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Police bosses have apologised to a fast-food giant after the company was told officers were too busy to investigate staff caught on camera thieving thousands of dollars.
Restaurant Brands - owners of KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King - hired private investigators to prove which employees were stealing from a store in the Wellington region.
Investigations revealed tens of thousands of dollars had been stolen, with some thefts caught on camera.
But when Restaurant Brands laid a complaint with the police, complete with evidence, a senior detective wrote back to say police were busy and complaints were prioritised.
Factors used to assess priority included the seriousness of the offence, staff availability, the likelihood of identifying an offender and the chance of obtaining a conviction.
In the letter to Restaurant Brands chairman Ted van Arkel, the detective said the complaint was not assigned to be investigated.
Frustrated, Van Arkel wrote to Police Minister Annette King and Commissioner Howard Broad to complain about the lack of police action.
A few weeks later, he received a letter from King's office which said the alleged offenders had been arrested and charged. Restaurant Brands declined to comment to the Herald on Sunday because of the "sensitive nature" of the offending.
But a spokeswoman for Broad said police accepted that the first letter to the fastfood giant was an "unacceptable response".
"This was acknowledged in a response to Mr Van Arkel and the offenders have since been charged," she said in a statement.
"This was a district matter where the individual staff member concerned made an error of judgment in his response. It was a performance issue and has been dealt with."
King had seen the police response to the Herald on Sunday and said she had "strong expectations of the level of police services and standards".
She attempted to respond to all correspondence, about everything from parking tickets to policy changes.
In May, Ron McQuilter, managing director of private investigators Paragon New Zealand, called for greater partnerships between police and firms like his.
The former detective said Paragon was often hired to investigate corporate fraud, sometimes by Government departments, because police did not have the resources to combat white-collar crime - even when investigation work had already been done.
In a recent $1.5 million fraud case, Paragon obtained confessions and handed a complete prosecution file to police. Nine months later, nothing has happened, with tens of thousands of recovered dollars in a Paragon safe.
New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark was concerned police refused to look at some cases, saying: "We are very mindful of the frustration of ordinary Kiwis who are being denied justice because the police don't have the resources to deal with their case," Mark said.
"I've got a few cases sitting on my desk right now."
A new agency to combat serious and financial crime, amalgamating the Serious Fraud Office with police, should start work this month.
