Broad left 'numb' at loss of constable

Police Commissioner Howard Broad. Photo / Simon Baker

Police Commissioner Howard Broad spoke tonight of the widespread distress that would be felt throughout the force through the killing of policeman Len Snee in Napier.

Senior Constable Snee, 53, of Taradale police, was fatally shot as he conducted an apparently "low-risk" drug raid on a Chaucer Road house on Napier Hill this morning.

Mr Broad said he had met Mr Snee during a recent visit to the Eastern police district.

"I saw him in his workplace and it is a matter of great distress to me that it appears almost certain that he has lost his life," he told TV3's Campbell Live.

Mr Snee was a well respected community constable in Hawke's Bay and well known throughout the force, having played rugby for NZ Police and Combined Services.

Mr Broad said he was in Central Otago with a group of police officers when news of Mr Snee's death reached him.

"It had a visible demonstrable impact on them," he said.

Police officers would be able to visualise the situation of today's shooting and think of their own vulnerability, he said.

"They think about their families and the absolute horror of having a police officer come and speak to one of your family in these circumstances.

"It leaves you with a sense of complete and utter distress."

Mr Broad said he felt numb by the loss, with Mr Snee the third police officer to lose his life in the past year.

"It is very difficult to identify any particular thought or feeling I have got; it's just that I feel so much for these officers and their families."

Mr Broad would not reveal details about the gunman, but said he understood a number of his officers had attempted to recover Mr Snee's body but had had to retreat because of the shots fired at them.

He said he would speak tomorrow to officers involved in the cannabis operation and the families of the shot men.

- NZPA