Lose your dog or your rank, veteran cop allegedly told

Police officer David Templeton was shot at three times by notorious killer Antoine Dixon and commended for his part in apprehending him. Photo / File

A police dog handler who helped bring down one of the country's most notorious killers alleges he was told to either give up his dog or be demoted.

Veteran officer David Templeton, who was commended for bravery for his part in apprehending Samurai sword killer Antoine Dixon in 2008, has raised a grievance with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), which released a preliminary decision on Friday.

Templeton told the ERA that in March 2014 he was told by supervisors that non-commissioned officers - sergeants and senior sergeants - would no longer have operational police dogs and those that did would have to relinquish them to a constable or senior constable.

"It is alleged that the basis for this change was to improve the management and supervision of the dog section and to have non-commissioned officers more effectively employed in operational management," the decision said.

Templeton took up that offer and retained his rank of sergeant, but without his dog.

In December that year, Templeton said he was given the option of being demoted to the rank of senior constable while being allowed to keep a working dog, something that took effect in February 2015.

However, he claims that other sergeants were able to keep their dogs.

"[Templeton's] statement of problem identifies three other sergeants in the dog section who retained their dogs," the ERA decision said.

"One of those was actually promoted from the rank of senior constable to the rank of sergeant to replace Mr Templeton when he relinquished his non-commissioned officer rank and yet Mr Templeton's replacement as sergeant still retained his working dog."

The purpose of the ERA's preliminary hearing was to determine whether Templeton had raised his grievance within the 90-day time limit the law allows an employee to file a case against their employer.

Templeton submitted that the 90-day period should be counted from the date he consulted with the Police Association in July 2015, up until he had been obtaining information about the way in which police treated other sergeants in the dog section.

Police submitted that the "individual elements of the grievance must be considered separately" and that the 90-day period expired in June 2014.

Chief of the ERA James Crichton was satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, the grievance was raised in time and the ERA was therefore able to conduct an investigation into the merits of Templeton's claim.

Templeton, a member of the Auckland dog squad since 1985, was among officers who arrested Dixon, who in January 2003 nearly killed two women with a Samurai sword, murdered James Te Aute, shot at police and invaded a couple's home, kidnapping occupant Ian Miller.

Templeton's car was hit three times by shots fired by Dixon.

Templeton's lawyer, Susan Hughes QC, said the employment matter remained unresolved.

A police spokesperson said:

"Police accepts the preliminary decision. The matter is ongoing."