Tauranga courthouse. Photo / NZME
A large knife, a bottle of booze, bags of cannabis, P pipes, knuckle dusters and a syringe are just some of the things people going to court in Tauranga have tried to smuggle through the front door.
Information released under the Official Information Act has revealed the disturbing items security officers have confiscated off visitors to the Tauranga Courthouse during the past year - despite a boost in security staffing to 13 officers monitoring courtrooms, screening people entering and searching their belongings.
That accused criminals and their supporters had not always donned their “Sunday best” when appearing in court did not surprise those working in the justice system who were spoken to by the Rotorua Daily Post.
Billy Macfarlane, a Bay of Plenty former offender who now helps criminals turn their lives around, said he knew of a person who got caught a few years ago taking a handgun to court.
Macfarlane, who runs the Pūwhakamua cultural immersion programme for hardened criminals, said it was lucky there was such tight security nowadays as, in his experience, more people were agitated, on drugs and carrying weapons.
In his view: “If security wasn’t there, there’d be more guns. If they were getting sentenced and it was their last chance and they got put away, they wouldn’t be afraid to pull a gun out.”
He said some of those going to court had mental health issues that impacted their reasoning skills.
“I’ve seen people hand themselves into the Rotorua police station, and they’ve forgotten to take their cannabis out of their pockets. A lot of them aren’t good at making decisions.”
He said no matter how impractical it may seem to bring prohibited items to court, knowing they would be searched, people could still be “idiots”.
“Some people are too wasted and they don’t remember they’ve got something in their pocket... nothing surprises me with the sort of people we are dealing with. Desperate people will do anything. It’s a common scenario, and it’ll be the same next year and the year after that.”
Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services chief executive Tommy Wilson said he described weapons as “security blankets”.
“When you know who you are and you know where you come from, you don’t need those security blankets.”
He said many of the people his organisation dealt with came from the kinds of backgrounds where they thought nothing of carrying around drugs and weapons.
“Most of them are either heavily intoxicated still or high on meth, and they don’t think about it because they are always on high alert. They are carrying a knife because they always carry a knife, so when it comes time to go to court, it’s not on their radar to take it away.”
Louise Nicholas, who works for the Louise Nicholas Trust as an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, said she was often in court supporting victims during court hearings and saw what went on with people trying to get into court.
Just recently in Rotorua, she said a young man who appeared drunk was refused entry to the courthouse by security guards due to the cans of beer in his backpack. The young man then got “quite angry”, she said.
Although recent industrial action by Ministry of Justice staff had resulted in more court breaks and time spent queuing at the front door to get back into the court and past security, Nicholas said she would not have it any other way and did not think anyone should be exempt to speed up the process.
“They [the security officers] are there to keep everyone safe, so it’s got to be one-size-fits-all.”
She said she had supported people in courts in Rotorua, Tauranga, Hamilton, Auckland, Whanganui and Hastings, and found it interesting that every court was different regarding what was allowed to be brought in.
For example, water bottles were allowed in Auckland and Hamilton, but not in Rotorua and Tauranga.
“In Auckland, a man sat down next to me with a cup of coffee.”
Under the Courts Security Act 1999, court security officers have the power to act if they discover potentially dangerous items.
When screening the possessions of a court visitor, they can take into temporary custody any item that could potentially be a weapon and return it to the person when they leave.
If the item is deemed to be prohibited , the item will be seized and the person detained.
That matter is then handed over to police.
Ministry of Justice corporate and digital services deputy secretary, Tina Wakefield, said it invested significant money in upskilling and training existing and new security officers.
From November this year, the number of security officers in Tauranga increased from 11 to 13.
Wakefield said security officers in Tauranga used to be regularly deployed to cover the Ōpōtiki, Waihī and Whakatāne courts.
In mid-2022, a new court security team was created in Ōpōtiki and Whakatāne, and the ministry boosted Tauranga and Waihī’s staffing levels to 13 from November this year.
Individuals pass through a walk-through metal detector.
If metal is detected, then a hand-held metal detector is used to identify the cause.
If it needs further investigation, then a localised pat-down search will be performed.
Property is screened using an X-ray machine and/or a hand-held metal detector to identify anything that requires further investigation.
If an item is still unable to be identified or is potentially of concern, the security officers will search further by hand.
Source: Ministry of Justice
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