Dominion Post
May 25 2004

Police lack follow-up on rules inquiry told
by Haydon Dewes

Police have no way of checking whether rules relayed to all staff are actually received or understood, the commission of inquiry into police conduct has been told.

The commission was set up in response to allegations made in The Dominion Post by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas that she was pack-raped and violated with a police baton by three policemen in 1986.

The commission received evidence yesterday on how officers were expected to respond when an allegation of sexual assault was made against a colleague.

Five large ring-binders full of police rules – known as general instructions or GIs – policy advisories, internal memos, and manuals of best practice stretching back to 1979 and covering the 25 years being looked at by the commission, were presented as evidence by police witness, Superintendent Dave Trappitt.

They covered all aspects of police behaviour which might potentially be put under the microscope during hearings over the next 3½ months, including the handling of rape inquiries and complaints against other police officers, appointment procedures, sexual harassment, behaviour in police bars and canteens and the use of Internet and e-mail.

Mr Trappitt said there had been a range of policies and procedures relating to how sexual complaints and internal investigations against other officers were handled during the past 25 years, including a memorandum from the police commissioner in 1980 stressing that officers who broke the law were to be treated like any member of the public.

A centralised recording system named Saam (serious allegations against members) was set up in 1982, to which all serious complaints were to be added after being forwarded to the deputy commissioner of police in charge of administration. Prior to this, district commanders maintained their own, decentralised log of complaints.

Mr Trappitt said staff were alerted to all changes through the broadcasting of the GIs, which officers were meant to obey and be guided by. From 1979 to 1991, these were published in the Police Gazette and since then have been in the police magazine Ten-One. They are now collected electronically and are available on the police Intranet.

Under questioning by commissioner Dame Margaret Bazley, Mr Trappitt said that, though the policy changes were broadcast to all members, there was no way of knowing how many officers actually received and understood each GI.

A monthly and quarterly internal review process looked at key areas, such as the collection of lost and found property, to make sure staff are obeying procedures. But this was at a general, rather than a specific level.

"Apart from the original handing out of the policy into the constable's pigeon hole, there is no specific follow-up in general to that constable," he said.

There was also no way of knowing whether complaints to police had been acted on, though each district now had a complaints investigation manager. Dame Margaret asked whether there was a "dividing line" that dictated what sexual behaviour was acceptable for police officers and what was not, to which Mr Trappitt replied there was not.

Commission chair Justice Bruce Robertson signalled that evidence from women who had claimed that they had been raped by police officers was unlikely to be heard till at least July, after being set down for June. Evidence from complainants was still being collected.

A closed chambers session today with counsel will assess what needs to be done, in what order and the likely time frames.

He said it was vital the commission heard all evidence of one incident together. To do otherwise "would be quite inappropriate, it would be misleading and would have the real potential for injustice", he said.

Meanwhile, a police spokesman said the criminal investigation into allegations made by Mrs Nicholas is progressing, but no time frame has been given for its completion.