The Press
February 19, 2004
Woman wants body search investigated in commission of inquiry
by Matt Conway
A woman subjected
to an intrusive body search by police six years ago wants her case to be part
of the Government inquiry investigating sexual allegations against police.
An improper body search by four police officers traumatised the female prisoner
and led to a confidential $25,000 settlement.
"People go to jail for what they did," Black said. "I would take
it all the way to court now."
The Police Commissioner's office, prompted by inquiries from The Press, this
week agreed to review the file – an example of the heightened sensitivity
around allegations against police.
Black sued the Attorney-General over a forcible search of her genitals to
remove a concealed cigarette lighter in a
Her claim was settled 18 months later, after a police investigation found the
search was unreasonable.
Former Christchurch Inspector Grant Buchanan, who headed that investigation,
said he believed it amounted to indecent assault.
A male police officer bent Black over while two female officers prised apart her
legs. A third female officer removed the lighter.
The Press knows the names of the four officers involved, but has decided, at
this stage, not to name them.
Buchanan this week said the search reflected "poor judgement" but was
in no way sexually motivated.
"There was a technical indecent assault, but I don't think it would ever
constitute sufficient for someone to lose their job," he said.
"One must bear in mind the officers' need, in this instance, to prevent
the possibility of the lady doing harm to herself."
Black approached The Press to tell her story following publicity of police pack
rape allegations involving Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas.
Coincidentally, Prime Minister Helen Clark this week urged other women with
sex-related complaints against police to come forward, ahead of a commission of
inquiry.
Black, who has a string of dishonesty convictions and is on the methadone
programme, said she would press to have her case included in the Government
inquiry.
Black was intoxicated when police arrested her for shoplifting on 12 August,
1997.
She was left in a cell to sleep it off and, by her own admission, "got stroppy" when woken for fingerprinting. According to a
report by Buchanan, viewed by The Press, the situation escalated.
On duty at the time was Senior Sergeant Alan Dando
(no longer with the police). He ordered two female officers to search Black,
remove all her clothes and property, search her cell and place her back in the
cell with a safety gown.
According to the Buchanan report, Dando later saw
Black flicking a cigarette lighter on and off in her cell. She refused to hand
it over.
Black said she told Dando she would only surrender
the lighter if her clothes were returned.
Dando went back to the watchhouse
and discussed the situation with several other officers. They decided Black
must have hidden the lighter internally.
Dando said he did not ask staff to conduct an
internal examination, but simply to search for and recover the lighter,
according to the Buchanan report.
Constable M, a male officer, helped three female officers carry out the search
when Black resisted.
In the Buchanan report, constable M said that he grabbed Black by the head and
pushed it hard into the mattress.
Black claimed the mattress had already been removed during the earlier cell
search, and that she was pushed against a concrete slab.
Female constables P and H prised Black's legs apart, according to the Buchanan
report.
Wearing white rubber gloves, constable T, the third female officer, then
extracted the lighter. The tip of the lighter was "protruding a short
distance ..." she later told the police inquiry.
Constable T would not comment to The Press but, according to Buchanan, had
expressed misgivings to a senior officer soon after the body search.
"Having had time to think about it, she (T) was concerned it may not have
been the correct course of action," Buchanan said.
On August 14, Black was delivered by police to Christchurch Women's Prison,
along with her property. It included a plastic bag containing a cigarette
lighter – and a note that said "Lighter hidden internally. Touch at your
peril."
Brinded's report showed her to be
"psychologically and emotionally quite vulnerable" after traumatic
sexual incidents earlier in her life. Black told Brinded
she felt extremely traumatised, demeaned and insulted by the body search.
"Her description suggests that the psychological trauma from the significant
sexual violence she had experienced previously in her life came back following
these actions by the police," Brinded said in
his report.
In March 1998,
Glover declined to comment to The Press.
A complaint by Black to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) was upheld.
Judge Ian Borrin, of the PCA, concluded that the incident had breached police
general instructions, which, at that time, said: "Any strip search is to
be conducted in as seemly a manner as is consistent with the necessity of
discovering any concealed article."
Buchanan, whose findings underpinned the PCA inquiry, found that the force used
to search Black was unjustified.
He told The Press: "The more prudent action would have been to isolate
her, keep an eye on her and call the police doctor."
Stricter police rules for strip and body searches took effect in 2001.
Prisoners no longer can be made to bend over, lie down or adopt any other
position for the purpose of visual examination of lower body orifices. However
they may be required to squat to a degree sufficient to release any object
clenched or hidden between the buttocks.
Any force or restraint used on a person being searched must always be
"reasonable in the circumstances". Female officers are required to
conduct searches of female prisoners, although male officers are permitted to
"render assistance" if the prisoner resists.
Black remains angry and hurt about the way she was treated by Dando and the four officers.
"I don't think they should have kept their jobs," she said.
"They broke the trust of police officers ... you should be quite safe in a
police station."
Dando left the police in 2000, but constables T, M
and H are still serving officers. P's whereabouts were unknown.
Responding to The Press, Dando said he ordered his
junior officers to search Black and her cell – but certainly not her private
parts.
"The staff were asked to remove the risk to the prisoner and anyone else
by removing a cigarette lighter I had seen in the prisoner's hand.
"It was going to be a complete search of the cell and the clothing she was
wearing at that time.
"I was unaware of the extent of the search that was conducted," he
said.
Dando said he stood out of view of the search near
Black's cell door.
He said had he been told where Black had hidden the lighter, he would have
stopped the search and called a doctor.
"For God's sake, you're not going to send kids (junior officers) down
there to conduct a search that had anything to do with genitals," Dando said.
Attempts by The Press to get comment from the other officers involved in the
search were unsuccessful.
Superintendent Sandra Manderson, who took charge of
Black's allegations had been fully investigated and overseen by the
Solicitor-General and Crown Solicitor.
"The complainant in the matter was fully represented by legal counsel and
all claims were settled before the court," Manderson
said.
Asked about the environment for police following the Louise Nicholas pack-rape
allegations, Manderson said:
"The environment that we're in is newspapers in competition with each
other to relitigate stuff that is 10 years old."