There were 65 community cases of Covid-19 all in Auckland on Friday ahead of Super Saturday’s “Vaxathon” with experts predicting cases will rise into the hundreds as soon as November. Video / NZ Herald
No decision has been made on whether a high-ranking Auckland police officer will be charged after allegedly breaching the city's southern border without an exemption.
The investigation into the actions of Counties Manukau Māori Responsiveness Manager Inspector Regan Tamihere is ongoing, police confirmed this week.
He remains on active duty while police, and the Independent Police Conduct Authority carry out separate investigations into his alleged offending.
It may be some time before either investigation is complete.
Last month the Herald revealed Tamihere was being investigated for crossing the border south of Auckland without an exemption.
Auckland was still under stringent Covid-19 alert level restrictions and formal exemptions were needed to leave the area.
The source said Tamihere was challenged by police staff manning the southern border - but they reportedly allowed him through after he insisted they couldn't say no to him.
Tamihere told them that he could cross the border because he was an essential worker.
However, it is understood the trip was not considered official police business and police have confirmed no exemption was given for travel.
Police cannot comment on the specifics of the incident as their investigation is ongoing.
Tamihere has declined to comment on the matter so far.
A police spokeswoman said the organisation was "very concerned about this reported incident".
"For this reason, police has self-referred this matter to the Independent Police Conduct Authority," she said last month.
Inspector Regan Tamihere. Photo / Supplied
"An investigation of the alleged breach is being led by staff from another district, and so further comment is not appropriate at this time."
Police were able to confirm Tamihere had crossed a boundary checkpoint "without an appropriate exemption".
"As police currently understand it, this involved a member of police accompanying a group of people across an alert level boundary so they could attend a burial a short distance away," she said.
"Police have confirmed the travel was not permitted ... but further inquiries into the matter are required to more fully understand the context, including decision-making around the case."
Another source said Tamihere was well known and respected for his close connections and good engagement with local iwi.
They said it would be a shame if that work - and that of other police officers in similar liaison roles - was tarnished by the alleged incident.
Tamihere, a former Auckland Blues Super Rugby player, is one of four iwi liaison staff in Counties Manukau, one of 12 in the wider Tamaki Makaurau area and one of 56 across the country.
Each iwi liaison officer helps to "navigate cultural issues and work on improving police relationships with Māori".
Auckland has been in Alert Levels 4 and 3 - which carry strict travel restrictions - since it was announced in August that the highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 was present in the community.
Police have been monitoring checkpoints to ensure all motorists travelling through Auckland's borders have exemptions. Photo / Dean Purcell
Northland and parts of Waikato are also now back in Level 3 as community cases emerge in those areas.
The Herald has revealed a lengthy list of people who have allegedly breached borders put in place around Auckland and south, to prevent the spread of the virus.
The include two Auckland sex workers arrested at a hotel in Blenheim, an "intoxicated" woman who fled through the checkpoint at 100km/h before being road spiked and crashing her car, a Head Hunters gang members who went to a funeral in Rotorua for a Filthy Few gang member by saying he was a courier driver delivering tyres and two women who went to Northland after using false information to obtain exemptions.
