IPCA complaint claims cops target Māori and rangatahi

Researcher and academic Dr Karaitiana Taiuru says police gathering of Māori DNA is out of kilter, according to the police’s own data. Photo / AP

The Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) is looking into a complaint that Māori and rangatahi (youth) are racially targeted by police and forced to handover their DNA.

The Indigenous Genomics Institute (IGI) alleges a police bias against Māori when collecting body samples for DNA testing. In December the institute lodged a complaint with the IPCA which has acknowledged the complaint.

Police said they could not comment on the IPCA investigation. The IPCA said the matter was going through its evaluation process.

“IPCA has received a complaint regarding this matter. It is currently going through our usual assessment process before we decide on next steps,” the spokesperson said.

Researcher and academic Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, who has a PhD in Tikanga DNA Sovereignty, said the police‘s own statistics relating to the taking of body samples from Māori and rangatahi was one dimensional.

“The rates are alarming in a similar way to the over representation of rangatahi Māori being photographed by the police, (it) shows a clear bias against rangatahi Māori ,” Dr Taiuru told the Herald.

Last year a joint IPCA and Privacy Commission investigation revealed police illegally photographed Māori, and this was a ‘widespread practice.’ People were also photographed for simply looking “out of place”, or “suspicious”.

Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, who has a PhD in Tikanga DNA Sovereignty. Photo / Supplied

Taiuru said police gathering of Māori DNA was out of kilter, according to the police’s own data and they had no cultural safety mechanisms in place.

“Of all of those who police took a bodily sample, 63 per cent (2019/2020), 65 per cent (2020/2021) and 69 per cent (2021/2022) were rangatahi Māori, compared to Pākehā youth; 21 per cent (2019), 20 per cent (2020/2021) and 18 per cent (2021/2022),” he said.

“This has occurred despite Māori only making up between 16.5 to 17.4 per cent of the population from 2019 to 2022.

“Of all of the youth from who the police took a bodily sample, Māori are again overrepresented in the overall derivation of DNA in comparison to Pākehā; 63 per cent (2019/2020), 63 per cent (2020/2021) and 68 per cent (2021/2022).”

Taiuru said more education around police practices of taking DNA is needed, as is a Māori watchdog to oversee police procedures.

“This highlights the dire need for a review, similar to the rangatahi Māori photos by police, as to why Māori are over represented with DNA samples being taken,” he said.

“This also highlights the need for a Māori Privacy Commissioner and for the Law Commission’s ‘The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations’ to be considered and implemented, including a review of the legislation.

“DNA sequencing technology is rapidly increasing and there is a possibility that Māori communities may face discrimination if DNA samples are sequenced to find suspects.”