
the practices may be reasonably widespread, especially in South Auckland.
"In my view, the
culture is as sick as the joke."
Mr Shortland said he
was appalled at police officers photographing members of the public and
themselves in unacceptable circumstances.
Solomona had told the
judge he found the picture of the machete-wielding officer "quite amusing".
A colleague, Sergeant
John Nelson, told the court that taking pictures such as the one of the
15-year-old occurred in police stations throughout the country.
The practice was part
of a police culture that was unlikely to be understood by the average
citizen.
Mr Shortland said
frontline staff were in disbelief and appalled that an officer would report
the activities as common practice.
"Not only are
these comments disturbing but it is also disappointing that a sergeant knew
about this practice and did not report it."
He said district
restructuring last March had resulted in closer supervision and training,
and greater accountability.
Detective Senior
Sergeant Richard Middleton, who has worked in Counties-Manukau since 1992,
said staff were "gutted" by comments that the culture within the
police was sick.
It was "not
police culture to do things that were complained about".
Mr Middleton said
isolated incidents occurred from time to time but, as the Solomona case had
shown, they were dealt with.
"It's not
endemic, it's not part of our culture to do these things and we take our
job really seriously."
Police Association
president Greg O'Connor said police officers were upset and hurt by Judge
Davidson's comments.
"However, we believe
he may have based them on what he perceived as a cross-section but were, in
fact, in the context of the trial."
The inquiry
* Focus: On the Wiri police station
in South Auckland and officers aligned to suspended Senior Sergeant Anthony
Solomona.
* Involves: Police Commissioner's
office, Manukau-Counties district commander Steve Shortland and Police
Complaints Authority.
* Time: Investigation expected to
take several weeks
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