Waikato Times
February 2, 2004
Bleak prospects for the accused
Editorial
Clint Rickards
planned his career path in the police from his early days on the beat. From cadet to detective in Rotorua to this country's youngest
district commander in the
With that kind of ambition, Rickards could have expected to be
Rickards has become the subject of a government inquiry and a police inquiry
into allegations of rape in 1986. The alleged victim reported the rape in 1993
but three policemen accused were cleared, partly due to difficulty amassing evidence
given the time that had elapsed. The Police Complaints Authority reviewed the
police inquiry in 1995 but restrictions over time limits prevented further
action. The authority did, however, criticise the initial investigation.
Complaints authority investigator, former Hamilton Detective Chief Inspector
Rex Miller, now appears to be offering some high-level support to complainant
Louise Nicholas and has spoken about his unease over the initial police
investigation.
There is a sense of scores to be settled in Miller's comments and questions
will also be asked about why Ms Nicholas has taken so long to make her concerns
known. However, these should not be allowed to cloud the purpose of the inquiry
which is to determine –- finally –- exactly what happened.
That is of primary importance but there is a deeper issue here that has
prompted an unusual response from the prime minister. Helen Clark has ordered
an independent investigation to ensure "any inquiry that is done has full
credibility with the public because I think the nature of the allegation is
such that the police investigating itself wouldn't be
enough". She is right. Public confidence in the police is at risk of being
severely undermined and, given the possible failings of previous police investigations
in this case, the back-up of a government inquiry is reassuring.
Rickards is now on leave as the inquiries proceed. He stands as a good example
of what can happen to those who desire high-profile public positions but who
have some kind of shadow in their past. Serious complaints and inquiries are
never consigned to history. When they resurface years later they not only have
a bearing on the future of the individual involved but on what they represent.
And that is what will be ultimately unforgivable: that an organisation which
relies so heavily on public confidence, suddenly finds its faults so glaringly
exposed.